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Ethics and Morality in the Legal Practice

  In olden days, much before the legal profession came to existence, in medieval Europe, Trial by combat was a method to settle accusations in the absence of witnesses or a confession, in which the parties in dispute fought in single combat; the winner of the fight was proclaimed to be right. It was a procedure based on the premise that God would help the innocent by performing a miracle on their behalf. However later on the method was changed and the litigants were permitted to hire professional fighters (gladiators) to fight on their behalf. These gladiators are the ancestors of the present day lawyers, whose profession of fighting for others ultimately evolved into modern concept of advocates/lawyers representing litigants.   in the words of   Anatole France   a well-known jurist in 1894, "In its majestic equality, the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal loaves of bread." In his Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathan Swift grumbles
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A Snapshot of the new Land Laws in Kenya

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  Introduction The issue of land, its ownership, use and management is a highly emotive one in Kenya and was one of the key issues that drove the need for a new constitution. Following lengthy deliberations and a comprehensive public participation process, a new constitution (the "Constitution") was promulgated on 27 August 2010. The Constitution sets out principles governing land and also requires all laws relating to land to be revised, consolidated and rationalised within certain timelines. "…. it is a very difficult exercise; a very difficult undertaking ", said Hon. James Orengo, Minister for Lands, in Parliament, following the passing of a new suite of land legislation to implement the principles governing land set out in the Constitution. Parliament passed three bills related to land on 25 th and 26 th of April 2012. The President assented to the bills immediately and the new land laws became effective on 2 nd May 2012. The new land laws are: The
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Infringement of a Trade Mark and Passing Off-Similarities & Differences

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  Trademark is an identification mark of any company or organization. A customer relates any trademark with the quality of products and reputation of the company that is using it. It is a distinctive name, word, phrase, symbol, logo, design, image, or a combination of these elements that identifies a product, service or firm that has been legally registered as the property of the firm. Trademarks grant the owner the right to prevent competitors from using similar marks in selling or advertising. The trade mark Act defines the word trade [1] as any type of profession or other business occupation in which a mark may be used in the manner prescribed by the (Trade Marks) Act. According to the same Act, mark includes a distinguishing guise, slogan, device, brand, heading, label, ticket, name, signature, word, letter or numeral or any combination thereof whether rendered in two-dimensional or three-dimensional form   Trade marks in Kenya are registered and the substantive law protec
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