WASHINGTON, USA (AFP) -- The US Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear the case of five Cubans serving prison sentences for spying in the United States, effectively upholding their conviction by a lower court. In turning aside the case, the high court effectively upheld a decision by a federal appeals court. read more...

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KINGSTON, Jamaica -- Contempt proceedings brought by Digicel against its telecommunications competitor LIME and two of its top executives were dismissed by Justice Glen Brown in Jamaica’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, 9 June. Justice Brown also ordered Digicel to pay all of the legal costs incurred by LIME. read more...

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GEORGETOWN, Guyana -- A Senior Legal Officer at the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat, David Fraser, says that all police prosecutors need to be legally trained. Fraser told the Kaieteur News that police prosecutors in Jamaica are legally trained unlike the system in Guyana. read more...

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PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – The Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday suffered a major setback in its legal battle with CL Financial Limited when a judge blocked the bank from accessing information on the group and using it outside of the present case before the court. read more...

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PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Trinidad and Tobago Appellate Court Judge, Stanley John, has resigned from the judiciary, long before his retirement age of 65. The Guardian newspaper reported that his resignation had nothing to do with last week’s criticism of magistrates during a hearing in the Court of Appeal. read more...

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BRIDGETOWN, Barbados -- Barbados Deputy Prime Minister, Freundel Stuart, who is also the country's Attorney General has announced that the mandatory death sentence will be abolished in Barbados. He made the announcement following a decision of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. read more...

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KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) -- The long awaited Commission of Enquiry into the collapse of financial institutions in Jamaica in the 1990s, is now set to get underway, with the roll-out of the Secretariat to the Commission on Tuesday, May 26, in preparation for formal sittings in July. read more...

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ST JOHN’S, Antigua -- The Industrial Court in Antigua and Barbuda issued an order on Friday preventing LIAT pilots from taking any industrial action against the airline. The Order was signed by Philip A. Pilgrim (President), Samuel A. Aymer and Glendina M. McKay - the members of the Industrial Court. read more...

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The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) entered its fifth year on April 12 since it was inaugurated at a lavish ceremony in Port of Spain, which was attended by nearly all the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) as well as most legal luminaries in the region. read more...

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BRIDGETOWN, Barbados -- While most Caribbean countries seem hesitant or reluctant to join the Caribbean Court of Justice, Barbados, which is one of the two countries who have joined the Appellate Jurisdiction of the regional court, is seeking parliamentary approval to extend the retirement age of judges. read more...

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GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands: Placing the blame squarely on court stenographers, counsel for Cayman Islands Grand Court judge Priya Levers on Thursday told a three-man judicial inquiry into her professional conduct that the complaints against her were “totally without foundation”. read more...

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If you can’t get a publication or media organization to correct or retract a defamatory or malicious statement, then the only alternative may be litigation. Chances of winning in court depend where you sue and where you live. Courts in the US require the plaintiff, or party libeled, to prove the defendant... read more...

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The tardiness of judges in giving decisions has brought adverse comments from the London Privy Council, the highest court in the Commonwealth as well as the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), which is the final court for Barbados and Guyana. The Privy Council a few years ago made strong remarks against... read more...

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LONDON, England: Former Turks and Caicos Premier Michael Misick has moved to the High Court in London seeking an order to prevent the British government from suspending the Constitution of the TCI. Misick, through his English lawyer, Edward Fitzgerald QC, submitted a 48-page skeleton argument. read more...

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PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad -- The Privy Council on Tuesday ruled that Trinidad and Tobago's highest national award, the Trinity Cross, breached the constitutional right to equality of non-Christians. Last year, the government replaced it as the highest award with "Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago". read more...

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GEORGETOWN, Guyana -- The National Assembly in Guyana on Thursday unanimously agreed that the Time Limit for Judicial Decisions Bill, which was tabled by the country’s Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Charles Ramson, was long overdue and was born out of a lack of diligence in the Judiciary. read more...

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ROAD TOWN, BVI -- A landmark environmental case in the British Virgin Islands, that was inspired in part by the Save the Guana Cay Reef action in the Bahamas, will be heard in the British Virgin Islands High Court from 27th - 29th April 2009.The case is being fought by the Virgin Islands Environmental Council (VIEC). read more...

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HOUSTON, USA (Reuters) -- Allen Stanford, the billionaire Texan charged with an $8 billion Ponzi scheme, on Monday asked a US appeals court to intervene in a civil fraud case filed against him by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, a court filing showed. Stanford is challenging the lower court's orders. read more...

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ROAD TOWN, BVI: The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC) is to get a world class commercial court within the next two months. A highly experienced Queen's Counsel has been appointed to preside over the court, and the building that will house the court will be completed early June. read more...

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GEORGETOWN, Guyana: The law as it stands prevents Guyana from extraditing any of its citizens to the United States. Furthermore, the treaty between Guyana and the United States does not prevent the United States from extraditing Guyanese citizens to a third country, in contravention of local laws and treaties. read more...

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GEORGETOWN, Guyana: Justice delayed is justice denied. There are hundreds of part heard cases and matters in Guyana where judges have concluded the hearing of cases, but have failed to write their decisions. The Guyana government is trying to curb this and has introduced legislation. read more...

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NASSAU, Bahamas (BIS): The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council; the final court of appeal of The Bahamas, affects “the lives of Bahamians, the region and people in the wider common-law world,” Bahamas Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Senator Michael Barnett said on Monday. read more...

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GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands: The Net News Group (NNG), a widely-read media publishing and communications company based in the Cayman Islands, has established a contributor partnership with McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), one of the largest media groups in the United States. read more...

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GEORGETOWN, Guyana: A High Court judge in Guyana has complained to the Chief Justice that it was brought to her attention that at least three divorce petitions were purportedly granted by her when in fact she never heard the cases. In the letter to the Chief Justice, Justice George referred to the three cases. read more...

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PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad: Edwin Carrington, Secretary General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), has been summoned to give evidence before the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) next week in a multi-million dollar legal battle between Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL) and CARICOM. read more...

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As we approach the fourth anniversary of the establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), no other country has joined the regional court. But during the past two weeks there have been rumblings - one from Belize, in a positive manner, and the other from Dominica: Join or dismantle. read more...

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BELMOPAN, Belize: Britain’s Privy Council has handed down a judgment in favour of the Belize government and Telemedia against US investor Jeffrey Prosser. For years, Prosser’s companies, Belize Telecom Limited and Innovative Communication Company, have been embroiled in legal wrangling. read more...

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GEORGETOWN, Guyana: Former attorney general of Guyana, Bernard Da Santos, says that there were many contributory factors that have led to the heavy backlog of court cases in the country. He said that a number of pending cases were either abandoned, the parties were deceased or people settled the cases on their own. read more...

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HOUSTON, USA (Bloomberg): Laura Pendergest-Holt, who is accused by federal regulators of helping Allen Stanford swindle $8 billion from investors, has sued Lloyd’s of London to get funds to pay for her defence. Pendergest-Holt was refused coverage under Stanford’s directors and officers policy three times. read more...

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GEORGETOWN, Guyana: The disclosure in the Guyana Supreme Court Annual Report for 2007 that 21,366 civil cases and 512 criminal matters are pending before the courts, has raised the ire of the leader of the opposition Alliance for Change (AFC), Raphael Trotman. read more...

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LONDON, England: Judges with Caribbean roots are apparently being overlooked in Britain, and to this end judges in England and Wales are holding their first conference to try to increase the number of women and people from ethnic minorities in their ranks. The number of law lords from an ethic minority is zero. read more...

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BELIZE CITY, Belize: Belize will rid itself of the Privy Council and will accept the Caribbean Court of Justice as its final court of appeal. This announcement was made by the country's Prime Minister Dean Barrow when he addressed CARICOM leaders at the opening of the Twentieth Inter-Sessional Meeting. read more...

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BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: Barbados Chief Justice, Sir David Simmons, who is also the President of the Court of Appeal, has expressed amazement that the seven members of the disciplinary committee did not know that the limitation period for filing a writ had been extended from one year to three years. read more...

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Former St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Sir James Mitchell, in his autobiography entitled "Beyond the Islands", referred to the role he played in removing a lawyer-politician from active politics. In his memoirs, he said, "I had tried in the previous election to get him to quit politics altogether with a QC." read more...

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HOUSTON, USA (Bloomberg): Two Mexican investors asked a US judge for permission to sue Allen Stanford and his companies in Mexico after federal regulators accused the Texas financier of orchestrating an $8 billion fraud. Mexico’s laws provide broader investor protections than US laws. read more...

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ST THOMAS, USVI: Superior Court Judge in St Thomas, US Virgin Islands, Leon Kendall, has jailed a prosecutor for being tardy, and the territory's Attorney General has criticised the Guyana-born judge for taking such drastic action and said the judge could have imposed a fine rather than arrest. read more...

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ROAD TOWN, BVI: Any legislation that is enacted to guide and regulate the legal profession in the British Virgin Islands will be supported by the BVI Bar Association. Minister of Education, Andrew Fahie said he has been speaking with the Attorney General to formulate legislation. read more...

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It is interesting to read that CARICOM Secretary General, Edwin Carrington has called on regional leaders to accept the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as the final court. We have entered into another year -- the fourth year since the CCJ was inaugurated -- and no other country has joined Guyana and Barbados. read more...

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ST JOHN’S, Antigua: Antigua and Barbuda Attorney General, Justin Simon, said that his immediate case load took precedence over the writ issued recently by the opposition Antigua Labour Party (ALP) applying to the court for equal access to state media during the election period. read more...

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PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad: After more than three and a half years since its establishment, the Caribbean Court of Justice will on Thursday hand down its first decision under its original jurisdiction. The CCJ has two branches – the original jurisdiction and the appellate jurisdiction. read more...

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