ON A LIGHTER NOTE: I CANT LIVE WITHOUT THE LAW PLUS Mariah Carey - Without You (Official Video)

THE LAW MAKES ME FEEL THIS WAY. I FEEL I CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT THE LAW ANYMORE . EVERYWHERE I TURN IT IS LAW LEFT , RIGHT AND CENTER AND I LOVE IT.


XOXO

MS VEE

me and public international law

Public International law (PIL) is fascinating : at least from my own point of view. PIL covers a lot of things and one gets to understand why states do what they do. My understanding is that everything states do is for their own benefit and they do certain things if acting in such a manner benefits them. It is like the human nature really, people usually do something if it will benefit them. A few human beings, like Mother Theresa really do things out of their good hearts and expecting nothing. Now one concept of public international law has caught my eye and I am writing a dissertation on it. The concept that has stolen my heart and has got me salivating is none other than the controversial customary international law principle of universal jurisdiction. Universal jurisdiction is whereby a state can exercise its powers over an individual through prosecution regardless of where the crime was committed , whether the individual is a national of that country as long as it is in respect of heinous crimes such as piracy, war crimes and crimes against humanity. States can only exercise this power with regards to international crimes. The rationale for this principle is to make sure that no one can escape from crimes they committed in another country by escaping to another country. hence, no country can be a safe haven for criminals. This seems fair doesn't it? But doesn't this concept infringe state sovereignty . Wont this principle be used for political gains? Will it not create the tyranny of judges and result in a situation whereby the law is used to further political ideologies or further military strategies? In as much as the principle is theoretically sound , in reality bias, friction and disputes between states may arise when one country has tendencies to prosecute citizens of other countries without batting an eyelid. Will one ever be safe with universal jurisdiction?

Picking your brain......What do you think? Is universal jurisdiction fair /relevant / necessary in your own opinion?

xoxo

Ms Vee-

#FeesMustFall and the law

I have been following with interest the revolutionary students in South Africa in their campaigned famously called the #FeesMustFall campaign. What the South African students are doing is really commendable and should be applauded. The proposed fees hike is beyond the reach of many and the students have to be commended for standing up for their human rights. Every child has a right to education and that right must be protected at all costs. These days this right is under threat and many brilliant students cannot proceed with school for lack of finances. I once learnt at a South African school and i do understand how expensive the fees can be in that country. Most people as it stands cannot even afford tuition fees and to propose a fees hike to me is a violation of the right to education. The South African government is thus putting all students at  a disadvantage. Most parents cannot afford to pay these outrageous amounts given the measly wages they earn. I salute the South African students for standing up for their rights. I salute the South African students for protecting their rights to educations. Indeed fees must fall and they will fall. The students have shown that they are strong and united and this is something to be admired. Citizens of South Africa have also shown their unity as celebrities, campus control, various leaders and the community as a whole have shown their support for these students. The student uprising for justice is highly commendable and it has resulted in talks with President Jacob Zuma and student leaders today which is seeing many students march to the Union Building in a historic march. the movement has gathered momentum and is spreading throughout the country like the Ebola virus as my sister  called it. My only regret is that i was not able to be in South Africa to show my support for my fellow students . Be that as it may support can be shown through social media like Twitter and I will not stop supporting them. Twitter is already seeing 300 tweets per minute of #feesmustfall  and all students all over the world should show their support. These are students in anguish and fighting for their rights. I salute them.

I understand that these students are not just young people throwing tantrums but these are students addressing real issues on the ground. Imagine how a brilliant young students will feel when his or her parents tell him or her that they cannot afford fees and he cannot go to university. Obviously the chains of poverty will never be broken if this is allowed to happen.  Fees must fall to afford everyone the same opportunities in life. This is wrong and I will continue supporting these students. Education is the only hope most people have of getting out of poverty and if they are not able to afford it , then the government might as well be sentencing people to a life of poverty, especially the Black majority of people who are cannot afford tuition. Black people are at a disadvantage as opposed to white people in South Africa because of the apartheid era which people are still recovering from.

 Raising fees is as good as taking the black people to the apartheid era and this is contrary to what people like , Nelson Mandela fought for. Mandela must indeed be turning in his grave looking at the state South Africa is in now. It is truly sad and like the protesting students , I am anguished and am in pain.

I cannot help but think of my little sisters who learn and stay in South Africa this very moment. Are my parents going to be able to afford the tuition fees seeing that they are struggling to pay her high school fees at the moment? Will she be able to realize her dreams ? Will she be able to attend university at all? All these questions traumatize me and i thank the revolutionary students for standing up for their rights and for the rights of the future generations to come.

#FeesMustFall

The fees should fall and they will fall asap.

Ashley Madison : The law, Hacking , Adultery, Suicide

I was not aware of the fact that somebody can actually make money out of infidelity and adultery until yesterday . There is a Canadian based sited called Ashley Madison and they facilitate affairs. Their motto is "Life is short. Have an affair." Millions of people were members of this site and would pay money using credit cards-you name it so as to score an affair with a woman or a man who is married. Apparently the site offers a three month guarantee that one will certainly get an affair going for them once they sign up. What intrigued me (not in a good way) are the levels many people are willing to go for a secret affair. People can pay a huge amount of money just to score a date and possibly sleep with someone they hardly know all in the name of lust. Most of the people on the site  are married people looking for an extra marital affair. The men pay for chats and messages they have with women whilst the women can send messages for free. It is really something else. All was going well for these cheaters and adulterers until this July when some hackers who call themselves the "Impact Team" hacked into the site and threatened to release names, addresses, email address and basically all the private information of people who use this site. I bet for everyone who uses the site their hearts nearly leapt out when they heard such news.  Highly sensitive information of 37 million users was leaked to the media and some well known people were featured on it . It is reported that 2 people have committed suicide over this issue. It is being speculated that they committed the suicide because they couldn't face having their details leaked to the media. Most possibly they were afraid of what their partners would say or do or what their communities would think about them. Whatever they were scared of , I am of the view that they should and ought to have been scared before they started engaging in affairs on Ashley Madison. That fear should have kept them from spending money on strange women and conducting an affair. I think their fear should have stopped them from sending highly sexual messages to other users. I feel that fear should have stopped them from lying openly to their spouses that they were going on a business trip when in fact they were busy spending money on affairs and booking lavish hotels. Then they would have been spared of all the drama that is now panning out. 

The law is also being seen at play in this whole Ashley Madison drama. A man named John Doe in Los Angeles has filed a law suit against Ashley Madison and its parent company Avid Life Media,  seeking class action status for what he claims was negligence on the part of the company to keep its customer's data safe. Invasion of privacy and emotional distress are other things that Ashely Madison Company is being accused of . Avid Life Media was also sued last week in Canada in a class action that seeks $760 million as damages, the Guardian reports. The Toronto police officers are also trying to locate the hackers so that they can be brought to justice ( whose justice? I wonder). I am going to track the events that will continue unfolding concerning this issue.

On Twitter , people are also abuzz with the Madison issue. Some believe the hackers are to blame while some believe the adulterers got what they deserve. As the saying goes, what goes around comes back around. Also one day is one day-cheating and backstabbing always comes back to haunt somebody. Some people are of the view that every person has got skeletons in his or her closet so these hackers should not have done what they did. It is indeed sad to see that people are choosing suicide over dealing with their issues. Someone on twitter suggested that marriage counsellors, divorce lawyers and the likes should be happy now because most marriages are now damaged and some have broken down because of this hack. I do not believe these groups of people who stand to benefit in these circumstances will be happy. I do not think so. It is just their job. It is like thinking that Doctors are happy when people are sick, oh hell no, they just happen to be at your service because of their profession. It is tantamount to saying that marriage counsellors and lawyers have no feelings but only care about the money. Yes , there are a few bad apples here and there but certainly , lawyers have feelings too. Does anyone ever stop to wonder that these same people might also be affected by the hack? What if their spouse or long time lover's details were also leaked? Food for thought. 

xoxo

Life is short. Read my Blog and follow me on Twitter

Ms Vee

PS. Do not commit suicide even if the hackers leaked your name. The church, the lawyers, the marriage counselors and even the spouse you cheated on is here to help. PROBLEMS ARE NOT SOLVED BY SUICIDE

valentine masaiti: MAKING MY VOICE COUNT

valentine masaiti: MAKING MY VOICE COUNT: I wrote this article when I was only 19 years old for some essay competition, and I reproduce it today. YETT ESSAY COMPETITION 2012 ...

Monday Morning newspaper reading and law

Newspapers always contain something to do with law. I was just browsing through the newspaper and certain issues caught my eye. The newspaper reported a case on a woman who was disinherited from her husband's Will. She was customarily married and when the husband died he left a will which effectively disinherited her for he left the matrimonial home to one of his relatives. She contested the will and the court ruled in her favour with regards to the matrimonial property. This indeed got me thinking : What makes a spouse leave nothing for his or her beloved? Indeed there is a thin line between love and hate. You stay with someone for a long time thinking you know them well yet you don't . It is really sad and than God for the law that steps in and rectifies such cruel injustices. I wonder if it is out of spite or jealousy that the other party will remarry and live with the new husband or wife in the same house or it is simply being malicious. Either way it is wrong .

The law does not allow for the disinheritance of a spouse through a will and hence a spouse who finds himself or herself with no place to live can challenge such a will in the courts of law. The court can thus nullify the will fully or partially so that the surviving spouse can benefit too. A surviving spouse is the person who was still married to the deceased before he died. If the person had been divorced then there will not be a surviving spouse to talk about.

xoxo

Ms Vee

widows, children born out of wedlock and my thoughts as a law student

Not so long ago in the Bhila case , the High Court of Zimbabwe ruled that children born out of wedlock had the same rights as children born in wedlock. This ruling was praised by many and equally scorned at by others as well. Activists for equality welcomed this decision and agreed with Honourable Justice Mwayera that there should be no discrimination when it comes to sharing inheritance. I have got to admit that I have mixed feelings for this judgement. On the other hand i applaud it and at the same time i have misgivings. The reason why i applaud it is because i think that children are children regardless of being born out of wedlock or in wedlock. Therefore the father has to take care of his children and they should be entitled to his inheritance. Some children live in abject poverty whilst the father is living large and it is only fair that those kids should partake in their father's estate. On the other hand, one can only imagine how the widow feels when she only becomes aware of children born out of wedlock after her husband's death. She will be expected to share the property she worked so hard for or maybe property she had to sweat and toil for with basically strangers. One can only imagine the bitterness she feels as she remembers those nights they had to go hungry while sacrificing to buy that house or car. It surely is one hell of an ordeal to go through i imagine. No one just wants to give up what they worked so hard for. I can just imagine. Maybe the fact that the widow is allowed to keep the matrimonial home is a bit of solace but still  i can just imagine how hard it is to give up things you thought were yours after all the years of hard work. Maybe that is what has inspired Mr Bhila to appeal against the judgement that places children born out of wedlock and children born in wedlock at a par. When someone goes through all those legal channels to fight for what they believe to be rightfully theirs, I can imagine it takes a lot of strength. At the same time children born out of wedlock are also rightfully entitled to such as the deceased indeed would have sired them knowingly (unless the DNA TESTS PROVE OTHERWISE). I am sure both sides would feel rightfully entitled to the inheritance.

I am still Conflicted. Who is wrong ? Who is right? Should children born out of wedlock be at the same par as children born in wedlock? Is there any difference at all?

xoxo

Ms Vee