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Kaieteur News
International law comes under the microscope in T&T today PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – The second international law seminar begins today with delegates being exposed to central concepts in the law of international trade including the rules governing the establishment and functioning of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Econ o m i c Partnership A g r e e m e n t (EPA). The five-day seminar, which will be held under the theme “World Trade Organization Law and Policy
– Interface with CARIFORUM-EC Economic Partnership Agreement and CARICOM Single Market and Economy” is being hosted by the Caribbean Academy for Law and Court Administration (CALCA). CALCA, the educational arm of the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), said the seminar will be attended by 80 delegates from the public and private sectors in The Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and
Trinidad and Tobago. It said that they would be exposed to central concepts in the law of international trade including the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Single Market and Economy (CSME) and issues in the Original Jurisdiction of the CCJ. The main facilitator at the seminar is Armand De Mestral, Professor Emeritus of McGill University in Canada and holder of the Jean Monnet Chair in the Law of International Economic Integration.
PNM to withhold support on special majority bills
Trinidad Guardian - The People’s National Movement is standing by its decision to withhold all further support of legislation requiring a special majority that is brought to the Parliament by the Kamla Persad-Bissessarled Government, following the Section 34 furore, party vice-chairman Camille Robinson-Regis has said. She said after Government betrayed the people of T&T with the premature proclamation of the Administration of Justice (Indictable Proceedings) Act the PNM simply had no other choice. Robinson-Regis said the PNM in opposition supported the United National Congress (UNC) government to bring the seat of the Caribbean Court of Justice to T&T. However, when the time came for it to be legislated for this country
Camille Robinson-Regis under the PNM, the UNC opposition refused to support it. “…The Anti-Gang legislation, we gave our support. It did not work, not because of the opposition, but they blamed the opposition not working. The first budget of this Government we supported it wholeheartedly, because we felt there were measures in the budget for the good of the people of T&T, but
consistently they have let down the people of T&T. They are wholly incompetent and untrustworthy,” she said. With respect to Volney’s alleged breach of Parliamentary code of conduct and calls for his removal as a Member of Parliament, Robinson-Regis said only Parliament could enforce such action and that the PNM had not discussed the matter. “I don’t think that is for the PNM to do. We maintain that the Attorney General should be removed. It is much easier to remove a Senator if the Prime Minister felt that the Senator has done wrong, but the Prime Minister has certainly enveloped the Attorney General and has apparently no intentions of removing him. We feel strongly that the Attorney General is culpable in this matter,” she said.
Monday September 24, 2012
Opposition warns NIS about providing funds to Grenada govt. ST GEORGE’S, Grenada - Former minister for finance, opposition senator Anthony Boatswain said he has been reliably informed that the Grenada government intends to borrow an additional $70 million from the National Insurance Scheme (NIS); a move he said that can cripple the NIS and put beneficiaries at great risk. According to Boatswain, since the last general elections in 2008, the opposition New National Party (NNP) has been warning the Tillman Thomas administration about its reckless spending and the implications. However, Boatswain said the government paid no heed, continuing to increase the monthly payroll with huge payments to non productive sympathizers of the party and first class travelling all over the world. He added, “While
they spent recklessly, no effort was made to grow the economy, and today we reap the result.” He said the government is now looking to borrow from every possible source to pay salaries and meet basic recurrent expenditures. He said the latest move by the government to borrow another huge sum from the NIS to keep a minority government in power is putting the NIS at great risk, literally killing the institution. According to Boatswain, excessive borrowing from the NIS can pose a major risk for pensioners and beneficiaries in the future. It can negatively affect the ability of the NIS to sustain itself and meet its commitments in the near future if its reserve is depleted. The former minister has called on the NIS and all lending institutions to ensure
Anthony Boatswain that any request from the government has the necessary Parliamentary approval as required by law. He said failure to do so will put the lending institution at risk, since no future government will be obligated to repay any loan taken without the necessary legal backing. (Caribbean News)
Ongoing lottery scam could lead to massive unemployment - Security Minister KINGSTON, Jamaica CMC - National Security Minister Peter Bunting has warned that thousands of jobs could be lost if the illegal lottery scam operating in the second city of Montego Bay is not brought under control. In a recent address to Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce, Bunting said the persons most likely to be affected are those employed to call centres and the tourism industry. “Certainly the whole call centre is going to be threatened and ten thousand
Peter Bunting or so jobs. Certainly tourism is going to be at risk as well,
people are going to be fearful that they come here and if they run a credit card information is skimmed and they might become the victims of fraud” said Bunting at a function organised by the Chamber of Commerce to address crime in the western parish of St James. The National Security Minister added that there is no specific law in Jamaica that deals directly with scamming, as a result most of those detained for their involvement in the scam are not charged.