Do you think life sentences should be saved for only the more serious forms of murder or not?

I was browsing through the web the other day when an article caught my attention. The article was about the current murder life sentences in the United Kingdom and their need for reform. For article, see link : (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11648739

 Basically, the article commented on the opnion of a designated research team that had found out through a survey, the perception of the general public on the issue of murder life sentences. According to the survey, "We found evidence that in relation to the more serious murders, those members of the public who favour release at some stage are content for sentencing judges to be given some measure of discretion, but would like that discretion to be limited or controlled, either through legal guidelines or through minimum and maximum periods of imprisonment".  Therefore it suggested that punishments should be meted out according to the degree of the offence in question. Thus, judges would be able to reserve life sentences for more serious cases.

But the question remains, why does the public not consider murder itself to be a more serious offence? Is it that over time, people have become so laid back and tolerating in their attitudes towards crime that they do not think much of most things that would have been labeled "crime" fifty years ago? Surely, in comparison to all other offences, a reasonable person is likely to say murder is a more serious offence as it involves the taking of another human being's life, save in self defence ofcourse. My thought is that the society has become very complacent, hence the decadence in it. Where once upon a time, the murder of someone would have attracted the punishment death by hanging in the gallows or a duel to death, we now have life sentences. I must admit that it has been a step towards civilisation but it seems that this step has become several steps and very soon we may not have life sentences anymore. From the attitudes of people in the survey, murder has now has different degrees and should be dealt with accordingly, saving life sentences for the worst forms. It has become such a sad situation if that is the opinion of the public as I dare say murder is murder and should be treated as such(save in self defence). The more we try to make excuses for situations, the more the younger generatuion think it is acceptable. Most of them do not even have any regard for human life anymore as they have been in and out of prison so many times, it has become a second home to them. Life sentences should stay as they are and not tampered with.

What do you think?

Summary of the Essay on the regulations governing child labour and if they have been successful

The main international regulations governing child labour decided were:1. The International Labour Organisation Minimum Age Convention 1973.

2. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989

3. The Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse.

The essential aims:

The Minimum Age Convention 1973 (MAC) sole purpose of wiping out the existence of child labour through the single objective of establishing a minimum age of employment contained in the Preamble.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989(UNCRC), in recapping the essential theme of its forerunners; The League of Nations 1924 and the United Nation, sought to prohibit child exploitation by ensuring the interests of the child were top priority.

The Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse was initiated in Europe with its primary aim as an instrument prohibiting child exploitations and abuses such as child labour, worst forms of child labour including prostitutions and bondage working.

Have these regulations been effective?

1. With regards to the MAC,  it has not effectively eradicated child labour as the concept of a standard minimum age poses a problem. Members states were given the power to decide for themselves, the minimum age of employment. Thus, causing a wide rift of what is the acceptable age for employment. Moreover, the fact that only 49 nations worldwide have ratified this Convention is a testimony of a failure to provide adequate protection against child labour as it may still be occurring in other parts of the world that are not signatories.

2. The UNCRC has also encountered problems as to its ratification. So far, the United States and Somalia are yet to ratify it. It has been criticised by academics such as Professor C Hamilton as being hypocritical becuase America was the sole legal instigation for the convention and yet they are still to ratify.

3. The Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse has not been successful on the basis that member states who have ratified it, still fail to abide by it as they is still evidence of child labour.

                                                Conclusively, it can be suggested that the concept of child labour has not been fully exterminated as it is quite a challenging task to embark on , given the fact that there is very little international enforcement of all the regulations that have been put in place. What use is the law to the global village if it cannot be enforced?.

Essay on Fairtrading

The essay on fair trading was concluded last week 20th of October but I have only just got the opportunity to update the information my team and I researched on Fairtrading. My team and I found out a number of arguments for and against the issue of whether the concept of fairtrade is indeed fair. Arguments in support of fairtrading included: the promotion of economic stability due to the farmers been guaranteed a minimum wage irrespective of how well the economy is doing. One of the main argument against was that fairtrade goods are usually overpriced, which when you think about it, seems like a logical argunments. For example, a jar of fairtrade coffee beans  cost twice as much as a jar made locally.

The research methods we used were through Westlaw, Heinonline and LexisNexis. Although, Westlaw does not seem to have a full analysis of some cases, so we had to use Heinonline and LexisNexis for any piece of information we could not find on westlaw.

The conclusion reached on the essay was left open as to whatever perspective the reader chose to agree with as both sides of the arguments were both compelling.

Blogging my life away!

Ok, I am new at this whole blogging thing and have been told it is a must for LLM International Commercial Law students, as it will improve our discussion, interacting and research skills. Hmmm, I am keeping an open mind about this at the moment seeing that it is no different from updating a facebook status! Well er....actually, it just involves more words and paragraphs but I reckon I will survive. I digress, back to the issue at hand, I am supposed to be blogging about my experiences at my current course at university of northumbria. So far, it is honestly not as terrible as I thought....oh by the way, we have just been given an assignment to hand in on wednesday/20/10/10. The essay is on the pros and cons of Fairtrading. I must admit though, the only thing that comes to my mind is Sainsbury's supermarket!...Well, there goes, I definitely have my work cut out for me as I cannot hand in "Sainsburys supermarket"...

Ps, I will update when I have done more research on Fairtrading