STALA Issue 2

CREDITS

Special thanks to the Editorial Committee

Members of the Executive:

Radeyah H. Ali (Publications Committee Chairperson)Asif Hosein-Shah (President)

Richard Jaggasar (Public Relations Officer)Miguel Vasquez (Vice-President)

Members of the Publications Committee:

Sherise BalgobinRishana BidaiseeMichael G Charles

Ana-Leesa RamnarineAshely Roopchansingh

Denelle SinghShalini Teeaksingh

Photography:

Fahim Ali Christopher Hunte

Shane Pantin

Special Thanks:

Lecturers and Staff at the Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine

I congratulate the UWI St. Augustine Law Society on this, the second issue of your flagship magazine – St. Au-gustine Legal Affairs (STA-LA) - well done! When I see successful initiatives com-pleted and delivered pre-dominantly by our student body, I not only feel a sense of achievement that we are delivering on our promise to create professionals for our

country and region, but also because I feel confident that our legal system is in good hands! My dear students, the profession of law is one that is very important. No ordered society can exist without some form of legal system. It protects the fun-damental rights of every citizen irrespective of race, creed, ethnicity, class, gender or religion. The words of our national anthem remind us that our nation was “forged from the love of liberty”, and that “every creed and race” is entitled to “find and equal place”. In short, law is therefore concerned with liberty and enlighten-ment; civility and justice; equal opportunity and the protection of human rights. As members of the legal fraternity in Trinidad

and Tobago and the region, you therefore must be con-scious of the critical role you play in society and make a personal commitment to hold yourself to the high-est standard of moral and ethical conduct. Your actions must be guided by a strong set of values including - honesty, integrity, loyalty, fair play and goodwill toward all men. Indeed, these are important ingredients that will not only help you to build strong legal careers, but even more importantly, these are the ingredients that will build and sustain our beloved country and region. I therefore encourage you all to be of service to others. See it as your duty and responsibility to use your knowledge and skills to uplift societies and communi-ties in Trinidad and Tobago and the region. Be prepared to give as much to society as you are willing to give to yourself. In that way you will not only experience per-sonal and professional satisfaction, you will also keep the UWI flag flying high through your commitment to excellence in service. Remember – what truly counts in life is not the title one holds, but the contribution one

makes to society. Professor Clement K. Sankat

Pro Vice Chancellor and Campus PrincipalThe University of the West Indies

St. Augustine, Trinidad

Dearest Law Family, it is with your continued faith and support that we are able to accomplish all things. In this breath, it is my honour to present to you on behalf of the UWI STA Law Socie-ty, the second edition of our pilot magazine, St. Augustine Legal Affairs “STALA.” A great amount of credit must

be given to the Publications Committee, who through their strong and dedicated efforts spanning countless hours have cemented a publication that is sure to excite and exhibit but a fraction of the beautiful elements that makes us a distinct Faculty. So much can happen in a

year. As future members of the legal fraternity, and present-ly students together, the bonds we forge today brings the results that plants the seeds of a brighter tomor-row. Pages like these go beyond paper. They crystallise,

touch and rejuvenate memories of the moments that we have shared together and for years to come we will share many more. We, as a Law Society, carefully craft a legacy to make a difference and to one day reflect on being part of something special. Laying claim to being amongst the first crop of the trendsetters, flourishing into the lead-ers of tomorrow and as my good friend Matthew Peters, Post Graduate Representative, puts it, law students are amongst the most special of students in their distinct

knowledge and ability.My Family, remember that despite the academic weight being amongst the most strenuous that emphasises the importance of staying focused, it is critical also to take breathers and breaks. Live and enjoy these moments, embedded memories that we are all blessed to have.

Thank You and God Bless! Enjoy!

Asif A. Hosein-ShahPresident.

UWI St. Augustine Law Society (2013-2014)

St. Augustine Legal Af-fairs or STALA as it has fondly become known, is a direct output from the UWI St. Augustine Law Society. In addition to be-ing a culmination of the year’s events, it is also the window through which the voices of members of our society are heard. We, the UWI St. Augus-tine Law Students do be-lieve that we have a voice

and we insist that our voices rise to the top. STA-LA gives us that opportunity and we thank you

for sharing in this feat with us as you read.

Before we could know where we are headed, it is essential that we know where we came from. The first issue of STALA was published last year. It was the first installment in what I hope would be a very successful and dynamic force in the very near future. STALA Issue One was spear-headed by the Publications Committee Chair-person (PCC) of our Law Society, Ms. Nura A. Ali. Acknowledgment and praise goes out to her and her team for setting the diving board for me, as this year’s PCC to dive into the pool of creativi-ty. We can only delve and explore further from

here.

This issue, Issue Two, was created with the spe-cial interests of our Law Society in mind. You will find all that we have done and accomplished for the past year. It showcases not only our vigour for learning the law, but also displays our need

to be of service to our communities.

Our vision for our Law Society is to prove that we can have fun while still staying abreast of our work academically as well as actively contribut-

ing to law and learning via our productions.

It gives me great pleasure to be a part of this Law Society where anything seems possible and not even the sky is the limit. I hope that future Ex-ecutives maintain the mentality of working hard and playing hard. This life is a short one, and whatever we do we must do to the best of our abilities. Do not settle for less than you deserve. Be who you want to be and do what makes you happy. Always remember where you came from, and where you are going. Do not be fooled by diamonds and gold when you have rare gems

awaiting you. Be the best that you can be.

To my fellow lawyers-in-the-making, do not let our profession’s reputation dictate how we prac-tice the law. Stay true to yourselves and your val-ues. Make a difference and do right by all you

come in contact with. Be you.

It has been a great honour to put this magazine together and I hope that you have as much fun

reading it as I had preparing it!

Live. Laugh. Love. Law.

Best wishes to all STALA readers.

Radeyah H. Ali Editor-in-Chief, STALA Issue Two

Publications Committee Chairperson, UWI St. Augustine Law Society (2013-2014)

EDITOR’S NOTE

IN THIS ISSUE:

Dean’s Message

Principal receives first copy of STALA ISSUE 1

Tributes to Lecturers: Mr. Gilkes by Arlene Chochan

Dr. Legall by Shivangelie Ramoutar Dr. Arif Bulkan by Chelsea Stewart Mr. John Jeremie by Shivash Maraj

Mr. Fyard Hosein by Lyrinda PersaudMr. Justice Rolston Nelson by Shivash Maraj

Ms. Elias-Roberts by David EdmundMrs. France by Nathan Edwards

Mr. Timothy Affonso by Khamara Persad Mr. Justice Winston Anderson by Nathan Edwards

Ms. Candice Jones Simmons by Perusha Lord

El Shaddai Charity Initiative by Arshaad Mohammed

Controversial Corner:The Effect of International Law on the Implementation

of the Death Penalty by Miguel ARE Vasquez

Poetry Corner:Carnival by Reisa Singh

Little Girl by Kristen SewnarineSweet Trinbago by Jullisa George

Extra Curricular Success:- Crystal Charles - Dayna Samaroo

Picture Perfect - Talent Show

- Annual General Meeting - Human Rights Seminar - Hugh Wooding Seminar

- Cocktail Party - Brain Cooler

- CCJ International Law Moot Competition - Sports Day

- Handing Over Ceremony

Purple Day by Radeyah H. Ali

Law Meme Competition

Beautifully Casual by Radeyah H. Ali

Suits and Ties: Men with no Class Co. v Men with Class (2013) by Michael G Charles

Meet the Law Society Executive 2013-2014

Legally Searched

Legally Puzzled

Caribbean Court of Justice International Law Moot Competition

White & Case, Phipip C, International Law Moot Com-petition: Jessup Cup

Inter-American Human Rights Moot Court Competition

Legal Canvas Artists:

- Denelle Singh - Radeyah H. Ali

Law Resources Available at the Alma Jordan Library by Ms. Jolie Rajah

DEAN’S MESSAGE

I write to congratulate you on the successful initiative of a magazine tailored to meet the needs of the vibrant student law body that now exists at the Faculty of Law, St. Augustine. My vision of a successful law student is one who is in tune to his or her society, the serious issues that need to be contemplated, but also, the lighter aspects of social encounter. I hope that your magazine, St. Augustine Legal Affairs (STALA), can promote both of these vital elements of the well rounded law student. This in turn, I know, will help to inculcate the kind of model lawyer that I would like our new faculty to create. In these pages, I encourage you to interrogate pressing social concerns, have lively interviews, inform us of new perspectives and simply, allow us to laugh, to have fun. The establishment of this magazine is but one more step to our quest to become a premier institution, not only in the UWI, but in the region and beyond.

I wish you every success as you build on this worthy goal. Congratulations.

Professor Rose-Marie Belle AntoineDean, Faculty of Law

Professor Rose-Marie Belle AntoineDean, Faculty of Law

The Principal of the University of the West Indies, Professor Sankat, receiving the first installment of STALA from some members of the past Publications Committee (2012-2013)

From left: Stephanie Rajkumar, Nura Aminah Ali, Professor Sankat, Radeyah H. Ali, Kavell Joseph, Miguel ARE Vasquez.

Professor Sankat with past President of the Law Society (2012-2013), Mr. Antonio Emmanuel

PRINCIPAL RECEIVES FIRST COPY OF STALA ISSUE 1

Upon being elected as the Sports Committee Chairman of the Law Society for the academic year 2012-2013, my goal for the committee was to ensure that healthy extracurricular activities would be able to aid the student body in learn-ing proper time man-agement, as we all know that the career path we have chosen requires us to properly manage our time. Numerous events were planned with this goal in mind, such as the Year One Challenge and the Sports Day, but the stand out project was the

Sports Committee’s charity drive. With the backing of the very first Law Society Executive, plans were put in place to raise funds from the students by asking them to contribute toward the worthy cause, and the re-sponse was phenomenal, as in a the matter of just 2 months, we were able to raise in excess of $4,500.00, due mainly in part to the hard work of my Committee

Members Asif Hosein Shah, Aidan Ramdath and Javed Mohammed.

At the end of Semester One exams, we began the

task of se-lecting an orphanage, the criteria being one which was in as much need as pos-

sible, after looking at the list of all the or-

phanages in Trinidad, it was decided that we would try our best to impart some

Christmas cheer to the children of the El Shaddai Restoration Home located at Restore Road in Gaspa-rillo. The orphanage was comprised of 21 children, 11 boys and 10 girls, rang-ing in ages from 6 to 21. Once we knew how many kids there were, we set out on the task of purchasing the gifts for the children. Each child was able to get a Jan Sport book bag with note books and a pencil case filled with stationery, along with various sport-ing equipment such as bas-ketballs, footballs, cricket bats and balls as well as novels, board games and

EL SHADDAI CHARITY INITIATIVEBy ArshAAd MohAMMed

Mr. Arshaad Mohammed, Sports Commit-tee Chairperson, UWI STA Law Society

2012-2013

other toys such as dolls for the girls and radio control cars for the boys. We also purchased lunch so that we could spend part of the day with the kids.

On the 2nd of January, stu-dents from the faculty all car-pooled and drove from the St. Augustine campus to Gasparillo, after some wrong turns along the way we managed to arrive at the orphanage at 12 noon, but none of us were prepared for the truly inspiring day that awaited us. As soon as we entered the orphanage the children took some of the students by their hand and with the brightest of smiles lead them into their home to partake in their fa-vourite games of “spoons” and “uno”. None of us would have guessed that behind those smiles were

children who in some cases were abandoned or worse abused by their parents.

After the kids all introduced themselves, the students all took turns in handing over the gifts to the children, their faces all lit up on dis-covering that in each book bag there were novels and interactive games as well as sporting equipment, their appreciation showed in the warm embraces that the students who handed out the gifts received from them. The boys were the first to put their gifts to use as they challenged the guys from the faculty to a small goal competition, it would be nice to disclose the score, but it may re-flect badly on the foot-balling prowess that is the Law Society football team. The girls lead by Saman-

tha Ramsaran engaged in a lively game of UNO filled with “ohh’s” and “ahh’s” and the sometimes enthu-siastic shouts of “Uno!” from the eventual winners. We were having such a great time that we all forgot we didn’t yet have lunch, after lunch, Arlene, Shivangelie, Nikki and Janine read to the younger kids as we got ready to bade our new found friends good-bye, this turned out to be harder than expected and many hugs were yet again exchanged and promises by the students to return another time to keep the children company. As we left, there were many long faces, as we all wished we could have spent more time in each other’s com-pany. But we all left taking some very valuable lessons along the way, the most im-

portant being that in a time where we all motivated by our own desires of success and self actualization we sometimes forget our less-er fortunate fellow men, women and children, and in a country calling for the social fabric to be tailored to ensure greater togeth-erness, initiatives such as these should be continued by the Law society execu-tives of the future.

“The traditional rules regarding the effect of unincor-porated treaties on domestic law have been thrown out the door in the Commonwealth Caribbean. Both the Car-ibbean Court of Justice (hereinafter CCJ), and Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (hereinafter PC) has not only brought international law ‘through the back door,’ but allowed it to determine the legality of capital punish-ment more generally. When the recent decisions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (hereinafter IA-CHR) are added to the mix, no Caribbean state will ever be able to implement the death penalty again.

The general rule in the Commonwealth Caribbean is that treaties have no legal effect in domestic law until incor-porated by an Act of Parliament. In Thomas v Baptiste [2000] 2 AC 1, the majority stressed the importance that international conventions do not alter domestic law un-less they are incorporated. Further, most Caribbean Con-stitutions with the exception of Antigua and Barbuda, do not address the ratification of treaties. However, two ba-sic theories have emerged, where some States have adopt-ed a dualist view which assumes that international law and municipal law are two separate legal systems which exist independently of each other. The second theory, called the monist view, has a unitary perception of international and municipal law as forming part of the same legal or-der. Treaties are defined in Article 2(1)(a) of the 1969 Vi-enna Convention on the Law of Treaties (hereinafter VCLT) as ‘an international agreement concluded between States in written form and governed by international law, whether embodied in a single instrument or in two or more related instruments whatever is particular designation.’

The impact of non-incorporated treaties in most Car-ibbean countries has been plagued by confusion due to the judgments of the PC, CCJ and the IACHR. This is further compounded by the fact that the fundamental human rights found in Commonwealth Caribbean Con-stitutions are fashioned after the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As such, this international in-

strument is highly relevant because it has strong persua-sive authority to the interpretation of these constitutional provisions, thus skewing the scales in favour of a more eurocentric, conservative view on the enforcement of the mandatory death penalty in Caribbean Commonwealth Constitutions.

In the landmark PC decision in Neville Lewis v v AG of Jamaica [2000] UKPC 35, appellants were on death row after being convicted of murder. The PC held that although an unincorporated treaty did not create individ-ual enforceable rights, it can widen the scope of common law rights to include awaiting the report of the IACHR in considering whether to exercise the prerogative of mercy. The court based its decision on the constitutionally pro-tected concept of protection of the law, which must be given a generous interpretation according to the Court in Minister of Home Affairs v Fisher. The Lewis de-cision is therefore the authoritative precedent for those Commonwealth Caribbean countries which have not yet accepted the jurisdiction of the CCJ. Nonetheless, it is a quite contentious and troubling decision, since the Lewis precedent has been used to derive principles which go beyond the scope of its mandate, such as the perception that unincorporated treaties is directly enforceable in do-mestic law.

Thus, since Lewis, the status of unincorporated treaties in domestic law has been raised as a direct issue before the courts. This discourse was addressed in Joseph and Boyce, a matter which escalated all the way to the Barba-dos PC, the CCJ, which Barbados had then accepted as its final Court of Appeal, and culminating with the decision by the IACHR.

In Boyce and Joseph v The Queen [2004] UKPC 32, the crux of the matter before the PC was whether mandatory capital punishment was unconstitutional. Al-though having to contend with the precedent established in Lewis, the PC affirmed that the savings law clause

The Effect of International Law on the Implementation of the Death PenaltyBy Miguel Vasquez

CONTROVERSIAL CORNER

made mandatory capital punishment permissible. Fur-ther, the PC held in paragraph 25 of their judgment that even if Barbados’ mandatory death penalty violated inter-national obligations, it would have no binding effect un-less transformed into domestic law. Although Barbados had ratified the American Convention on Human Rights which provided for an individual right to petition, it was not incorporated into domestic law. However, the PC opted against an exclusively monist view and opined that unin-corporated treaties can be used to interpret municipal law which is ambiguous.

“the courts are not only sub-tly bringing international law through the back door, they are sending the death penalty out the other way”

The matter was then referred to the CCJ in AG v Joseph and Boyce (2006) CCJ Appeal No CV 2 of 2006 where, interestingly enough, Justices De la Bastide and Sauders held that the prisoners had a legitimate expectation that they would be allowed a reasonable time within which to await the report of the Inter-American Commission to support their case for commutation. For the State to attempt to execute the prisoners without giving them first that op-portunity was a denial of their right to the protection of the law. Despite the CCJ’s warning that the Boyce deci-sion should not be seen as opening up avenues for the wholesale domestic enforcement of unincorporated trea-ties, the extent of this legitimate expectation principle, which can and has already been applied to other treaties, makes it a dangerous avenue for expansion.

Finally, when the State was brought before the IACHR, the Court held that all treaties to which a state is a par-ty, whether incorporated or unincorporated, are binding upon that State at international law. The crux of the IA-CHR’s decision was that mandatory capital punishment is prohibited by the Convention, and section 26 of the Constitution of Barbados must be repealed because of this violation. Since the relevant Act failed to individu-alize the sentence in conformity with the characteristics of the crime, it was in violation of the Convention which reserves the most severe form of punishment for the most severe illicit acts. This radical judgment was man-

ifestly implying that domestic law must conform to in-ternational obligations, and constitutional limitations are no excuse for failure to comply with treaty obligations. Despite holding this, the Court claimed that capital pun-ishment is not per se incompatible with or prohibited by the Convention.

The fine distinctions drawn in Boyce and analogous cas-es create a danger that they will be interpreted to mean that Commonwealth Caribbean States now have directly enforceable treaty obligations which citizens can claim by pursing remedies before international bodies. This begs the daunting question: can Caribbean States now be de-fined as monist States?

On another note, the continued existence of the man-datory death penalty have been faced with several other dilemmas. One of the most difficult predicaments is un-questionably the Pratt and Morgan principle, where a delay in excess of five years would constitute ‘cruel and inhuman punishment’ contrary to the Constitution of Jamaica. States, in attempting to avoid the international treaty process, were effectively trying to avoid the prob-lem of undue delay in administering justice identified in Pratt and Morgan. They could only do this by prevent-ing the lengthy process of petitions to international bod-ies, a process which they could not expedite as they had no control over it.

Moreover, Article 18 of the VCLT requires States to re-frain from acts which would defeat the object and pur-pose of a treaty when it is signed unto the treaty, or has expressed its consent to be bound. Additionally, Article 18 in conjunction with Article 26 of the VCLT, which requires bound States to perform treaties in which they are bound in good faith, constitutes what could be con-sidered as a legally binding obligation of the State to ac-quiesce to the terms of the treaty.

Although the Courts have argued that the Inter-American Convention is not aimed at removing the death penalty, they have certainly taken a stance which illustrates this, thus conforming to human rights jurisprudence from international courts and bodies. In light of these recent developments, the courts are not only subtly bringing in-ternational law through the back door, they are sending the death penalty out the other way.

Sweet TrinbagoBy Jullisa George

Imagine a land of oil, steel pan, mass and calypsoWith music so sweet

It bout to make you move your feet With people so warm and friendly Trust me everybody is your family

It will take one trip to this beautiful twin ilseAnd you’ll be begging immigration for an extension

I call to your attention The precise beauty of an island oh so southern

No matter what time of year you visitYou sure to be in time for a good good lime.

Little GirlBy Kristen Sewnarine

Hide in your room little girl,and don’t look back.

You don’t want to hear, you don’t want to know.Yet why does this situation continue to grow?

There is a problem rising in the atmosphere,between two that you cannot bear,

The sun and the moon, ahhh yes it’s their battle today.Like so many others you’ve heard you just want to run

away.

Hide in your corner little girl and wait for the silence,the silence that you long to hear.

But it’s in their tone of voice you cannot help but fear.You have a choice little girl and you are neither ready nor

prepared.However you go out there with smiles and lies,

And nobody knows or hears your cries.

They are silent and forbidden like you are unable to tell a soul

You drown them in a memory for that is all you can con-trol.

Little girl, little girl hide in your corner and stay.It will soon become the past, but you still can’t forget

yesterday.

CarnivalBy Reisa Singh

Carnival is a time to show them what we mean by ‘we is’ Action brought to life instead of written ‘we are’

Music that acts as the spokesman for its glorification,To the listeners who anticipate of this exciting jubilation.Expression of our culture in these couple of days brought

to life,Masked any other time of the year otherwise.

Joyful parades of mocojumbies and burrokeets furnishes our masterpiece.

Memories of previous years fade into the creativity of the next rendering to our hopeful hearts.

A weekend of declaration that transcends much more than our country’s love,

The explosion of old and new,Sparrow and Machel makes variation in our art .

An array of colours painting not only the skies but every road,

Here we explore pretty mass and jouvert, differently showed.

Dancing under our Caribbean Sun,Partying every second til the festival done.

Kiddie mass makes evident of our continuing heritageA celebration where we, they cannot cage.

And at the end our minds are filled with successions we gladly take,

Knowing that til it comes back around our identity they will not shake.

By RISHANA BIDAISEE

EXTRA CURRICULAR SUCCESS CORNER By Denelle Singh

Crystal Charles is a former queen of Sangre Grande. She holds a BA in Communication Studies & Gender St (Hons) from the University of the West Indies and is currently studying to become a Lawyer. She is a high school teacher in the subject areas of English A, Communication St & Caribbean St. She is heavily involved in social & cultural development especially in the community of Sangre Grande. She is also the founder of the only summer talent show & treat for children of Sangre Grande and environs. Crystal balances her life as an academic with her love for Calypso. Some of her accomplishments include:-• 2012 - 1st UWI Calypso Monarch, 3rd place Sangre Grande, 1st place Vintage, 3rd place Grand Rievere• 2011- 1st Grande Rievere Calypso Monarch, 2nd Valencia, 2nd UWI, 2nd Tunapuna, 3rd Manzanilla, 4th Arouca, 2nd Chaguanas Vintage• 2010- 3rd place Tunapuna Calypso Monarch, 3rd UWI, 3rd Valencia• 2009- 1st Tunapuna Calypso Monarch, 2nd Valencia, 3rd UWI, Arouca finalist,• Past Sangre Grande Jr Secondary School Calypso Monarch• Past Northeastern College Calypso Monarch• Finalist of the Jr Soca Monarch Comp

Life for me is not about only about the constant study of Law; but it’s also about getting the right mix. No, not the mix on a disc but the most impor-tant mix between academics and keeping fit. My name is Dayna Samaroo, a student who has just completed year one of the LLB degree program and for my extra-co-curricular activity, I am competitively involved in the sport of table-tennis. I have been playing this sport consistently for the last seven years and as a result I have achieved many feats during this short space of

time.

So far my achievements are: Registered player with the Trinidad and Tobago Table-Tennis As-sociation. National table-tennis player who has represented Trinidad and To-bago at the Caribbean Championships. Recipient of 8 national table-tennis awards for ranking amongst the top five under 18 and under 21 girls. A collection of 34 trophies and 15 medals. One national and zonal title accredited to my name.

CRYSTAL CHARLES

DAYNA SAMAROO

TalentShowTalent Show

Annual General Meeting

PICTURE PERFECT

HumanRights

Seminar

HughWooding Seminar

CocktailParty

BrainCooler2013

CCJInternational LawMoot Competition

2013

SportsDay 2013

Handing Over

Ceremony

TRIBUTE TO DR LEGALL

By Shivangelie Ramoutar

‘A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.’ -Henry Brooks Adams

As have all my lecturers, Dr. Legall has made her mark in my grooming as a law student. Not only has she been a significant guide in my legal studies, but she has also been and continues to be, a source of inspiration.

William Arthur Ward prescribes that ‘The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.’ Dr Legall is indeed a great teacher. Her un-flinching determination to give 110%; her open approach; her optimism; her willingness to share her legal experiences to mo-tivate the disheartened and; her understanding that power is not a finite pie – that one learns every day and from everyone, are just some of the ways Dr. Legall has had a bearing on me.

Socrates professed that a knowledge of our own ignorance is the first step to true knowledge. So too, Dr Legall has adopted this approach in piloting our legal studies, thereby increasing my admiration of her humility. Dr Legall also practiced Mahat-ma Gandhi’s teachings with us, demonstrating that“[t]he golden rule of conduct is mutual toleration, seeing that we will never all think alike and we shall always see Truth in fragment and from different points of vision”, an invaluable trait, especially for a professional.

Dr Legall constantly encourages the ethic proposed by Tyron Edwards, an American theologian, that being, ‘If you would thor-oughly know anything, teach it to others’. In doing so, not only have we been able to help fellow classmates, we have helped our-selves the most as putting this mental wealth into circulation enhanced the depth, confirmation and readiness for use of our knowledge.

However, most exemplary is that Dr Legall went a step further, demonstrating true concern for her students’ legal career, in agreeing to lecture an extra course, the Law of Trusts, despite already reaching her quota of courses. Such lecturers are rare. In this respect, though the year group faced various difficulties, we were indeed blessed with exceptional role models.

These were just some of the many lessons which Dr Legall was able to impart onto me, as her student, albeit in a more simple and succinct manner. Now, I can only say thank you very much. I hope I can apply these lessons effectively to my professional and personal life.

Tribute To Mr. Gilkes

By Arelene Chochan

“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.” - Albert Einstein.

Mr. Gilkes is well known to all students in the LLB Law program at St. Augustine Campus for is instrumental role in guiding us through the interesting, yet challenging course of Criminal Law in year one. He is no doubt a favorite lecturer amongst the students because of his style in lecturing being humorous at times but at the same time ensuring that we all grasp the seriousness of the lecture. Additionally, we all appre-ciate his humility and pleasantness outside of the lecture room. His lectures are always a joy to attend and they are avenues to learn valuable life lessons about being a successful lawyer. One of my vivid memories of Mr. Gilkes would be when he told us what to expect in the examination but then ends by saying that he knows we would all do exactly what he says not to do.

Mr. Gilkes is by far one of the most inspirational, humble, funny lecturers at the Faulty of Law. One of the many things I admired most about Mr. Gilkes was his lecturing style, the way he kept the class awake and the enthusiasm that he instilled among any new Year 1 in the LLB program. Criminal Law in itself is a very interesting course, but Mr. Gilkes elevated our interest in this course through his practical examples of real life cases which helped me to understand some of the dilemmas that a new Attorney may have to face in practice. At the end of any Criminal Law class, we were so empowered by the lecture that we all were certain that we would like to be a Criminal Law Practitioner. That is the impact that Mr. Gilkes can have as a lecturer on a student. His recollection of his childhood experiences made the class all the more enjoyable and furthered my appreciation of the course.

For me, Mr. Gilkes is still a student at heart! He understands better than some lecturers I believe, the beauty of being young and the challenge of balancing studies with leisure. His recol-lection of his days of being a student reassures any new stu-dent struggling to be successful in their studies that the key to success is to balance your time. As a successful lawyer, Mr. Gilkes demonstrated through his wealth of experiences that a law student can party and still excel in exams. The key is to prioritize and balance time. I remember speaking to Mr. Gilkes just before Carnival about my plans for the long weekend, I told him that I plan to use the long weekend productively to get school work done. At that point, Mr. Gilkes said that he understood my point but he reminded me that I needed to take break at some time and enjoy the season. The St. Augustine Campus is truly blessed to have a lecturer such as Mr. Gilkes.

The Oxford Dictionary defines Epilepsy as a neurologi-cal disorder marked by sudden recurrent episodes of sen-sory disturbance, loss of consciousness, or convulsions, associated with abnormal electrical activity in the brain. As budding Lawyers, how much do we really know about the diseases impaling our society today? Do we merely limit our mindset to the most common diseases such as cancer, downs syndrome, or HIV and Aids? Ask yourselves, do you really know about epilepsy? Did you know that about 1 adult in 200, suffers from recur-rent epilepsy and more than 180,000 people are diagnosed with epilepsy every year? Did you also know that ANY-ONE can have seizures a.k.a. epileptic attacks? It really is a scary thought, so what can you do to help a victim of epilepsy? Here are some simple things that just may help you to help someone you know…

How to help during a seizure:

o Protect the person from injury.o Keep him or her from falling if you can, or try to guide the person gently to the floor.o Try to move furniture or other objects that might injure the person during the seizure.o If the person is having a seizure and is on the ground when you arrive, try to position the person on his or her side so that fluid can leak out of the mouth. But be careful not to apply too much pressure to the body.o Do not force anything, including your fingers, into the person’s mouth. Putting something in the per-son’s mouth may cause injuries to him or her, such as chipped teeth or a fractured jaw. You could also get bit-ten.o Do not try to hold down or move the person. This can cause injury, such as a dislocated shoulder.

Purple Day is an international effort dedicated to increas-ing awareness about epilepsy worldwide. On March 26th annually, people in countries around the world are invited to wear purple and host events in support of epilepsy awareness. The St. Augustine Law Society 2013-2014 held Purple Day this year on Tuesday March 26th 2013 in our show of awareness of epilepsy.

“Did you know that about 1 adult in 200, suffers from recurrent epilep-sy and more than 180,000 people are diagnosed with epilepsy every year?”

BY RADEYAH H. ALI

TRIBUTE TODR ARIF BULKAN

By Chelsea Stewart

I did not have a first impression of Mr. Bulkan but I did in fact have a lasting impression. I understood that he was my Human Rights Law lecturer and like all my other lecturers, he deserved the respect of his profession. This was my general approach until time began to slowly dwin-dle by and rather than cope and pace myself, the fact that there was not a text book for me to become cozy with, my approach to Human Rights Law and Mr. Bulkan, be-came four hours a week of still respect, warped in fear and a consistent uneasiness. So, in other words, yes, I was intimidated and daunted by Mr. Bulkan.

I recall our very first midterm assignment, not contribut-ing to our final percentage but I presume it was for the purpose of gaging our general levels of understanding thus far within the course. Well, it was a colossal disaster. I was beginning to think that I was a little slow and I know Mr. Bulkan thought it too. But I am now not ashamed to say that I not only failed the assignment, it was not even marked. YES! It was that bad and I completely missed the mark. But, God never gives you something you cannot handle and if this doesn’t fit in your garden, you can also rely on the saying that ‘everything happens for a reason’; because the result of the assignment was the beginning of a beautiful relationship between Commonwealth Car-ibbean Human Rights Law and me

It was not only the ungraded paper that fuelled this pen-chant for Human Rights Law, but it was also the Death Penalty Forum held at the Noor Hasanali Auditorium, where a few of us had the absolute privilege of hearing Dr. Bulkan’s speak, in a non-Human Rights Lecturing ca-pacity. It was then I realized that to succeed in this course, you literally had to feed off of his every word in order to understand. With no text to lean on, lectures became rituals of intense listening and absorbing.

Fear quickly morphed into admiration and respect; and while perhaps he does not know how he is assessed and graded amongst the students of the law faculty, I am cer-tain that I speak for all when I say that Dr. Christopher Bulkan is an outstanding lecturer whose skill is deserving of the same grade he gave to me.

TRIBUTE TO MR JOHN JEREMIE SC

By Shivash Maraj

At the end of three years at the University of the West Indies, I can safely say that it has indeed been a privilege to be taught by Mr. Jeremie in four law courses (Law of Torts 2, Company Law, Corporate Management and Cor-porate Finance). From his stories about his legal prac-tice to his four hour sessions on Corporate Finance, Mr. Jeremie successfully inspired us to become what we had all set out to become when we applied to the Univer-sity to study law: Successful Lawyers. His speeches on the importance of working hard and reading to get a de-gree knew no end. He would always try to give us the worksheets at the start of the term with the comforting words of “progress at your own pace”, however as a re-sult of this everyone knew that by the time the semester neared its end, there would be absolutely no excuse for not knowing at least enough to pass. This leads to anoth-er famous line that Mr. Jeremie always uses, “…you have to try very hard to fail one of my courses.” During the course of the last year, Mr. Jeremie occupied the office that was situated next to the reading room, as the walls of the faculty are very thin Mr. Jeremie inadvertently became one of the few or maybe even the only lecturer who knew the thoughts of the students. He would often come to class and refer to these voiced opinions to the amusement of the majority of the class, and of course the dismay to those whose private conversation had just been divulged. Having Mr. Jeremie as a Lecturer ensures that one walks away from every class learning something new or having a troublesome topic clarified. Although his attempt to get us to read an entire case may have been unsuccessful for the most part, Mr Jeremie has and will continue to motivate the Law students at the University of the West Indies, and try to the best of his ability (I’m sure) to ensure that we as law students don’t enter the legal world completely clueless. This daunting task added to the various administrative problems of the faculty and Mr. Jeremie’s survival of it all serves as proof that he is indeed an experienced and effective lecturer, and maybe one day he would be rewarded by having a class in which all of the students read an entire case.

FIRST PLACE WINNER: Mr Richard Jag-gasar (left), Publications Committee Chair-

person: Radeyah H. Ali (right)

LAW MEME COMPETITION

BEAUTIFULLY CASUALBy Radeyah H. Ali

CUTE

UPDOSIDE

BRAID

“A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous.”

- Coco Chanel

Girls! Have you ever felt as though you’re not sure how to style your hair to go to school? Hairstyles can either make or break an outfit. These ideas are fun, classy ways to mix it up while still looking causal enough for school!

Most importantly, BE YOUR-SELF and you will never go wrong!!

Men With No Class Co. v Men With Class (2013)

By Michael G Charles

Facts:The defendants were three male Attorneys, each charged for separate offences under the Well-Dressed Men Act 2000. Each man had gone to his office dressed in a way that many thought violated the Act. Mr. Tom had worn a shirt that no one could tell whether it was white or yellow. It had significant stains and any observer could see that he either didn’t own an iron or electricity went that morning. His shoe also was as dull as his smile. Mr. Dick wore a tie that was tied improperly and was loose. It also appeared as if he was blindfolded when selecting a tie to match his shirt color. At least the tie matched one of the sides of his socks. As he walked the streets pedestrians wondered whether he worked at a law firm or a circus. Mr. Harry had worn a checkered shirt that seemingly belonged to someone three times his size and a striped pants so baggy that he could use the extra fabric to make 2 others.

Issue:Whether the attire of Mr. Tom, Dick and Harry was con-trary to s.1 to s.20 of the Well-Dressed Men Act 2000.

You decide.

Recently I conducted an online survey and the results re-veal that most people, most of the time, judge you by what you’re wearing. If you care about what people think, care about what you wear!

People expect lawyers to dress well. To the male readers, consider s.1 to s.20 of the Well-Dressed Men Act :

1. Wear flexible suit colors including navy, charcoal and medium grey. Your shirt color should match your suit and be tucked in fully.2. Unbotton the bottom button of your jacket or vest. Its not meant to be buttoned. 3. Your jacket sleeve should be short enough to show about half inch of your cuff.4. Not too baggy; Nor too tight. Fitted is right. 5. Flat-front trousers beat pleated pants.6. Pants should end at shoes without puddling.7. All clothing should be clean, fresh and ironed.8. Ties are a great way to express yourself, but keep it tasteful. Make sure your tie compliments your shirt, suit or sweater. 9. The tie knot should always conceal the collar band. If it doesn’t, it is too loose. Ties should never have dimples. 10. Your tie should reach your belt-line. 11. Slimmer ties are trending. So are eldridge and trinity knots.12. Brown shoes, brown belt. Black shoes, black belt.13. Square toed shoe aren’t classy. 14. Some things look better with age but not your white under-jerseys and socks. 15. Reserve white socks for the gym. Wear dress socks that match with your pants and shoe.16. Belt or suspenders; Never both. 17. Never confuse a watch and a bracelet. Wear your watch securely on your wrist. 18. Replace sporty watches with something more so-phisticated.19. Eyeglasses don’t just serve a function, but can en-hance your overall look.20. When using cologne, if unsure about how much is enough, its best to use none at all.

Anyone found to be in violation of these prin-ciples will be punished

by law. Remember, “Clothes maketh

the man.”

MEET THE LAW SOCIETY EXECUTIVE

2013 - 2014

From Left Back: Abdul Mohammed, Radeyah H. Ali, Miguel ARE Vasquez, Asif Hosein-Shah, Andre Cole, Kaleem Hosein,

John Lee, Shane Pantin

From Left Front:Nyla Kungiesingh, Shari Deonarinesingh, Arlene Chochan, Resia Singh, Richard Jaggasar

Missing: Keron Bohlai, Amy Castagne

Asif Hosein-ShahPresident

Miguel ARE VasquezVice-President

Richard JaggasarPublic Relations Officer

Shari DeonarinesinghSecretary

Nyla KungiesinghAssistant Secretary

Kaleem HoseinTreasurer

Radeyah H. AliPublications Committee

Chairperson

Arlene ChochanConstitutional Committee

Chairperson

John LeeConstitutional Committee

Chairperson

Reisa SinghSports Committee

Chairperson

Keron BohlaiYear 3 Representative

Shane PantinYear 2 Representative

Abdul MohammedYear 1 Representative

Andre Cole Returning Officer

Amy CastagneEntertainment Commit-

tee Chairperson

LEGALLY SEARCHED

ACTUS REUSATTORNEYBILL OF RIGHTSCIVILCLAIMANTCOMMON LAWCONSTITUTIONCOURTDEEDDE FACTO

DEFENDANTEX POST FACTOGAVELINNOCENCEINTER ALIAJUDGEJUSTICELAWLAWSUITLOCUS STANDI

MENS REAMOOTNATURAL LAWNEGLIGENCEPRECEDENCERIGHTSRULE OF LAWSMOKE BALLSTATUTETORT

FIND:

LEGALLY PUZZLED

ACROSS1. decision maker3. decision of petit judge or jury6. employee of court handling its business11. guilty mind14. specilist court16. assertion of defendant18. party who appeals20. written order 21. person charges are brought against22. guilty act23. active in decision making in criminal cases24. failure to exercise duty to care25. member of the jury

DOWN2. log of court cases4. type of remedy5. offender giving victim a sense of unease7.rules set out by decisions gone before8. security given for release of criminal defendant10. legal agreement between two entities12. mandatory call for a witness to court13. offensive physical contact17. answer and give evidence in courtplace over which a court can preside

TRIBUTE TO MR. FYARD HOSEIN

By Lyrinda Persad

Leonardo Da Vinci once stated that learning nev-er exhausts the mind. Mr. Hosein is a dedicated lecturer who is prepared to impart his knowledge with students. Students were always amazed at his ability to recall numerous cases for any topic in Law and Legal Systems and Constitutional law with accuracy, fluidity and confidence.

Additionally, before exams, the group assign-ments or ‘wiki groups’ proved to be beneficial to ensure readiness and provided us with opportu-nities to practice exam questions. The study sem-inars which followed these assignments greatly assisted us as we got feedback from our lecturer who steered us in the right direction. Punctuali-ty and discipline were also greatly valued and in-stilled in us.

As students of his tutorial group, Mr. Hosein en-couraged us to work diligently and provided us with guidance and advice not only for tutorials but for the world of work. His kindness and will-ingness to communicate with students extended outside the classroom setting and into the corri-dors as he spoke with us if we happened to cross paths.

Indeed, Mr. Hosein sought to achieve the best results for his students as he put certain measures in place to ensure that we strive for excellence. It was truly a privilege to be in his classes.

TRIBUTE TO JUSTICE ROLSTON

NELSONBy Shivash Maraj

During the year 2012/2013 Justice Nelson has taught the courses Insurance law and Revenue law in semesters one and two respectively. They were both small classes which served as an added benefit to the students who did show up. Justice Nelson’s teaching style was one of absolute thor-oughness. Almost every word he said on Reve-nue Law was something useful to know. In the short time that I’ve known him, Justice Nelson showed exceptional commitment to being a lec-turer. Even though he was extremely busy due to his duties as a judge in the Caribbean Court of Justice, he always made time to listen to the queries of his students. Sometimes he will spend time after class to provide further clarification. Justice Nelson can definitely be said to be an ex-cellent role model.

Although he is extremely knowledgeable and ex-perienced, he carries about himself with a great amount of humility that reflects a bygone era, a trait that all of us will do well to emulate. I hope, and I’m sure that it’s a sentiment shared by my peers, that we have further encounters with him. I believe there is still a lot to be learnt from him.

It was indeed time well spent learning Revenue Law under Justice Nelson, and the students of the Faculty of Law could not have had a more thorough, experienced and patient Lecturer.

LEGAL CANVAS

Artist: Denelle Singh

Artist: Radeyah H. Ali

Bamboo Sunset Abstract SwirlsOrchid Close Up

Parrot Recreation Dreamer

RICHARD JAGGASAR

What motivated you to partake in this competi-tion?

As aspiring lawyers we all have to appear in court at some point

of our career. Mooting gives us the opportunity to do so in a safe and fun filled environment where we are blessed with the chance to actively advocate an is-sue. Mooting therefore is not an option but a necessity. I viewed it as a learning experience all the way and it did not let me down. Above all else what really moti-vated me to participate was the thought that I may have been blessed with the opportunity to represent UWI St Augustine Campus at a regional moot. This was an opportunity to rep-resent a faculty still in its new-born stages. While this in itself should be enough, the driving force of my parents, friends and supporters cannot be understat-ed. These factors together with some I cannot find words to ex-plain are what drove me towards mooting and more so pushed me to be the best mooter I could have been. I will continue to strive for

CARIBBEAN COURT OF JUSTICE INTERNATIONAL Law MOOT COMPETITION

Left to right: Mr. Rajiv Sochan, Mr. Richard Jaggasar, Ms. Perusha Lord.

RAJIV SOCHAN

Is mooting something you would like to contin-ue?

Mooting was an intimidating experience at the outset. Howev-er, after having experienced the mooting in its entirety I can say with great certainty that I would like to continue with it. It was a unique and invaluable expe-rience.

What are some of the benefits of taking part in the Moot Competition?

Honestly one of the main bene-fits of taking part in the Moot Competition is that it helps with development on an individual level. Mooting teaches you how to improve your research skills, how to communicate your ideas in a better way, you learn how to

be more critical in your think-ing and you also learn to how to work with other people and try to find common ground. In my experience the interactions with our lecturers outside of the classroom was an added benefit. Not only does their insight and individual mooting experienc-es influence your own, but after that level of interaction you view your lecturers in a different light than before.

If you had to sum up the entire experience in one line, what would you say?

Mooting was a challenging, in-valuable and very enlightening experience.

What advice would you give other students who are interested in Moot-ing?

Don’t pass up the opportuni-ty to moot. If you think it is something that you may want to try then by all means do so. It can only add to your growth as a person aspiring to be a practic-ing attorney.

Any other comments?

If you decide to attempt moot-ing then do it to the best of your ability. It shouldn’t be taken too lightly. A great deal of ex-tra time and effort is required for you to truly benefit from the mooting experience.

excellence and I urge each and every student to participate in future competitions. How did the preparation for the Moot Compe-tition affect your usual Law workload?

Enough credit and praise cannot be given to my teammates, Ms. Perusha Lord and Mr. Rajiv Sochan; who stood with me and shared the workload equally at all times. This together with our faculty support team of Mr Af-fonso and Mrs Elias-Roberts made the workload manageable.But I must admit at no point did it feel like work to me. I will definitely suffer the full reach of the law as I will be found guilty of the following – “choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life,” Confucius. The 6am practice sessions, the constant communication with teammates, the steady and unwavering trips to the library were just some of the things involved. Becoming a lawyer is within each and every one of us and this competition was mere practice for the rest of our lives. Loving law is just the start. Loving the work of law is the means.Yes, the workload was heavy. Yes, it was essentially six cours-es we bore the weight of. No, our tutors did not care. But the work is worth it and the feel-ing you get during that moment when you are making your sub-missions to a panel of judges far older and far more experienced in more ways than you and I can count; is worth it. What advice would you

PERUSHA LORD

How does the Law Fac-ulty prepare you for this?

As the Law faculty is a new faculty, the initial preparation was done by the Law Society. Students had to enter a Moot-ing competition in order to do Mooting as a course in the next semester. However as the next semester started, our lectures begun to guide and give us the much needed assistance. We were drilled military style by our coach Mr. Affonso. Although this was pretty intense, it ena-bled me, to be a better me. To give all that I had, and when I thought I had given enough, to dig deeper. We were taught court room etiquette; also the proper lay out of our arguments, and announcing appearances; added to that, how to address the judg-es and the court as a whole. All these things might seem simple, but that was far from it.

How did you feel when you were in front the judges?

It was truly a feeling of honour, accomplishment and joy wrapped up with humility. I told myself, “This is what I worked for, let’s get this job done.” While addressing the judges what was also a dominant thought in my mind was, “Is this what you want to do for the rest of your life?” I was able to positively confirm, that I can see myself doing nothing else, a childhood dream, coming into fruition.

How were you able to deal with and under-

stand the Fact pattern?

The fact pattern was quite straight forward. My family and friends always tell me that I over think things. This, I used to my advantage while dealing with this fact pattern. I thought of every angle possible, indeed it was time consuming.


Do it! Do it! Do it! That’s put-ting it pretty straight forward. This course would help you, in more ways than you think. For persons that are self-conscious and shy, it would give you the much needed backbone, which is a necessity in this field of work. On the other hand for those who are pompous and feel they know it all, or overly proud, it would put reality in front of you and teach you that life is a learning experience and we do not know it all.

Any other comments?

This is a time in our life in which we should take opportu-nities and make the best of it. We may not be perfect at what we do, however with practice we could very well come close to be-ing perfect. In this journey being taken, we should find our self and be able not only to exist but to excel.

give other students who are interested in Moot-ing?

Do it! There is not an inkling of doubt in my mind that each and every law student has the capability to be a mooter. You will not be alone and once you recognise this the fear of being rejected quickly flutters away. Happiness is not the lack of problems or the denial of trials but the acceptance that we can overcome them. As an individ-ual and as a people. We are the future lawyers of the Caribbe-an and as we recognise this we know mooting isn’t an option but a necessity. Any other comments?

Utilise the libraries of Hugh Wooding and CCJ as well as our own International Rela-tions and Alma Jordon librar-ies. Your lecturers and Ms J. Rajah only wish to aid you in your endeavours; allow them this opportunity.Practice practice practice. Pres-ent in front the mirror and don’t be afraid to talk to a family member or friend. They often see things in ways our legal minds forget. Even the youngest can point out some obvious flaws in your speaking technics that you missed.Above all else, do not forget to think outside the box. You are the sum of all your experiences and that is what mooting seeks to add to.

JUSTIN DWARIKA


Absolutely, because mooting has been a learning experience and a one of a kind endeavour. I would definitely like to build on the knowledge and experience I have gained from the Jessup competition and further develop myself in order to capture the essence of advocacy.

What are some of the benefits of taking part in the Moot Competition?

Benefits I obtained from partici-pating in mooting include; The ability to stand up and have a conversation with judges about the issues at hand through application of the requisite law; The development of the skill set necessary to draft memorials; Increased self-confidence and le-gal writing skills; A new perspective on law, as I was afforded the opportunity to

prepare and present law orally, as compared to a written exam; Mooting is also a practical fo-rum which allows students in-sight into the life and role of lawyers.

If you had to sum up the entire experience in one line, what would you say?

A competition of a lifetime that showcases mooting styles, culture, fun and friendship be-tween and among law students throughout the world.


Regarding the Jessup Moot competition, interested mooters should familiarise themselves and understand international law as a whole and definite-ly GET STARTED AS SOON AS the compromis/ fact pattern is released!! Final-ly, it is of paramount impor-tance that all mooters under-

WHITE & CASE, Phipip C, International Law Moot CompetitionJESSUP CUP

KINDA JACOB


I don’t think you could ever re-ally be prepared for an interna-tional moot, but thanks to the law faculty we were not at a complete disadvantage. We were able to get personal training from Mrs Roberts, we had a mooting seminar, an internal moot that gave us a taste of the real thing and of course a tutorial room was always made available to us for afternoon practices.

How did you feel when you were in front the judges?

Terrified. I wish I could say that i wasn’t intimidated , but that would be a lie.

How were you able to deal with and under-stand the Fact pattern?

Constantly reading the fact pat-tern and brainstorming with anyone who would listen really helped me to understand it. I saw the fact pattern in a differ-ent light every time I read it.


A lot of students in law are ‘in-terested’ in mooting, but few of them actually pursue it, and my advice to them is that they stop making excuses and participate in mooting in any way they can. There is a lot to be gained from mooting and contrary to popular belief it would not interfere with your school work, if anything it enhances your skills in legal analysis and research which in turn helps you to get that most sought after A .

Any other comments?My only comment is that even if you’re not successful the first time you moot in a competition you should keep trying and

stand the facts.

JULLISA GEORGE

What motivated you to partake in this competi-tion?

I was motivated to participate in the Jessup 2013 Competition for two reasons: a. Due to my interest in Inter-national Lawb. For personal development reasons in terms of increas-ing my articulation and public speaking skills as a law student.

Would you recommend it to other students?

LISA THEODORE


Our Lecturers were instru-mental in carrying out the in-house moot competition when they chose the competitors for the varied competitions. Sub-sequent to that in-house moot, Mrs. Elias-Roberts took over the mantle in training us for the Jessup Moot Competition as our coach. We were given guidance as to how preparations would be carried out, when they will begin and other necessary plans. In the early stages of preparation, we would meet once a week. Lat-er, when the competition became closer, that includes the written memorial our contact increased via email and meetings at school. Before we left we also had one final session with both the Dean and our coach. The Law Facul-ty as a whole assisted and sup-ported us. I would especially like to thank all the lecturers who gave their time whenever we had a question or were boggled by a particular issue, and the admin-istration staff who also acted as a support.

How did you feel when you were in front the judges?Upon entering the room, I was filled with nerves. I kept won-dering whether I was ready, fully prepared and questions of uncertainty pervaded my mind, as is the norm for first timers. However, when I made my in-troduction my nerves dissipated.

I just wanted to show the judges that I knew this case thoroughly and that I was ready to answer any hard question that they were about to ask.

How were you able to deal with and under-stand the Fact pattern?

At the beginning, the fact pat-tern appeared intimidating. Especially so, when we heard that we would have to learn the facts of each paragraph. I think what assisted in allowing us to deal with the fact pattern is the approach of Ms. Elias-Rob-erts which involved a thorough assessment of the fact pattern every week and any legal issues that arose. Surprisingly, the fact pattern dealt with a diverse number of laws inclusive of: en-vironmental law, trade law, eco-nomics, international law, and others; so it was not narrowly focused at all. We therefore had to begin reading, learning and understanding the courts’ ap-proach to these issues. Closer to the competition we also came to-gether as a team and drilled each other as per the fact pattern, as an addition to our meetings with Mrs. Elias-Roberts. I also be-lieve that individual drilling and preparations also assist-ed with understanding, since, when working on my individual weaknesses, it was much easier for the team to become stronger in developing and understanding the fact pattern.


I would say to just do it. Once you have hopes of practicing law, it aids in the practical path of the law, which is much more critical than what we learn in our books. We as law students need to be able analyse and ap-ply the law, and I believe that Mooting was and is ideal in that light. I would also suggest that you need to do be ready to put in the work, and it will be worth it in the end. Put in 100% from the get go. Do not wait till it is closer to the competition, because essentially time is needed to ac-quire the necessary skills. Even if you may be soft spoken, intro-verted, shy and any other charac-teristic that may make you feel as though you are not good enough, I still think you should try it. The characteristic that I believe a good mooter should start off with, is simply one’s knowledge about the law and how it is ana-lyzed. Such is a characteristic that all law students would have acquired from year one. For Jes-sup confidence and a high level of the understanding of public international law is essential. You have nothing to lose. Try out, and the training and skills acquired over the months would benefit you in studying law as a whole. Some may need to work harder than others but that is life, and when you recognise your weaknesses and you put in the 100% to work on it, doing your best, you would become the ideal mooter that we all, as law stu-dents, are meant to be.

Any other comments?

I would like to thank my team for the experience, from the be-ginning to the end. We wouldn’t

have gotten as far without working together and moving forward despite the obstacles. It is essential that much more per-sons enter the in-house Mooting Competition later this year. Yes we would want to focus on our GPA and our academic life. Yes, being a mooter takes a lot of sacrifice. However, it really is worth it in the end. I still be-lieve that the Jessup experience has made it so much clearer as to the lawyer I’d like to be. I met so many people from so many countries who shared the same passion for law as we do here. The experience affirmed that we are not in a disadvantageous po-sition attending UWI in Trini-dad. We can win Jessup and any international mooting competi-tion, we have the resources, and we have the intelligent students and passionate teachers. All we need are students who are will-ing put in that work and be transformed not only individual-ly, but can make the University of the West Indies and Trini-dad and Tobago proud.

that’s something that I fully in-tend to do.

I would definitely recommend mooting to other students be-cause of the practical experience and knowledge that is gained from the course. Once these skills are attained there is no doubt in my mind that they will assist (us students) when it is time to make the transition into the world of work. How did the preparation for the Moot Compe-tition affect your usual Law workload?

Preparing for Jessup did affect my usual Law workload be-cause I found myself in some instances sacrificing my other courses for Mooting and vice-a-versa. However the experience gained was priceless and it has reminded me of the importance of finding the balance somehow between spiritual, social and ac-ademic life. What advice would you give other students who are interested in Moot-ing?

Prepare, Balance, Execute. Prepare: In my mind the prepa-ration stage does not come to an end as it is essential at every level in mooting; before, during and after you write the memori-al this stage continues. Balance: Remember you will have other courses to handle during the se-mester, do not neglect them. Ex-ecute: This is where the previous preparation comes into play, enjoy the moment, think care-fully of the questions asked and stand firm on your point.

Any other comments? a. Mooting should at no time be underestimated as a course or be looked at as an easier course, it requires the same level of dedi-cation you would give other law courses.b. A personal motto I live by is stay focused, do your best and God will do the rest!!

TRIBUTE TO MS ELIAS-ROBERTS

By David Edmund

The intention is to present a representation of a woman who has impacted my life. Mrs. Alicia Elias-Roberts has instructed me in three courses, and through her guidance I have become wiser. I will consider; Mrs. Robert during her lectures; during her tutorials; during her office hours and conclude.

Mrs. Roberts during her lectures asserts herself as committed, competent, confident and creative. On her punctual arrival she enters the class and acknowledges the students’ presence. She worked beyond the call of duty and spoke with love for the law. One day when it was evident that she is under the weather, in spite of her condition, she continued to share her knowl-edge with us.

Furthermore, her competence is manifested when she simpli-fies complex legal principles. While her confidence is present, she is humble to acknowledge valid contributions of students and is transparent to say she does not know but will research for an answer. Some say that the study of law is mundane, but Mrs. Roberts through her activities in lectures and incentives brings creativity to the legal studies.

In addition to the traits mentioned above, Mrs. Roberts during tutorials, proves herself as a challenger and a disciplinarian. She encourages and challenges students to do critical and analytical thinking by asking us to consider hidden issues or unresolved legal questions. When she is displeased with our level of pre-paredness for tutorials and lectures, she has a unique way of using her words and actions to gently bruise our conscience. She reinforces that one day we will be lawyers and people’s lives will depend on our competence and commitment to the law.

Mrs. Roberts during her office hours projects herself as a mother. She holds one’s hands and guides one through the legal thorns in the road of each course. She is kind, patient, gentle, caring, understanding and willing to meet with you until you fully understand the legal concept. I recall her telling me that she is willing to work with students who want to learn, and that students’ success brings great joy to her.

To conclude, my interaction with Mrs. Roberts for the last two years has taught me that I am just a mere vessel being used by the law to bring justice to the world, so remain humble, and live with integrity. Moreover, she has secretly inspired me to develop a customary thoroughness of skilfulness in being an excellent attorney-at-law. Mrs. Roberts is a reflection of the remarkable standard of lecturers at UWI St. Augustine faculty.

INTER-AMERICAN HUMAN RIGHTS MOOT COURT COMPETITION

KRYSTAL KAWAL


I am considering taking part in mooting at the Hugh Wooding Law School. However, at pres-ent, I am undecided. What are some of the benefits of taking part in the Moot Competition?

I have gained much needed ex-perience in both written and oral advocacy, which has further strengthened my decision to be-come an advocate. I have also had the opportunity to interact with noted professionals in the field of law and Human Rights as well as peers of varying cul-tural backgrounds. If you had to sum up the entire experience in one line, what would you say?

It was a challenging but reward-

ing experience.


A compatible partner is a ne-cessity. One must be able to ac-cept constructive criticism while simultaneously challenging the other. Furthermore, proper time management is key because of the demanding nature of the moot.

Any other comments?

The skills acquired are benefi-cial regardless of one’s preferred area of practice. Therefore, I en-courage the Final Year students to seriously consider taking part.

ANTONIO EMMANUEL

What motivated you to partake in this compe-tition?

I was motivated by the desire to get some practical law ex-perience and develop advocacy skills. It seemed like a useful way to apply what I was learn-ing in lectures.

Would you recommend it to other students?

Yes! It is one of the only chances that you are going to get to practice court etiquette at UWI, and it opens up the doors for you to network by meeting the top students from other universities regionally and internationally.

How did the prepara-tion for the Moot Com-petition affect your usu-al Law workload?

As International Mooting is

a course that is offered for the students participating in the moot competitions, it did not affect my usual workload as I had to prepare for it as I nor-mally would have to prepare for another course. Also as there is no written final examination that was one less thing to worry about during examinations.


Do it! The university deserves to the represented by its best stu-dents in order to show the world what the St. Augustine Campus is capable of. Don’t make ex-cuses about being too busy and it being too difficult because of the workload. You would only be robbing yourself of a once in a lifetime experience.

The Alma Jordan Library has the responsibility of devel-oping, maintaining and managing the legal information collection, in order to satisfy the teaching, learning and research needs of the programme and of the wider com-munity of The University of the West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine (STA) campus.

To this end, we have continued to acquire relevant law ti-tles, invested in subscriptions to several legal information databases and created online research guides on topics of interest. Below is an overview of those resources and more:

Books / E-Books

Every academic / financial year, many legal publica-tions are acquired for various collections in the Library, for example the General collection (4th Floor), Course Reserves (Ground / 1st Floor) and West Indiana (2nd Floor). The Course Reserves collection holds texts that have been identified by your lecturers from the Faculty of Law (amongst others) as essential or highly recommend-ed for particular courses – i.e. selected book / reading list titles.

The Library’s law collection includes titles in print and electronic format (e-books). The advantage of the latter is that you can access certain publications, anytime, any-where (on or off campus), once you are connected to the Internet.

You can browse / search the Library’s online catalogue or UWILinC (UWI Libraries’ Information Connexion) for books and e-books, anytime, anywhere.

If you are particularly interested in accessing legal e-books, you can also: 1) Go directly to e-book collections such as Ebrary, EBSCOhost Ebooks, MyiLibrary, SpringerLink (Refer to the E-books section on the Library’s home-page: http://www.libraries.sta.uwi.edu/almajordan) and browse / search for relevant titles.2) Check out some of the Databases mentioned in the section below as they too, may contain e-books of interest.

Databases

Legal information databases provide access to a wide range of primary and secondary material including law reports, legislation, journal articles and books. One of the advantages of electronic databases is that you can usual-ly access content, anytime, anywhere. The Alma Jordan Library subscribes to several such e-resources. Below I have profiled some of the major, subscribed legal infor-mation databases, but for a complete list, please consult the Databases section on the Library’s home-page. You can browse that list by title or by subject (Law).

CARILAW [individual username and password required] – This e-resource contains full-text cases (with head-notes) from Commonwealth Caribbean jurisdic-tions and to a lesser extent treaties and legislation. The database is searchable by title, country, court, judge, sub-ject, date, and word / phrase and browseable by jurisdic-tion and court.

HeinOnline – This e-resource includes (amongst others) collections such as Law Journal Library, Foreign & International Law Resources Database, Index to For-eign Legal Periodicals (IFLP), Kluwer Law International Library, United Nations Law Collection and World Con-stitutions Illustrated. The Law Journal Library is par-ticularly useful as the collection contains a wide variety of law and law-related journals from jurisdictions such as Australia, Canada, India, Singapore, United Kingdom and United States – usually from volume / issue 1 of the particular publication and in PDF format (digital render-ing of journals as published in print, inclusive of tables, figures, illustrations etc.).

Lexis Library – This e-resource contains cases, legislation, commentary (i.e. e-books), forms and precedents, journals, current aware-ness titles and other content. Lexis Library offers access to content from jurisdictions such as Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand and the United King-dom. The type and scope of content available will vary by jurisdiction. Some noteworthy titles included in this e-resource are as follows: All England Law Reports, Law Reports of the Commonwealth, Halsbury’s Laws of

Law Resources Available at the Alma Jordan LibraryBy Ms. Jolie Rajah

Law Resources Available at the Alma Jordan LibraryBy Ms. Jolie Rajah

England, The New Law Journal and The West Indian Re-ports. Westlaw [individual username and password re-quired] – This e-resource contains cases, legislation, com-mentary (i.e. e-books), journals, current awareness titles and other content. Westlaw offers access to content from jurisdictions such as Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. The type and scope of content available will vary by jurisdic-tion. Some noteworthy titles included in this e-resource are as follows: Criminal Law Review, Journal of Business Law, Law Quarterly Review, Criminal Appeal Reports, and Weekly Law Reports.

Online Subject Guides

The Alma Jordan Library offers research guides on a va-riety of disciplines, subjects and topics. These guides usu-ally provide an overview of relevant resources – print and electronic, subscribed and freely-accessible. Currently the Guide on the United Nations System of Organizations may be of interest. New guides are constantly being de-vised and published. To access the guides, refer to the

Research Guides section on the Library’s home-page.

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On a final note, do consider me, the Law Librarian, as a resource. Should you require assistance with locating material (print or electronic) or training on the use of a particular legal information database, please contact me and I will do my best to assist. During the academic year I co-ordinate / offer information literacy sessions on top-ics such as: how to effectively use the various legal infor-mation databases and strategies and techniques for con-ducting efficient legal research using print and electronic resources. These sessions can be individual, small / large group or related to a specific course (i.e. at the invita-tion / suggestion of your lecturers). Look out for e-mail alerts, notices and sign-up sheets from me. If there is a session that you would like to attend, but are unable to do so due to scheduling conflicts, please also contact me.

My contact information is as follows:Jolie Rajah (Ms.)

Librarian II (Law Librarian)The Alma Jordan Library

The University of the West Indies St. Augustine

Trinidad and Tobago, W.I.

Location: Room 403, 4th Floor, The Alma Jordan LibraryTelephone: 868-662-2002, Ext. 83360

E-mail: [email protected]

“consider me, the Law Librarian, as

a resource”

Tribute To Mrs. France

By Nathan Edwards

It was a privilege to have been a student of Mrs. France, at the Trinidad Campus of the University of the West Indies. She taught Family Law and Discrimination in Employment, pre-paring us budding Attorneys for the World of law.

Mrs. France was always approachable and pleasant. She was efficient in going through the topics laid out in the course out-line. She listened to the students’ point of view then made her contribution to assist. At tutorials, when there were concepts which were ambiguous she would take the time to explain un-til we understood. We were also given the opportunity to ask questions and she would ensure that we had a firm understand-ing before dealing with another issue. Mrs. France taught us to apply the Law in a logical manner.

On behalf of the graduating class of 2015, I want to thank Mrs. France for inspiring us and enabling us to successfully complete our LLB programme. Her contribution is very much appreciated and we wish her all the best.

Tribute To Mr. Timothy Affonso

By Khamara Persad

I highly doubt that any year one experience would be a complete one without a mention of Mr. Timothy Affon-so. I could still distinctly remember my first Legal Meth-ods class with Mr. Affonso. I was 3 minutes late and as I walked in I asked, ‘Is this law and legal methods?’ He replied by saying, ‘The one that’s suppose to start at 1?’ I apologized as I walked in.

His appreciation of punctuality was one that was not-ed by every student as every class started promptly. His teaching techniques for Contract Law were always inter-active, effective and fun.

Mr. Affonso’s dedication, persistence and most impor-tantly, his patience with the students would always be re-membered. His witty charm and sarcasm was also a part of his signature personality.

Dedication from him to his students was surely empha-sized when examination scripts would be returned within a couple of days. We always wondered how he managed to get everything done and be so organized for classes, tutorials in addition to preparing the most helpful work-sheets I’ve ever come across.

Mr. Affonso exonerates the epitome a great lecturer and an even greater lawyer.

Tribute To The Hon.

Mr. Justice Winston Anderson, JCCJ

By Nathan Edwards

The Honorable Mr. Justice Winston Anderson JCCJ is an exceptional addition to the staff at the University of the West Indies St Augustine campus. He delivered his lec-tures in the most coherent manner thereby fostering an easy understanding of his materials and I believe I speak on behalf of those who studied International Trade Law when I say that the learning experience was an enlighten-ing one.

With an easy-going persona, one was able to address Jus-tice Anderson with any question and a detailed response would follow. In addition, his use of the World Trade Or-ganization (WTO) website and other mainstream sources of information, to impart knowledge onto us made his class one to look forward to.

Justice Anderson showed us that in solving issues, it was necessary to look at each point as it was critical in addressing the problem in its entirety. His power point presentations were succinct and very effective and before moving forward he would question us to ensure we had a firm understanding of the previous topic.

Also a Judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice and Ex-ecutive Director of the Caribbean Law Institute Centre (UWI), Mr. Justice Winston Anderson, is a without a doubt an exemplar of what we as students should aspire to be as Attorneys-at-Law. He often provided us with ad-vice with regards to our legal careers and encouraged us to broaden our horizons. I express thanks on behalf of everyone for his hard work.

Tribute To Mrs. Candice

Jones Simmions

By Perusha Lord

Those daring eyes, a bubbly vibrant personality, abundant with knowledge, a woman of class. Her eyes are the first thing to captivate a room and her ever inviting aura in-cites you to stay just right where you are.

She tutored me Real Property, a course which was labelled as a Real challenge. Her attitude and demeanour made the sometimes overwhelming work load bearable.

She eluded somewhat of a dramatic interpretation of the tutorial questions presented, which caught everyone’s at-tention. Not only was she a great tutor, she made you feel welcome, and put in our brains that these Latin terms should not control us, but we are in charge.

In a course that posed much difficulty to students she had the know-how, to push us to be excited while defeating our intense fear of failure.

Outside of the class room she would go the extra mile to answer the sometime repetitive questions we had.

Although she was only my tutor for one semester, she was quite open and friendly to me, asking about my fu-ture plans.

She is indeed a woman of worth, a woman of class, an asset to the faculty and has indeed left a lasting impres-sion on my life.

Aslo published by the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Law Society:

Student Law Review (SLR) St. Augustine Legal Affairs (STALA) Issue 1

Available in hard copy at UWI’s Alma Jordan Liabrary and other reputable Law Libraries.

Also available online at issuu.com

For more information email us at [email protected]

Or find us on Facebook and Twitter

St. Augustine Legal Affairs (STALA) ©Issue Two. April 2014.

A Publication of the University of the West Indies St. Augustine Law Society

[email protected]

Documents

STALA Issue 2