Kenya adopts new constitution

Nearly three months ago, on the 27th August 2010, the government of the Republic of Kenya excitedly promulgated a groundbreaking document, nearly twenty years in the making – its new constitution. The event was so significant that tens of thousands of Kenyans flooded the streets to witness the ushering in of what many regard as a new era in the country’s sovereignty and nationhood. Also in attendance was internationally controversial Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, whose presence is seen by some as demonstrating an appreciation for impending innovations upholding the rule of law on the entire continent and a “peace” between the neighbouring countries – as enunciated by Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki.

The document is hoped to provide more transparency within the countries political system and promote a greater sense of democracy through the decentralisation of the President’s powers by creating a second parliamentary body, the Senate. In addition to this the new constitution establishes a system of local county assemblies, abolishing the old system of provincial government, which is hoped to eradicate corruption.

Kenya’s new constitution declares that the country’s national values and principles of governance include “human dignity, equity, social justice, inclusiveness, equality, human rights, non-discrimination and protection of the marginalized.” It is envisaged that these values will be both promoted and protected by a newly-formed National Human Rights and Equality Commission, which is given the authority to “to investigate complaints of abuse of power, unfair treatment, manifest injustice or unlawful, oppressive, unfair or unresponsive official conduct,” among other things. These principles are important in a modern democracy, especially one that has experienced decades of discrimination, tribal conflict and corruption.

It also seeks to ‘right the wrongs’ of the past and protect the transparency of land dealings by establishing a Land Commission that is to “manage public land on behalf of the national and county governments.”
Although very timely in its conclusion, the new Kenyan constitution provides a comprehensive legal framework for the emerging developing nation, enabling the protection of those that are most vulnerable and the abolishment of widespread corruption and discord. It is now only to be seen the outcome of its full implementation. The first hurdle has now been overcome and places Kenya well on the road to democratic progression and sovereign growth.

The UK validates prenups

Prenuptial agreements are contracts entered into before marriage or civil union which speak to the terms on which the separation is to take place. Often one partner encourages the other to sign this contract on the rationale that their marriage is founded solely on love and not an interest in the finances of the more affluent of the two. This was very important to Katrin Radmacher when she signed a prenuptial agreement with Nicolas Granatino in Germany before marrying him in the United Kingdom in 1998. In 2006, Granatino and the heiress to a paper firm empire separated and applied for divorce with Granatino challenging the legality of the pre nuptial agreement.

Unlike the United States and a cross- section of Europe, pre nuptial agreements carry no legal weight/force in England with the family courts preferring to rely on the dictum of an equal division of the marital assets between both partners.

Radmacher’s counsel argued that in keeping with the fairness principles often espoused by the courts that it can be argued that once the pre nuptial agreements are conscionable; they should be binding as couples make crucial decisions in the best of times and should be able to do the same in the worst of times.

Commentary on this subject has been rife in recent times with one line of criticism of pre nuptial agreements being that they facilitate one partner being severely disadvantaged financially with this partner usually being the wife.

In this case however, the wife won the right to rely on her pre nuptial agreement with a majority decision with ironically the only woman on the bench, Lady Hale dissenting. It is her position that a pre nuptial agreement is only one of a number of factors that need to be taken into consideration in divorce proceedings.

This decision is set to open the floodgates of reliance on pre nuptial agreements and it is reasonably foreseeable that they would be given more legal force in times to come.

California Proposition 8

The ongoing debate on the definition and the scope of marriage especially pertaining to same-sex unions has recently taken an interesting turn. On the 4th August 2010, a United States district judge ruled that the ban on same-sex marriages imposed by the Proposition 8 referendum in 2008 was a breach of the constitutional right to equal protection.

Attempts by California legislators to restrict and contain the definition of marriage to a union solely between a man and a woman have been ruled against by the court as being unconstitutional despite receiving the support of 52% of California voters in the recent state elections. It facilitated the inclusion of a provision to the California Constitution that “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid and recognised in California”.

This sparked fierce protestation for Lesbian and Gay Rights groups who argued that their constitutional rights had been infringed with religious groups principally Christian groups, community leaders and pro-family organisations crying out for the maintenance of the Proposition 8 amendment in order to defend and restore the definition of marriage, as they understand it.

There is definitely a long road ahead with much room for the development in the law as this case makes its way to the Supreme Court. The eyes of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual community are on California.

Lord Bingham is a name so well known in the legal profession that any book with his name attached to it is going to be credited with due respect, he has sat in all the great positions in the legal world and shaped many cases as any law student will know. His book ‘The Rule of Law’ takes us through some of those cases, listing what he finds to be some of the greatest moments for the Rule of Law, with his detailed perspective on them. There is little history between these events he describes.
He takes the reader through what he sees the Rule of Law to be and where it may have originated from, before exploring the examples he provides. This makes the book accessible to anyone with an interest in our legal system (and occasionally others that exist) while still maintaining a different depth for anyone with background knowledge in legal study, which I imagine will be and has been the main audience for this read.
As one of the most influential and well known Lords to sit in the House of Lords his perspective on the legal world and what shapes it as it is, and what it should be, and if it is that, is a read I would recommend to anyone studying a law degree. It brings an important perspective that should not be missed, from one of the most eminent legal minds of our time.

Courses
At the College we have a variety of courses tailored to your chosen legal career. Lawyers will teach you how to think like and act like a lawyer giving you the best start to your career. Our teaching styles are interactive and flexible, and we use state of the art technology to provide you with the best education. You can participate in our award-winning pro bono scheme and take advantage of the best careers service in the country.

Legal Practice Course
If you are graduating with a qualifying law degree and would like to become a qualified solicitor, then the LPC is for you! Our graduates are more successful than any other law school in finding a training contract. We have a variety of study routes including full time, part time and online methods, so our course can be tailored to suit you. Our full time option includes a four day or two day option, and is completed in one year.

We have a professional practice module to teach you the ins and outs of legal practice and develop your lawyer skills. You will learn in small group workshops with qualified lawyers – no more lectures! We help you to progress your critical skills and encourage you to excel.

There is a variety of routes that you can choose; commercial and private law, corporate law or legal aid to shape your career. Our open book examinations demonstrate how we want you to think like a lawyer – not pass tests!

When you complete your LPC at The College of Law you will earn 60 Masters level credits, that’s one third of the way to achieving your LL.M Masters of Laws Degree.

Apply for your LPC
Apply online through the Central Applications Board (CAB) at www.lawcabs.ac.uk or e-mail LPC@lawcabs.ac.uk for further information. The course commences in 2011.

Closing date for first round selection: Wednesday 1 December 2010
Bar Professional Training Course
Graduating with a qualifying law degree can also take you on to do the Bar Professional Training Course to become a skilled barrister. We train you to the highest standards demanded by the bar and give you the tools to have a highly successful career.
Lawyers with Bar experience help you to learn and practice skills through small workshops. Practice your advocacy with our mooting and mock trials. We not only have face-to-face support from our experienced professionals but also we have state of the art interactive learning resources, adding to the flexibility of our course. Our BPTC gives you various options and routes for you to tailor our course to suit you, your lifestyle and begin to make your career ambitions a reality.
The BPTC can be done full time or part time. This course is highly demanding and well respected in the legal field. If you think you have what it takes then fill out an application!
When you complete your BPTC at The College of Law you will earn 60 Masters level credits, that’s one third of the way to achieving your LL.M Masters of Laws Degree.
Apply for your BPTC
Apply online through the Bar Standards Board (BSB) at www.barprofessionaltraining.org.uk
Applications accepted from Monday 18 October 2010
Closing date for first round selection: Thursday 13 January 2011

Graduate Diploma in Law
The Graduate Diploma in Law allows you to start your legal career without a qualifying law degree! Our GDL is a highly respected course and will give you the foundations that you need to go on and qualify as a lawyer. If you complete the GDL followed by the LPC or BPTC at The College of Law you will graduate with an LLB Law Degree, reflecting the quality of our courses!

Our GDL has been designed in consultation with leading law firms and will give you the head start you need to have a highly successful legal career. The course can be adapted to you with full time, part time and online study options. The GDL will enhance your legal knowledge and skills through small workshops and lectures to a very high standard.
Apply for our GDL
Apply online through the Central Applications Board (CAB) at www.lawcabs.ac.uk or e-mail GDL@lawcabs.ac.uk for further information.
Applications accepted from Monday 1 November 2010
Closing date for first round selection: Tuesday 1 February 2011
Campus Manager: Imogen Canavan
Campus Manager Email Address: ic49@kent.ac.uk

Office Hours: Wednesdays 10-12pm and Thursdays 12-2pm
Contact: westlaw@kent.ac.uk
By Imogen Canavan, Westlaw Representative, Second Year LLB Student.

Lexis Nexis
LexisNexis draws on a heritage of almost 200 years and its products and services are used by all of the top law and accountancy firms, most large companies and almost all of the local authorities in the UK, including Whitehall departments.

With LexisLibrary students, lawyers and information professionals can quickly find up-to-date information on cases and legislation, resources including journals and expert opinion from established names such as Butterworths, Tolley and Halsbury’s.
The LexisNexis Student Associate for the University of Kent 2010-2011 is Natasha Connors and she has been trained to help you use the LexisNexis service effectively. If you have any problems or just want some key tips, you can contact her by email or by dropping into the law office on the third floor of the Templeman library to attend an office hour.
Office Hours: Tuesdays 10 – 12 or Thursdays 12 – 2.
Contact: njc27@kent.ac.uk
By Natasha Connors, Lexis Nexis Representative, Third Year LLB Student.

The result of this case and the court’s final decision, according to my personal opinion, show that important factors were wrongly ignored. The man’s honourable earlier life, his obedience to the laws and the loyalty to the state are things which are worth certain attention. The abandonment of such ‘details’ could lead to tremendous results not only to the accused personally, but also to his family. The man’s story can provide a good example about these necessary criteria which I believe should be taken into consideration in order for justice to be achieved in the best possible way. The prisoner’s family was stigmatised, something which becomes even more unbearable in small, closed societies. The wife of the accused who is a teacher in a primary school, as well as his two children who are students in high school, had to face the great possibility of a changed attitude towards them from their social environment. Another result which is of great importance is the possibility that the accused would lose his job, something which could bring severe economic problems and a big change to the family’s lifestyle. Despite these, the most severe effect that imprisonment under these circumstances could bring is the troubled psychological health of the accused, something that of course depends on the prisoner’s personality as persons deal with situations differentially. It is important that I stress that these factors vary according to the situation, the people involved and the time the ‘crime’ was committed.
Despite the great importance that these factors have on the restoration of justice, the role of law and for the state has also a major significance. Law’s function to such cases is to apply some order and of the state to treat its citizens in an equal manner. But is the law widely acceptable? What are the expected results of the punishment in such situations? Looking back to the aforementioned case, even though law was applied, its harshness can be questioned. In my view, theoretically, the idea of imprisonment has an educational character for criminals, something which I believe does not imply to the specific case, if not to any case. Imprisonment only traumatised the man’s dignity and his psychic health together with that of his family. In my view, one can easily claim that such a punishment is too harsh for this type of crime. Additionally, we can observe that law is not always accepted from the majority of people, since it sometimes can deal unfairly or harshly on people that do not deserve punishments of that weight.
Justice is a difficult idea to grasp due to its different approaches by people placed in different situations. People cannot always find complete justice since by itself, justice is a subjective idea. The role of laws should undoubtedly not be ignored in such situations and should always be followed since they were made by people to help other people and the society in which we live in. Even though I might proceed to a risky statement which might not be widely accepted, I would like to mention that lawyers, judges and ordinary people should not stay only on the surface by merely following laws since other factors taken into account, different each time, might provide a clearer road to the restoration of justice.

With pride the legal world looks at its products, the likes of Nelson Mandela, Gandhi and various leaders and appreciates their work. Legal education in the case of these reformers gave them an understanding of the black letter law. The most crucial feature was that they could interpret the law and thus seek its validity and understand its implications. St Augustine said, and Martin Luther King Jr quoted in his letter from Birmingham Jail, ‘An unjust law is no law at all.’ This concept of ‘righteousness’ and ‘justice’ is something that legal educationists should make students sensitive to. By understanding law, and engaging with it, concepts of power and the rule of law emerge and this gives space for people to see right and wrong law. Law, for most students is an almost ‘divine’ object that is right by virtue of being a law. However we need to be made aware that Law is not beyond critical questioning. An example that I was given was that of the Nazi Law- laws were equally legitimate but used for the wrong reasons. This understanding of law as a set of rules empowered me to engage with it and question its implications. Most importantly, it was studied through the appreciation and understanding of Rule of Law.

An appreciation of the doctrine of ‘rule of law’ ensures that law is equally applied and does not discriminate. This understanding of equality is among the most needed concepts today because of the justice that comes with an equal application. An equal application of law ensures eradication of unfairness. Understanding law and then scrutinizing it under the rule of law ensures that everyone is given an equal playing ground and discrimination is ended on the basis of minority views, gender, race, colour, religion, beliefs, etc. Appreciating and understanding the concept of rule of law also broadens horizons of the questioning student and gives them a microscope to scrutinize law. Questions like, whose interests do particular law serves? Why the law is the way it currently is? What is the purpose of law? And so on. In my case an interdisciplinary approach- particularly the study of Literature, philosophy and politics helped me gather answers to some of these questions.

Teaching and learning law as a multi disciplinary subject broadens horizons and allows a better engagement with law by arousing interests in a spectrum of subjects. In my education, the concepts of philosophy, politics and literature were intricately woven into the study of law. Philosophy lends its concepts of righteousness and morality. Politics helps in understanding power relationships and the social implications of law. Literature plays a particularly important role as well, because much literature is about the use of language and convincing- a function that forms an important feature of law. For me, studying law as a multi disciplinary subject made it more interesting and gave me a better understanding of its various components, like persuasion techniques, use of rhetoric and power equations. This also helped me in engaging with law rather than simply cramming the legal rules because I had the option of looking at law from my own point of view- philosophically, literarily or politically.

Lastly, Legal education has a ‘courtroom scene’ at its apex. A courtroom is a place where essentially two parties bring their claim and one gets the victory after assessing and weighing the facts of both the sides. This is the crucial most thing in law. The acceptance that the other party has a valid claim and finding of discrepancies in their claim, as well drafting your own claim gives the lawyer a two-sighted vision. Not only does the lawyer appreciate what the other party says, but it also leads to introspecting our own claim. This concept of appreciating and understanding a conflicting claims leads to a more tolerant and open minded view of the opposition. Rather than preaching one’s own side, the other side’s argument is also considered and checked for its reason. Our own claim is also checked for the same reasons and backed with rationality and authority. This dualist approach of not having any ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ argument ensures that no claim can be fitted into these water tight compartments of right or wrong. As lawyers, we are given the power to seek ‘reason’ to profess our claims.

To conclude legal education gives the power to understand and hence criticise and modify law. Legal Education gives us the tools to ‘respect strength and not power,’ the strength of reason, justice and rationality. Law, being a multi disciplinary subject enhances the vision to approach things from different perspectives. It also gives one a dualistic perspective of any point of view and appreciates opposing views, as well as forming well researched, rational and well developed views. The ability to rationalise opinions and to enhance tolerance is needed today and legal education can at least give us the skills to do it.

The Negotiation Programme is aimed at teaching students the skill of resolving disputes with other parties as less formal, pre-action measure. Negotiation in the context of legal disputes has become a crucial component of the law for law students, both in understanding the use and application of legal doctrines and also in practice. The importance of acquiring an understanding of the skill of negotiation is valued by the KLS and valued as a “life skull that is crucial to legal education.”

The programme at Medway is the brainchild of former KLS law student and now Associate Lecturer Janie Clement-Walker, recipient of the prestigious Queen Mother’s Prize from the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple and former Negotiation team member. She describes her involvement in the regional negotiations competition, making to the semi-finals as having “gone a long way” in helping her secure her scholarship from the Middle Temple. Janie also shared that it have her “confidence and a distinct advantage” on Bar Vocational Course (as it once was called) where negotiations forms an important part of the curriculum.

The Negotiation programme at Medway is now underway and involves twenty-six Second and Third Year law students at Medway. Due to the demand for spaces on the programme there is also a waiting list for those waiting to get involved. After weekly training and educational seminars the students will compete in an in-house competition working through set scenarios. Lawyers and academics, including former Kent Law Clinic Barrister Francis Wildman, will judge the competition.

The winner of this competition will go on to compete in the College of Law Negotiations Competition in February.

For further information about the Negotiations Programme at Medway contact Janie Clement-Walker at jtc@kent.ac.uk

Lord Bingham was made a life peer as Baron Bingham of Cornhill, of Boughrood in the county of Powys in 1996.

Among the great work, which forms a part of Lord Bingham’s illustrious legal career, was an appointment to head an inquiry into alleged breaches of United Nations sanctions in the former Rhodesia (as it was once called). More recently, Lord Bingham is praised for his speech in the judgment A and others v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2004] UKHL 56 where it was decided that the indefinite detention of foreign terror suspects without a charge breached their human rights under the Human Rights Act 1998.

Lord Bingham gave a lecture entitled ‘The Law Today’ at the University of Kent in January and was awarded an honorary degree from the Kent Law School conferring the degree of Doctor of Civil Law in July of this year.

The question I asked myself was whether something irrelevant to law could possibly help my desire to be a solicitor? It was a difficult situation because four weeks with a barrister would provide an amazing insight to their work; yet for an aspiring solicitor, it was slightly irrelevant. However, I decided to seize the opportunity to gain an insight into what different career paths could offer me.

The work experience involved with the charity was completely diverse. I experienced working in schools, giving speeches, taking trips to museums, working with politicians, and networking with Islamic Finance Lawyers. It meant that I could develop my teamwork, communication and time management skills, as well as learn to juggle many different events and work under pressure. Lastly, I also helped with the financial aspects of applying for funding, which improved my commercial awareness. My six weeks at the organisation allowed for me to significantly develop all the key skills that employers today are constantly looking for.

My four weeks experience alongside a barrister was a completely different experience. I attended court, created skeleton arguments, read cases, communicated with solicitors, sat with counsel and made them all tea! The environment was very formal and intellectually stimulating. This experience also meant that I was fortunate enough to work alongside a solicitor also, which helped me to understand their operative roles better too. . My work experience with the barrister and solicitor did not offer me much opportunity to develop my skills, which is probably due to the fact that a barristers work is independent, whereas a solicitors work is more team-based. Instead it offered me an insight into the work, a chance to voice my opinions about the law and to observe how things in the legal sphere operate on a daily basis.

So as a first year student moving on into my second year, I’m ready to start applying for vacation schemes and I feel a lot more prepared knowing that I have a good set of skills to my name. For all the first year students beginning their degrees , don’t be disheartened at the lack of work experience available. There are a lot of opportunities out there: you just need to find something that really interests you. The law firms want more than a paper degree; they want a real person with character and personality too.