The latest round of appointments to the High Court bench and the ensuing fiasco raises the urgent need to find a constitutional mechanism to hold the Judicial and Legal Service Commission accountable. Steps must be taken with a far less leisurely timetable than the one recently suggested by the Law …

The gathering storm is a Churchill phrase. Winston Churchill used it as the title for the first volume of his massive six-volume history of World War Two. The historical account is given from his perspective as a discredited politician who saw that Germany would re-arm and go to war but …

The public has long ago figured out, but not accepted, that the police cannot catch anybody for murder except for some obvious domestic violence assailants and small fry. Even then, there is ground for suspicion that the small fry are taking the fall for bigger accomplices or for those covering …

The Privy Council decided in 1993—in the case of Pratt and Morgan—that execution could not lawfully take place more than five years after sentence.  It was recommended that a capital appeal should be heard within twelve months of conviction and the entire domestic appeal process completed within two years. I …

It has been a recurrent theme of these columns that there are many cultural factors militating against our country moving toward a better and fairer condition.  Now I have solid company. Terrence Farrell, economist, attorney, author and commentator, has published another book.  It is called: We like it so?—The Cultural …

I suppose one can admire the zeal with which the Attorney General, Mr Faris Al Rawi, pursues his causes in the Parliament. Likewise, members of the Opposition have made a number of valid points concerning legislation brought before the Parliament recently. It would of course be more palatable if both …

Winston Churchill, the glowing imperialist, at the time when he was seeking to have Europe fortified against Nazi Germany, referred to Italy as the soft underbelly of Europe. What Churchill meant was this: However successfully Europe was fortified, it would be vulnerable to the attack through the soft underbelly of …

The record breaking success of Full Extreme is thoroughly deserved.  I will add to the boiling pot of opinions of why it struck such a deep chord.  For me it is a restatement of the saying that laugh and cry live in the same yard. I am otherwise reluctant to …

In response to public disquiet, there have been confessions by the Police Service that it cannot protect us. The archaic and stubborn belief that women are to blame for the attacks upon them persists—although successive Governments have been repeatedly advised that there has to be a policy shift in education …

The recent murder in MovieTowne is the second to take place at that location. It has had several reverberations, which are as great as those that accompanied the first one, fourteen years ago. On both occasions our Prime Ministers made insensitive remarks in the aftermath of the murder. On the …

If there had been a power outage in Port of Spain two Fridays ago, the energy from 3Canal’s Carnival 2017 launch could have lighted up the city. Likewise, the energy of the crowds flocking to the panyards Tuesday last, which were the largest I have ever seen, could have lighted …

Here is another test for the failed Acting Commissioner of Police, Stephen Williams and the rest of the failing police high command, who do not want their performance assessed by reference to “murders alone”—even though murders continue at more than one a day and are committed with almost complete impunity. …