THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES, MONA

FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

LAW, GOVERNANCE, ECONOMY AND SOCIETY (FOUN 1301)

Summer School 2009/10

TUTORIAL WORKSHEET

1. Is there any point in the University of the West Indies requiring that Pure and
Applied Sciences, Medical, and Humanities students pursue a course entitled "Law,
Governance, Economy and Society"? And what is the meaning of "governance"
anyway?

Preliminary

2. The following abbreviations may be encountered in the practice of law. What does
each one mean?
(a) WIR (b) BYIL (c) IACHR (d) JCPC (e) Carib. LR
(f) AC (g) All ER (h) WILJ (i) UDHR. (J) ICCPR

3. The following expressions are sometimes used in discussions concerning law, and
occasionally, in other contexts. What does each one mean?
(a) Stare decisis (b) Habeas corpus (c) Juris doctor (d) a fortiori
(e) inter alia (f) onus probandi (g) inter arma silent leges.

4. State the sub-title of each of the following West Indian works and give a brief
overview of each (a paragraph):
(a) Persistent Poverty, by George Beckford
(b) A Voice at the Workplace, by Michael Manley
(c) Dread, by Joseph Owens
(d) The Black Jacobins, by C.L.R. James
(e) Learning to be a Man, by Barry Chevannes

Sources of Law and Administration of Justice

5. What do you understand by the phrase "common law"?

b. Give a brief outline of the doctrine of judicial precedent as it applies in the courts of
the Caribbean country of your choice.

6. Describe the hierarchy of courts in Jamaica, or in any other CARICOM Member

State.
7. What issues are covered in Chapters II, III, IV and V of the Jamaican Constitution?
b. Quote, in full, the provision in Section 110(3) of the Jamaican Constitution.

8. Briefly analyse the main factors which determined the form and content of the
Constitution of the Caribbean State of your choice.

The Privy Council/Caribbean Court of Justice Debate

9. Set out the main arguments for and against the abolition of appeals to the Judicial
Committee of the Privy Council from the Caribbean. Is the abolition of such appeals
inevitable?

10. To what extent will referenda be required to be conducted before the Caribbean
Court of Justice begins its work?

11. Do you share the view that, as presently conceived, the Caribbean Court of Justice
will be open to political interference?

12. In your opinion, what are the essential features of a final appellate court for the
Caribbean?

Aspects of Constitutional Law

General

13. What do you understand by the following terms?

(a) the rule of law (b) due process of law (c) protection of law?

b. What, in your view, are the main elements of a fair and impartial system of law?

14. To what extent does the Caribbean Constitution of your choice reflect the doctrine
of “Separation of Powers”?

15. Should an individual who has dual citizenship have the right to enter
representational politics for any of the countries of which he is a citizen? (General
Discussion)

The Protection of Fundamental Rights

16. "At very least, (the statistics on police killings for the decade 1990 to 2000) prompt
serious questions as to whether members of the police force have wilfully
 participated in the assassination of Jamaican citizens under the guise of State
authority" (Vasciannie, International Law and Selected Human Rights in Jamaica, p.
49). Discuss.

17. Provide a statistical review of reported murders in Jamaica or any other Caribbean
country of your choice. What factors explain the murder rate in this country, and
what, if anything, may be done to reduce the murder rate?

18. Should prisons be hell?

19. Consider the main arguments in the abortion debate. How does Jamaican law
address the question of abortion?

20. What are the main legal rules concerning the circumstances in which the death
penalty may be enforced in Jamaica? Are these rules justifiable?

21. You are the research assistant at a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) named
Life Forever. Write a memorandum to the Director of Life Forever, Dr. Paul
Papsmear, summarizing the main issues decided by the Judicial Committee of the
Privy Council in the cases of:
(a) Neville Lewis et al v. The Attorney-General of Jamaica,
(b) Pratt & Morgan v. Attorney-General et al, and
(c) Lambert Watson v. The Attorney-General of Jamaica.
Include in your memorandum a discussion on the implications of these three
decisions.

22. Lester, an old crocodile, lives in a swampland area in the vicinity of the Caroni
River. For years, Lester has survived by various natural means, but now, times are
hard. One fateful Saturday afternoon, Lester sees a woman on the bank of the
Caroni, and, overcome by hunger, he attacks her; he pulls her into the river and kills
her.

On that same Saturday afternoon, John Brown, a poor, unemployed, young man,
goes down to the Caroni River. He snorts a substantial quantity of cocaine, and,
thinking that he is cutting down a banana tree, he attacks a man on the bank of the
river, killing the man about one hundred yards away from Lester's victim.

The people from the neighbouring village have been able to detain both Lester and
John Brown. Some people, mainly young environmental enthusiasts calling
themselves the Lesterites, demand the immediate release of Lester, and for his
reinstatement into his natural habitat. The Lesterites also demand that the death
penalty be imposed on John Brown, on the grounds that "life is sacred, and that
those who knowingly take a life must pay with their own".

Another group, calling itself the Brownian Movement, argues that the Lesterites are
being illogical. They call for the release of both Lester and John Brown. The motto
 of the Brownian Movement is "Forgive them Lord, for they know not what they
have done".

A third group, made up of persons who like crocodile shoes, wants Lester to be
killed immediately. They believe that John Brown should go to trial before the
Resident Magistrate of Caroni.

Which group would you support, if any? Give reasons for your response.

23. The law is not effective in dealing with the problem of human trafficking. Discuss
(using relevant International and Domestic law).

Economic and Social Rights

24. What are the main economic and social rights? Are such rights recognized in the
Commonwealth Caribbean?

25. All Commonwealth Caribbean countries are party to the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which guarantees the rights to education,
health and work. How can this make sense in the Caribbean context?

26. Should university authorities in the Caribbean introduce a programme of affirmative

action to support the entry of more men into the university system? (General
Discussion)

Questions of Government

27. What, in your view, are the main features of the political culture in any one
Caribbean country? To what extent has this political culture been determined by
historical factors?

28. With reference to any Caribbean State, write notes on each of the following:

(a) Tribalism;
(b) Clientelism;
(c) Bicameralism;
(d) Political Violence; and
(e) Dependency Theory.

29. "The most vulgar and dysfunctional manifestation of the process of political
tribalism has been the development of "the garrison" within constituencies. These
 have evolved from the same process of partisan scarce benefit distribution" (Report
of the National Committee on Political Tribalism, July 23, 1997, p. 11). Discuss.

30. Discuss the main issues of governance that now confront any Caribbean State of
your choice.

31. "... (A) huge underground economy based on drugs, contraband imports, buying and
selling and self-employed occupations has emerged as the major growth sector of
the (Jamaican) economy, and it thrives on corruption, lawlessness and illegality,
creating serious problems for law and order and efforts to regulate behaviour in
society" (Johnson, Ethical Business: A Caribbean Perspective, p. 32). Do you
agree?

32. What factors explain the high level of violent crime in Jamaica and the Bahamas, as
against relatively low levels in some other Commonwealth Caribbean countries?

Introduction to the Caribbean Economy

33. Explain the main features of globalization in the current world economy.

34. Identify and discuss the main features of the Caribbean economy of your choice. To
what extent, if at all, may this economy be regarded as unique?

35. Give the meaning of each of the following, and explain the significance of each in
Economics: (a) GDP, (b) GNP, (c) per capita income, (d) balance of payments, and
(e) NIR. (General Discussion)

36. What are the main issues to be considered in preparing the national budget for
individual Caribbean countries?

37. What are the major points both for and against the reliance by Caribbean economies
on multinational corporations?

38. Why are we poor?

39. Write notes explaining each of the following concepts: (General Discussion)

(a) Mercantilism;
(b) Laissez-faire capitalism;
(c) Demand and supply;
(d) Micro- and Macro-economics.

40. Assess the impact of globalization on the Jamaican economy, or on the economy of
any other Commonwealth Caribbean country.
41. What, in your view, are the main ways in which globalization has affected:
(a) culture in the Caribbean country of your choice, and
(b) the level of crime and violence in that country?
b. Should Caribbean countries support or resist globalization?

42. Assess the arguments for and against the decriminalization of marijuana use in the
Caribbean.

43. Explain each of the following terms with reference to the Caribbean:
(a) Plantation Society (b) Plural Society (c) Creole Society.
To what extent do these concepts help us to understand the Caribbean?

44. "Caribbean peasantries, practically without exception, have always grown in the
crevices of their societies -- before slavery, or after slavery or in places where the
plantations failed, or in places where the plantations never came" (Mintz). Discuss.

45. To what extent does race remain a factor in Caribbean social and political life?

46. Trace the development of the main popular music form of your country, starting
from the 1950s.

Revision

June 2010