IGIHE

Category: Justice

  • Busingye urges Government and Legal advisors to avoid resorting to litigation

    Busingye urges Government and Legal advisors to avoid resorting to litigation

    {Minister of Justice, Johnston Busingye held a coordination meeting for all Government legal Officers and legal advisors, where he urges them to avoid resorting to litigation against Government as much as possible in order to save the national budget.}

    This meeting was held on Monday 11th August 2014 with the aim of discussing on compliance with the provisions of Ministerial instructions setting up modalities for drafting, negotiating, requesting for opinions, signing and managing contracts published in the Official Gazette in may 2014. Participants looked at standard model contracts and they also discussed on the challenges met by legal officers and legal advisors in fulfilling their responsibilities and how they could avoid litigation against Government.

    While opening the meeting, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General urged all Government legal officers and legal advisors to draft or review where possible the contracts to be proposed to the other party and to always follow model contracts. He also recommended them to seek Legal Opinion and Advice in the course of execution of a contract whenever circumstances likely to give rise to dispute arise.

    Furthermore, they were advised to keep record of signed contracts including the legal opinion they provided, authorising the signature of the contracts and to ensure the office of AG is provided with a copy of contracts and agreements for which a Legal Opinion has been provided.

    Minister Busingye Johnston demands all Government legal officers and legal advisors to avoid resorting to litigation as much as possible. He said “in case of litigation, ensure the Government is prepared enough to plead the case in court, particularly, remember that “summons” are not to be treated as ordinary correspondence: it is always “URGENT”.

    He added “litigation is caused by failure to detect actions, situations, omissions that might cause it, so prevent those causes, mitigate the effects and resolve the issue as soon as possible, before loss or damage starts piling. If this is respected, Government will no longer be involved in a court case.”

    During the media brief, Minister Busingye said that occurring problems of delaying the payment t o entrepreneurs who have carried out the works to public institutions as well as delaying the payment of expropriation fees, will be given much interest as they are deemed to be on top of problems which involve the Government into courts.

    “Expropriation process for public interest will be carried out after the payment to concerned people” Minister added.

    The meeting drew up the following recommendations:

    The Ministerial Instructions Nº 612/06.11 of 16/04/2014 on Drafting and management of Government contracts, published on the Official Gazette Nº 18 of 05/05/2014 should be sent officially to all Government Institutions to make them known to all Government Officials instead of being known to lawyers only.

    1. Legal Advisers in all Government Institutions and organs should share information and advise their leaders that they should always seek legal opinion before taking decisions that may end up dragging Government in Courts.

    2. Participants committed to achieving “Zero Litigation” except when it’s “Acts of God”.

    3. Legal Advisers should be drafters of contracts in their institutions and avoid drafts presented by Clients
    4. Legal officers/legal advisors should report to the Attorney General through their superiors
    5. Legal Officers must keep records of signed contracts and legal opinion they provided
    6. Legal officers must be part of the process in case of litigation
    7. Legal officers must find a way to inform the Attorney General on time when there is any default likely to give rise to litigation
    8. Legal opinion has to be sought on time
    9. Legal Advisers should lead and try transaction where possible before resorting to court for litigation.

    deus@igihe.com

  • Rwandan to give evidence in Gulating court of appeal this week

    Rwandan to give evidence in Gulating court of appeal this week

    {Nkuranyabahizi Eugene, 41, a Rwandan who is accused of genocide from Rogaland will this week give evidence in Gulating court of appeal, Norway Media reports
    }

    The goal is to avoid the extradition to Rwanda and rather get the trial in Norway.

    The man came to Norway as a quota refugee in 1999 and settled eventually with family in Sandnes.

    He was arrested and charged in May 2013 and demanded extradited to his home country shortly after.

    In Rwanda, he is charged with participation in the genocide in April 1994.

    It follows from international law that such matters should be pursued in the countries where actions have taken place that is where the evidence is. It is only in exceptional cases, where the countries are not able to directly follow the case though, that we take cases into Norway. Since Rwanda wants to prosecute the matter itself, we have a duty to verify whether the conditions are present, said police lawyer Per Zimmer in NCIS. He runs the case for the prosecution.

  • Pistorius Murder Trial Ends

    Pistorius Murder Trial Ends

    The murder trial of Oscar Pistorius wrapped up on Friday with the prosecution making a final plea for the South African athlete to “face the consequences” of shooting dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

    Judge Thokozile Masipa, only the second black woman to be appointed a high court judge in post-apartheid South Africa, will now analyse more than 4,000 pages of evidence before delivering her verdict on Sept. 11.

    Double amputee Pistorius, 27, once a national icon for reaching the pinnacle of sport, is accused of murdering Steenkamp, a law graduate and model, at his home in Pretoria on Valentine’s Day last year.

    The defence says Pistorius, nicknamed the ‘Blade Runner’ after his carbon-fibre prosthetic running legs, shot Steenkamp through a locked toilet door in self-defence, believing she was an intruder, and that therefore he should be acquitted.

    State prosecutor Gerrie Nel has spent the trial, which began in March, portraying Pistorius as a gun-obsessed hothead who deliberately shot Steenkamp, 29, four times as she was taking refuge in the toilet after an argument.

    Cutting through months of complex evidence and testimony, Nel ended proceedings by returning to his core argument.

    “He knew there was a human being in the toilet. That’s his evidence,” Nel told the judge.

    reuters

  • Ostrich Conman Martin Evans Due in South African Court

    Ostrich Conman Martin Evans Due in South African Court

    {{A fugitive drug dealing conman from Swansea is expected in court in South Africa for an extradition hearing.}}

    Martin Evans, 52 pictured above, who conned ostrich farm investors in south Wales out of £900,000, was arrested on Saturday by armed police in Johannesburg.

    He was on the run for three years and is due in court in Pretoria on Monday.

    In 2006, Evans, who used many aliases to evade police, was jailed for 21 years for conspiracy to supply cocaine and fraudulent trading.

    The former Young Businessman of the Year for Wales, from Pontardulais, was named by police as one of the UK’s “most wanted” in 2012 who said they suspected he was living a life of luxury in northern Cyprus.

    He is expected to appear at Randburg Magistrates’ Court at 14:00 local time (13:00 BST).

    A spokesman for the National Crime Agency (NCA) said Evans was sought as part of Operation Zygos, which was set up to track Britain’s 12 most wanted people.

    He said: “We knew he had moved to South Africa. We were tracking him down.”

    Evans disappeared in August 2011 after failing to return from a weekend release from prison in Wiltshire.

    He was arrested on Saturday night after an operation involving the NCA and Interpol, and intelligence-led surveillance operations were handled by South African Police.

    Evans was tracked down to the housing complex where officers swooped as he was getting out of his car.

    Branch commander of the National Crime Agency in Wales Simon Flowers admitted it was difficult to track Evans down.

    {{Tracked down}}

    “It’s taken some time, that’s for sure, over the last three years. Initially through intelligence and a lot of good police work here in Wales and my team were able to track him to Cyprus,” he said.

    Mr Flowers the time and money spent recapturing Evans was “absolutely” worth it.

    “We certainly have the resources and the capability to do this and this is an individual who has affected individuals in Wales, he’s affected communities so absolutely, no effort is too much,” he added.

    Evans had also been known as Martin Roydon Evans, Martin Wayne Evans, Anthony Hall and Paul Kelly and had also been on the run prior to 2006.

    He had been hiding in Holland and Spain, where he masterminded a drugs and money laundering operation, shipping at least £3m of ecstasy and cocaine into Britain.

    Evans began his criminal career in the mid 1990s after his double-glazing firm in Port Talbot failed.

    It was then he set up the ostrich-breeding business, which promised profits of 70% a year.

    But he swindled nearly £1m out of investors.

    He jumped bail on the day his trial was due to start in Swansea in March 2000 but he was caught in November 2001 while trying to enter the US with a false passport.

    At his 2006 trial at Swansea Crown Court, he was sentenced to 21 years.

  • Thai Surrogate Baby Case Disputed

    Thai Surrogate Baby Case Disputed

    {{The Australian parents and the Thai surrogate mother of a baby who has Down’s syndrome have given conflicting accounts of how he was left behind.}}

    Pattharamon Chanbua, 21, was paid by the couple to have their child. But they took home only one baby when she had twins, leaving behind Gammy.

    The parents of baby Gammy have told local media that they only knew about his healthy twin sister.

    But the surrogate said the father visited the twins in the hospital.

    Ms Chanbua has claimed that she was asked by the couple to have an abortion once they knew about Gammy’s condition. But she refused as it was against her Buddhist beliefs.

    She plans to keep Gammy and raise him as her own child. Besides Down’s syndrome, the baby has a congenital heart condition and a lung infection.

    The case has made international headlines and caused an uproar particularly in Australia, where both Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Immigration Minister Scott Morrison have expressed regret over the situation.

    The parents have since told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation they were only informed by doctors about Gammy’s healthy twin sister, whom they took home to Western Australia.

    The unnamed couple also reportedly told Channel 9 that they had a daughter of Gammy’s age but she did not have a brother.

    They said they had experienced trouble with the surrogacy agency, describing it as “traumatising”, and had been told it no longer existed.

    But Ms Chanbua told Fairfax Media that the father, who is in his 50s, “came to the hospital to take care of the girl but never looked Gammy in the face or carried him”, even though the two babies stayed next to each other.

    She also said she was now considering suing the parents.

    BBC

  • Thai Musician Jailed for 15yrs For Insulting Royals

    Thai Musician Jailed for 15yrs For Insulting Royals

    A Thai musician has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for royal defamation, a court official said Friday, in the latest conviction under a controversial lese majeste law.

    The 28-year-old was found guilty of posting insulting messages about the monarchy on Facebook between 2010 and 2011, said a court official from the northeastern province of Ubon Ratchathani, without giving further details.

    King Bhumibol Adulyadej, aged 86, is revered by many Thais and protected by tough royal defamation laws.

    Under the strict lese majeste rules anyone convicted of insulting the king, queen, heir or regent faces up to 15 years in prison on each count.

    The court sentenced the musician to three years each for nine counts of lese majeste and four months each for 12 counts of violating the computer crime act.

    But after admitting to all charges his sentence was reduced to 15 years in jail.

    “The suspect had repeatedly committed wrongdoings and in this case the judge has sentenced him with minimum penalties for both charges,” said the court official.

    Since seizing power in Thailand in May, the army has clamped down on any opposition to its takeover, with a crackdown on perceived slurs against the royals at the heart of its stepped-up online surveillance operations.

    Under the rules, anybody can make a complaint about a perceived royal insult and police are duty-bound to investigate.

    Before the coup, calls for reform of the lese majeste laws had grown following several high-profile convictions.

    But academics urging greater debate are among hundreds of people who were summoned by the junta and temporarily detained in secret locations.

    wirestory

  • Former Khmer Rouge Leaders Begin Genocide Trial

    Former Khmer Rouge Leaders Begin Genocide Trial

    {Former Khmer Rouge leaders Khieu Samphan (left) and Nuon Chea are accused of genocide.}

    {{The last two surviving leaders of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge regime are to begin their second trial in Phnom Penh.}}

    Khieu Samphan, the former head of state, and Nuon Chea, Pol Pot’s deputy, are already on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

    The second trial includes a charge of genocide related to killings of Vietnamese and Cham Muslim minorities.

    The cases are being tried separately to accelerate proceedings, because the defendants are elderly.

    A verdict in the first case, meanwhile, is expected on 7 August. Prosecutors are seeking life sentences for the two former leaders.

    The Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia for four years, from 1975 to 1979. Up to two million people are thought to have died of starvation, overwork or by execution under the brutal Maoist regime.

    Leader Pol Pot died in 1997 and only one senior official – former prison chief Duch – has been convicted and jailed for crimes committed by the regime.

  • Ethiopia Bloggers On Terror Charges

    Ethiopia Bloggers On Terror Charges

    {{Nine Ethiopian journalists and bloggers held in detention since April have been charged with terrorism by a court in the capital, Addis Ababa.}}

    They deny receiving financial aid and instructions from terrorists groups to destabilise the country.

    New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said the government was trying to stifle opposition and media freedom in the country.

    They all belonged to the social media activist group Zone 9.

    Correspondents say Ethiopia has increasingly faced criticism from donors and human rights groups for jailing its critics – many of whom have sought asylum abroad in fear of being arrested and tortured in jail.

    The three journalists and six bloggers have become known as the Zone 9 bloggers.

    They are accused of working in collusion with the banned US-based opposition group Ginbot 7.

    “They took training in how to make explosives and planned to train others,” the media.

    The CPJ called on the authorities for the group’s immediate release, saying they had been doing their jobs.

    “Expressing critical views is not a terrorist act. Once again, the Ethiopian government is misusing anti-terrorism legislation to suppress political dissent and intimidate journalists,” Tom Rhodes, CPJ’s East Africa representative, said in a statement.

    wirestory

  • South African Bishop to Appear in Court For Rape

    South African Bishop to Appear in Court For Rape

    {{An Mpumalanga bishop accused of raping his niece is expected to face judgement in the Boschfontein Regional Court on Monday.}}

    The 56-year-old accused from Zibokwane village near Komatipoort, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of rape.

    He was arrested on 23 January 2012 after being accused of raping the girl, who was 13 when the incident happened in 2011.

    The bishop is out on R1 000 bail.

  • British Cyber-jihadist Babar Ahmad Detained in US

    British Cyber-jihadist Babar Ahmad Detained in US

    {{A British computer expert who admitted supporting terrorism through the internet has been sentenced in a US court to 12-and-a-half years in prison.}}

    Babar Ahmad, of Tooting, south London, had admitted conspiracy and providing material to support the Taliban.

    Ahmad has already spent almost 10 years in prison in the UK and US and his lawyer thinks he could be released in about seven-and-a-half months.

    He waived his right to an appeal as part of a plea agreement.

    Ahmad’s co-accused, Syed Talha Ahsan, also of Tooting, was sentenced to time already served, meaning he is now free.

    {{‘No threat’}}

    Sentencing Ahmad, the judge said she had to weigh the seriousness of the crime with his good character, after reading thousands of letters of support and hearing from British prison officials who described him as an exemplary prisoner.

    She said Ahmad was not an operational terrorist, showed he posed no threat to the public and exhibited remorse for setting up websites that promoted jihad.

    The judge said she was struck by the impact the Bosnia War had had on him, where he had gone as an 18-year-old and saw the suffering of Muslims, after which he committed to jihad.

    The court in New Haven, Connecticut, handed down a sentence of 150 months, half of the 25 years the prosecution was seeking.

    Ahmad is expected to carry out the remainder of his sentence in New York’s Metropolitan Correctional Center.

    Ahmad’s legal team said his release date would be dependent on good behaviour.

    {wirestory}