Simplicity

Life's so much simpler if things are straightforward and unconvoluted. When the truth needs to be distorted to align itself with man's vain desires, that is the factor that complicates life. Life on its own is not complicated. When webs are drawn, invariably the spinner loses sight of the beginning and end of the whole charade and inadvertently reveals the truth without knowing, unfortunately it causes hurt (and mild amusement at the vanity of the spinner).

2006 taught me a stern lesson on the effects of insincerity and sadly I have acquired a strong and (sometimes unwanted sixth sense for it), however I learnt the lesson equally.

Have a great weekend.

Denise Kaufmann by Denise Kaufmann

When I wrote my first post on Denise Kaufmann and the Ace of Cups, it was based on my own patchwork research, which in some instances may not have been absolutely accurate. Now as might have been seen, Denise read the post and whilst commending it, I believe she graciously ignored the inaccuracies where they existed, which is no less than I would expect from such a big personality and one of the musical heroines of all times (brown-nosing shamelessly- and in fact proudly- resumed).

Fact-

a. She was the driving force behind the Ace of Cups;

b. The Ace of Cups was the original all-female band, who were the forebears to the strong hard-rocking female artistes/groups who have emerged over the years- Suzi Quatro, The Bangles, Klymaxx and rather sadly- The Spice Girls and their Ilk.

c. This band was not the creation of a fancy Record company , but a blood and guts creation of individual and collective effort and hardwork, based on an innate love of art.

d. There was no other all-female band in existence at the time, they were pioneers- sinple.

I have thus copied Denise's story from the band's website http://www.theaceofcups.com/denise-bio.html and reproduce it here entirely in her own words, tracing the history of the band and indeed her goodself. Please read, this is a piece of musical history.

My dad, Hank Kaufman, married my mom, the lovely Golda Kaufman, in Boston in the year 1944 while he was in the Army. Golda, a young widow from England,had come to the U.S. with her son Julian after her husband died. She fellfor handsome Hank and followed him to San Francisco where he was stationedin the Presidio when he wasn't somewhere in the Pacific. When the war ended Mom, Dad and Julian found a little home in the Richmond district. Knowingthat my karma was to be a 60's girl, I showed up right above the HaightAshbury at UC Hospital on Oct. 5, 1946.I've been enthralled by words and music for as long as I can remember. Mymother had a beautiful, classically trained soprano voice and my father, whocould not carry a tune to save his life, had a great memory for lyrics.

Some of my earliest memories are of long family car trips where we all sang for hours. Some weekends we'd visit our friends Glady and Max at theircozy home way up on Mt. Tamalpais (Marin County.) As the sun set we'd sitoutside around a fire pit and sing folk songs while Max played his accordion. Magical musical experiences of my early years for which I'm deeply grateful:Studying piano at the S.F. Conservatory of Music, spending five years in anamazing theater company called The San Francisco Children's Opera andspending summers living outdoors in the Santa Cruz Mountains at Deep WoodsCamp for Girls where I learned to sing harmonies under the redwoods and thestars.I wrote poetry as a child, studied piano for 7 years, then started playingguitar at 14. I was into folk music of all kinds: from Ewan McColl's Welshmining ballads to local performers like Barbara Dane, Skip James, GeorgeCromarty, Judy Henske and Terry Wadsworth.

When I was in high school I hungout (and sometimes played) at the folk clubs in San Francisco - The Shiloh,Coffee and Confusion - and then in Palo Alto at The Tangent. I used to jamwith Pete Kaukonen, Jorma's brother, when he was at Stanford and I was stillin high school. I always felt pretty out of sync with my high school friends- I just wanted to be around music all the time. I was obsessed. I loved itwhen people sang together. Still do.

When I was 15 I went to Kauai, Hawaii, for summer school where I learned tosurf. Since then, both surfing and Hawaiian music have been major loves ofmy life. Sitting around with friends playing slack-key guitar and singingHawaiian songs with lots of harmonies is about as good as it gets for me.I met Lonnie Hewitt in 1965 when I was a student at UC Berkeley. I was skateboarding home on Durant in front of the dorms when we met - he was such a cool guy. He had been Cal Tjader's drummer and had started a record label- Wee Records. He liked some of my songs and wanted us to make a recordtogether. We recorded Boy, What'll You Do Then at Coast Recording with the guys from The Answer, a hot Berkeley band, and Lonnie on drums. As far as I know it never got airplay. Lonnie took it to Bill Gavin (of the GavinReport) who said it didn't have a pop sound - it was too raw. A few weekslater, most of the records were stolen from the trunk of Lonnie's car. Idon't even have one. For more scoop on that single you can check http://www.finerecordingstudio.com/G100.html

I met first met Ken Kesey and the Pranksters at a conference of UnitarianMinisters at Asilomar. Chip (the lead player in The Answer) Wright's fatherhad organized the conference and we all drove down to hang and jam. I endedup spending the night on the beach with Kesey dancing with words to p-p-pointtoward the realms opened up through LSD. Finding someone I could actuallytalk with about those travels was like coming home for me. The next morningwe played some music and Kesey was fascinated with the reverb on Chip's amp- it was the first time he'd actually played with reverb. I think some aspect of the Acid Test began right there. Within weeks I quit school,moved to La Honda, became Mary Microgram and got on the Bus. If I start onthose adventures now I'll never get to the Ace of Cups so we'll leave that for another time.

A year-and-a-half later I left La Honda to move in with a band I'd been invited to join - The Frantics. We changed our name to Luminous Marshgas (a Kesey line) and played for about five months. Charlie Schoening (the organ player,) my best friend Martha Wenner and I left the band to move to the Haight Ashbury and the others, Jerry Miller and Don Stevenson, went on to form Moby Grape.

I met Mary Ellen at Blue Cheer's house and had a great time jamming with her. She had already been playing with Marla, Mary and Diane and invited meto come meet them. The idea of playing in a band of females was completelybizarre to me. I had never even thought of it. That's how pervasive the blindness of those times was - I had never even once considered the notion of an all-girl band.During the early phase of the Ace of Cups we all lived in the Haight andoften practiced at Fantasy Records where I worked. My boss Max Weiss hadhelped us rent an organ, a couple of amps and some drums which we'd load in and out of the studio every time we practiced. We wrote songs as a groupfrom the very first night we played together. In a couple of months we had about ten songs. I remember the first time Nick the Greek Gravenites cameto hear us at Fantasy. He was an old friend of our manager, Ambrose Hollingsworth, and he agreed to come check us out. He had written Born in Chicago (Butterfield Blues Band - one of this harmonica player's idols)and I was absolutely in awe of him. He was big, soft-spoken and had thiscute gap between his front teeth. He was really kind and encouraging to us.Through the years his support for us never wavered - we later sang on his wonderful album My Labors. Nick has always been one of my favorite musicians. I consider him a National Treasure.

Thanks to the love and financial support of Leslie Scardigli and Ambrose, we quit our jobs in San Francisco, rented a house in Tamalpais Valley, bought our own equipment and put all our energies into the Ace of Cups. Those werewonderful times. We were wood shedding, writing, working up arrangements,learning from some of the great players we were fortunate enough to hang with and we were starting to jell as a unit. Those were theBloomfield/Electric Flag days - with Barry Goldberg's B-3 and Buddy Miles'drums in our living room - and music going on 16 hours a day at our house.We started gigging regularly - first out of town and then locally.The Heliport was our next phase.

Ron Polte, our new manager, rented the bighanger at the Sausalito heliport as our practice room. It was awesome. We hung a silver female mannequin from the ceiling, set up all our gear and our Shure PA system and the heliport was happening. When we took breaks sometimes I'd go hang out with Barclay (and his son Arab) who lived in his wooden house-on-a-truck in our parking lot. I ate my first soba noodles with veges in Barclay's truck. Barclay was the first person I heard say the word vulva. Barclay loved women.

Lyrics are really important to me. Finding ways to express what this livingis about - to approach the mystery with words in an authentic way without clichés or contrivance - that possibility has always called me. Mostly Ifail miserably. I'm really critical of my own work. Only a few lines have ever come through that feel as though they actually flow.

There is something about language when it it resonates deeply - makes my soul melt.Constants in life for me :This journey of the Spirit - the dance of me-ness/ Oneness, individualbeing/The Mush of Allness and what moves our human spirit closer to thecore...Energy work through the body - aikido, yoga, meditation, healing,breathing...The ocean as Source - surfing, paddling outside and hearing new melodies andlyrics between sets, sorting through my life while bobbing in thePacific....Music - I've never been a virtuoso player even though I went to school at BIT and really worked on my bass playing after the Ace of Cups. I'm what I call a garden variety bass player - I can hold down a strong groove and keep connected with the earth. I'm not good at fast funk licks but I lock in with a drummer and love to play bass. I also love playing harmonica - this little instrument powered by the breath that wails, cries and moans. Butwhat I really love most of all is voices in harmony and countermelody with lyrics that touch my soul. That was the part of Ace of Cups that I adored -being able to create lyrics and background lyrics that worked harmonically,percussively, intelligently and soulfully.

To this day, that's what I miss most about the Ace of Cups.These days I live, work and play in two places: Venice, California andKilauea, Kauai. I teach yoga (check out http://www.sacredmovement.com/),surf, and am working on a cd of my own songs. I live near my wonderful daughter, Tora, her musician husband, Kirk, and my 4 year-old grandson Eli. Please check out Tora's cool ponchos at http://www.ponchotora.com/.Music still powers our lives. My ex (Tora's father) Noel Jewkes is a jazz legend in the Bay Area. You can check him out at http://www.noeljewkes.com/ I love to jam and write with other musicians. Life is such a gift and I'mgrateful for every day. Thanks for taking the time to read this story. Blessyou in your journey, my friend.

The Omoigui's - Correction

I was more than pleasantly surprised to notice there was a comment on my Post on the Omoigui's http://subliminalcodesintext.blogspot.com/2007/01/omoiguis.html#links by none other than Ifueko herself, acknowledging and correcting a couple of entries therein.

My sincere apologies for the errors, which I have taken the step of correcting on the post itself- for obvius reasons and many thanks for reading, I in fact am the one honoured by the life of your parents the opportunity to write about their achievements and those of yourself and your siblings. God bless.

Her comments and the corrections are posted below:

Ifueko said...
Thanks for your comments on (and honour to) my parents and our family. Came as a surprise when someone sent this blog to me. Now I know why. A few corrections - My Dad (the late Daniel) and Mum are still very much alive and well. Nowa is no longer at the Univ of South Carolina. He is now Chief Executive Officer of the Cardiovascular Care Group in South Carolina. Your blog is very interesting and I love your Fela videos and reminiscences on Nigeria. It also says a lot about your very rich and diverse mind. Keep the blog up for folks like us who want to wake up in the morning to read about, watch and remember this interesting world of ours. God Bless always

Salman Rushdie

Now who's idea was this? My honest view is that someone was having a laugh and included his name into the Honours list as a joke and was too drunk to take it off before the list was released.

Such Idiocy is record-breaking on so may levels not least the sensitivities of the feelings of a significant part of the world's population- rightly or wrongly and more importantly because the bugger does not deserve it pure and simple.

A Knighthood is not a trendy piece of bauble or acquisition and inspite of what might be termed its elitist irrelevance its at the heart of the nations cultural heritage and this has to be some kind of wind-up, at least somebody should please re-assure me thats its all part of a candid camera sketch on a large scale...no one?

The Mouse

Wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie, O, what a panic's in thy breastie! Thou need na start awa sae hasty, Wi' bickering brattle! I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee, Wi' murd'ring pattle! I'm truly sorry man's dominion, Has broken nature's social union, An' justifies that ill opinion, Which makes thee startle At me, thy poor, earth-born companion, An' fellow-mortal!

I doubt na, whiles, but thou may thieve; What then? poor beastie, thou maun live! A daimen icker in a thrave 'S a sma' request; I'll get a blessin wi' the lave, An' never miss't!

Thy wee bit housie, too, in ruin! It's silly wa's the win's are strewin! An' naething, now, to big a new ane, O' foggage green! An' bleak December's winds ensuin, Baith snell an' keen! Thou saw the fields laid bare an' waste, An' weary winter comin fast, An' cozie here, beneath the blast, Thou thought to dwell- Till crash! the cruel coulter past Out thro' thy cell. That wee bit heap o' leaves an' stibble, Has cost thee mony a weary nibble!

Now thou's turn'd out, for a' thy trouble, But house or hald, To thole the winter's sleety dribble, An' cranreuch cauld! But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane, In proving foresight may be vain; The best-laid schemes o' mice an 'men Gang aft agley, An'lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, For promis'd joy! Still thou art blest, compar'd wi' me The present only toucheth thee: But, Och! I backward cast my e'e. On prospects drear! An' forward, tho' I canna see, I guess an' fear!

Now before you lot think I've gone raving bonkers, the above, is a Poem written by Robert Burns in 1785 titled "To a Mouse". Now if you'ever heard the saying "the best laid plains of mice and men", well here you have its origin. This in my humble and wuite irrelevant view is one of the greatest poems ever written. Wwhilst written in a hybrid of English and Gaelic, the emotion flowing from it is undeniable.

The very symbolism of all that one plans to the very last detail or indeed all that one believes is important collapses in a heap of dust is is so palpably captured in this poem that one cannot but reflect on the very reality of man's (and indeed Mice-kinds) existence and the sheer futility of our ambitions.

Throughout my life, I've seen too many broken dreams and dashed hopes. I've seen so many examples of life's flotsam, with inner pride and lost hopes. I can only repeat the text of the Book of Ecclesiastes- "Young man rejoice in thy youth" the symbolism if this being that its a fatal mistake getting carried away with earthly trappings. Take one day and go to a homeless shelter and have a chat with some of the fellas you'll meet there. I know I've said this before, but we're talking about extremely successful who fall on a bout of bad luck and due to innate weaknesses or plain bad fortune lose equilibrium and are crossed out of the formal index of respectability.

Every single day, a man, woman or child dies who had plans for the next day, Jon Henry the Policeman (recenyly stabbed to death in Luton), had plans for the next week with his wife, before he was killed by a worthless Nigerian vagrant, whom I know to have been the son of an extremely wealthy late Nigerian Politician (the young man by the way inherited a large chunk of his dad's fortune and ironically ends up penniless on the streets of Luton, thieving and killing to get a fix- I digress as usual, but the principle is apt I hope). The Iraqi recruits had dreams, the citizens of the Balkan states had plans for their beautiful country before the war, i could go on but believe you get my point.

All I can say is perhaps we should regularly take a step back and put things in perspective, what is really important and what is trivial, its your choice of course.

This Blog

I've been writing this typo-ridden and syntax challenged blog for over a year now. For many its a self-indulgent diary of one'sbanal life, for me its been a friend, an enemy, a distraction, a weapon, a mirror and calibrator most of all it has been an education.

At the back of my mind is the hope that when I'm gone, I'll leave something other than very little money for my kids to remember me by, this blog represents all I believe in, most of which I endeavour to and often fail to live up to, the fact being at least to acknowledge one's failings and try and amend. I hope its a worthwhile legacy.

I'm fortunate to have been able to reach anyone with it, to touch, annoy, insult, amuse, irritate and hopefully inspire people who I know and may never know.

One of the most touching comments I've had on here is from a chap called Anthony, who left a comment on a post titled "Loser" which I wrote earlier on in the year. I'm attaching a copy of what he wrote as well as a link. To all once again I say thanks for reading.

By the way its the Pedantic Paediatric Surgeon's 40th this month. Much love brother, may the sun never set on your dreams, one day the Horizon shall give way to the shore.

Anyway here's Anthony's quote and here's the link to the original post: http://subliminalcodesintext.blogspot.com/2007/01/loser.html#links

"anthony said...
I thought I was an endangered species until I came across your blog. Isn't it sad that the measure of a man is now his bank balance and possessions and not "real" assets like integrity honour and principles. Please keep up the good work and thanks for those wonderful pictures of Nigeria in the halcyon days of the 40s and 50s. (not that I was born then!). Take care.
12:58 AM "

I guess all this makes writing stuff all night and driving a 500 mile round trip to a meeting immediately afterwards worth it eh?

The will of Allah?

About the attempted London/Glasgow bombings. My only comment being that the fact that no lives were lost on Friday and Saturday last week as well as on the 21st of July 2006 plainly shows that there is something to be said for the force of good against evil. Naive as it may sound, the implications of the plots having succeeded are too grim to imagine or brush aside.

The will of Allah? Your guess is as good as mine. I shall however repeat excerpts from an analysis on one of my previous posts:

"Fact: Most of the victims of Zaqarwi's bombs and attacks in Iraq have been innocent suffering Muslims; a large number of the July 7 bombing victims were Innocent Muslims. So where then is the victory.

The misguided will claim that this is a war and that they are soldiers. Fine, let me adopt that warped logic and analyse it a little further. The 4th Geneva Convention states: Article 32. A protected person/s shall not have anything done to them of such a character as to cause physical suffering or extermination ... the physical suffering or extermination of protected persons in their hands. This prohibition applies not only to murder, torture, corporal punishments, mutilation and medical or scientific experiments not necessitated by the medical treatment.

Article 33. No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.Pillage is prohibited.

Article 4 defines who is a Protected person Persons protected by the Convention are those who, at a given moment and in any manner whatsoever, find themselves, in case of a conflict or occupation, in the hands of a Party to the conflict or Occupying Power of which they are not nationals.

In short if you kill a protected person, you are no longer a Soldier you are a common criminal. Of course the Anally retentive may split hairs and argue that the Convention does not apply if you kill your own country-men (July 7) well stupid, that's covered by the Laws of the Land and even in Iraq its a criminal offense for one Iraqi to kill another -unless as an act of state (aah! another topic altogether).Basically brothers it aint an act of war its a crime both Internationally and Locally, sorry but thats the truth.

Some have tried to impose Quranic justification on criminality, equally we run into a problem because the Great book specifically:A. Forbids suicide (Al Quran 4:29) and;B. The killing of civilians, women and children (Bukhari: Book of Jihad).

In addition the Quran states:"He who has killed one innocent soul, it is as if he has killed all humanity. And he who has saved one soul, is as if he has saved all humanity" (Quran 5:32).I didn't make this up its in there chaps, in proverbial black and white.The final thrust of all this is simple and as repeated above - humanity has always been and will always be a slave of fundamentalism, equally fundamentalism will always be a tool of the unscrupulous and Intrinsically Evil."

Now back to the question, was the failure of the bombs, the will of Allah, I would say yes it certainly was.

© Edward Keazor

Attorney General of Zambia v Meer Care Desai & 20 Others

This is a recently decided case in the Chancery Division of the High Court http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Ch/2007/952.htm, I was opportuned to have acted for 7 of the Defendants in both the High Court and the hearing of the Appeal on an application based on the enforcement of their Human rights and on the principle of Forum Non Conveniens i.e an inconvenient location for a case. The application or rather the appeal also focused on particular provisions of the State Immunity Act as it applied to the the Claimants in the matter.

Judgement was recently delivered in this case a link to the Judgment is attached, however I shall restrict myself to facts and legal principles in the Public domain especially the proceedings in the Court of Appeal which examined a number of topical legal issues and which has been been concluded and now stands as Law, in essence this article shall examine strictly only the issues of Law as interpreted by the Court of Appeal and no more. Where possible I have placed links to Internet resources containing information on this case, showing the public nature of the proceedings.
http://www.thelawyer.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=117229&d=122&h=24&f=46http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/judgmentsfiles/j3453/zambia_v_meer_1005.htm
http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2006/390.html

The facts of the matter were thus:

1. Dr Frederick Chiluba (one of the 7 defendants whom I represented) was the former President of Zambia between 1991-2002, subsequent upon which leadership of Zambia was passed on to the present President Levy Mwanawasa, who subsequently insituted an anti-corruption probe against his predecessor, ultimately resulting in Criminal proceedings being instituted against Dr Chiluba and several other persons, including senior civil servants and some private business persons. The initial charge being for $4bn, subsequently amended to $4M and then further amended to $486,000.00 which is the present charge before the Zambian criminal court. The Zambian Government however took the step of filing a civil claim against Dr Chiluba and 15 other defendants in the Chancery Division of the High Court for breach of trust and for recovery of money misappropriated in breach of trust. The first step being by obtaining a Worldwide Freezing Injunction against the assets of the Defendants.

2. Seven of the said defendants whom I represented were however subject to the following restrictions: a. They had as a consequence of the criminal charges, had their passports seized by the Zambian Government and could not or would not be able to travel to UK to defend the UK proceedings; b. Most of the witnesses who were privy to the issues in the case were in Zambia; c. Any evidence given in the civil proceedings or any judgment was likely to prejudice or compromise the criminal proceedings in Zambia, by breaching the Defendants right to to decline giving evidence on the basis of self-incrimination, since in Civil proceedings there existed an obligation to give full disclosure of facts. These formed the grounds of application filed at the High Court challenging its Jurisdiction to hear the matter in the first instance and in the alternative for a stay of the UK proceedings pending the determination of the criminal proceedings in Zambia or for the Claimants to file the Civil Claim in Zambia and have it heard in its entirety by the Zambian courts. In addition stay was sought on the basis that the relative cost of the proceedings was far in excess of the defendants capability (i.e running into Millions of Pounds).

3. The application was heard by Justice Peter Smith and refused on 15th May 2005, with the following orders being made: a. That the proceedings be part-heard in Zambia, with Mr Justice Smith sitting as a Special Examiner and not as a Judge-in camera (following the Pacific Islanders case, to enable the Zambian defendants and witnesses give evidence and for the rest of the proceedings to be heard in London for the benefit of the other defendants and for the UK proceedings to be heard with CCTV Link to Zambia to enable the Zambian defendants participate. In addition an undertaking was sought from the Attorney-General of Zambia that evidence obtained in the UK should not be used in the Criminal proceedings- the ring-fencing of evidence. Justice Smith also required the Government of Zambia to give security for the costs of all the defendants on the submission of a costs schedule. http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Ch/2005/2102.html

The decision of Mr Justice Smith was appealed on the following grounds filed at the Court of Appeal to wit; a. That the decision would result in prejudice to the criminal proceedings in Zambia in that the ring-fencing orders could be flouted without sanction as a result of the State Immunity priviledge of the Zambian Attorney-General; b. That the rights of the Defendants to a fair hearing under Article 6 of the ECHR would be compromised by their being prevented from attending the UK proceedings by the Claimants, which the decision of Justice Smith in itself failed to cure.

The relevant questions of law were thus:

a. Whether video link evidence meets the minimum standards of fair hearing prescribed by Article 6 of the ECHR in a trial- following the decision in ROMAN POLANSKI V CONDE NAST;

b. Whether the right of a party to attend a civil trial is an absolute right;

c. Whether a Foreign Government official is immune from sanction if he acts in contempt of Court;

d. Whether a ring-fencing order (of the nature made by Mr Justice Smith) was sufficient to prevent prejudice in parallel criminal proceedings?

I shall comment on the four legal issues detailed above:

a. POLANSKI was decided by the House of Lords in 2005 and was to the effect that Video link evidence was sufficient to meet the standards of fair hearing in a trial. If you recall Roman Polanski, the Film Director was reluctant to come to the UK to attend a hearing in a Claim filed against the Publishers of Vogue Magazine- Conde Nast on account of his trying to avoid an outstanding Charge of Sex with a Minor dating back to the 1960's, which Inspector Knacker of the Yard had kept in the oven simmering for him. He rather wisely preferred Video link evidence in the trial, the House of Lords agreed with him, the distinguishing factor from the present case being that Roman Polanski chose to give video evidence, in this instance it was contended that the Defendants had no choice in the matter and that the video-link prescription would serve to limit their right to a fair hearing in that they would be deprived of opportunity to properly participate in the proceedings, specifically by being able to instruct Counsel on specific issues arising during testimony amongst others.

b. In a criminal trial it is an absolute right of a defendant to be present to answer to charges made against him, this being an important aspect of Article 6 of the ECHR, the important question being whether this right extends to Defendants in Civil trial. The Appeal Court was to determine the extent of this right in line with existing statutes especially S.49(3) of the High Court Act.

c. Section 1 of the State Immunity Act provides for general Immunity for Foreign Government Officials, hence the argument being that if the Attorney-General of Zambia were to breach his undertaking not to misuse the evidence in the civil proceedings or indeed were to breach any orders made, there would be no effective sanction. Confusion however exists, in that Section 2 , states by way of exception that where a state has submitted itself to the jurisdiction it can no longer claim immunity e.g by instituting the proceedings as in this case. This ordinarily settling the matter, however Section 13 of the State Immunity Act goes on to provide that a state shall not be liable to pay a fine or to any other penalty for failure to produce documents or provide information, with exception being that there has been an express and formal expression to be bound by the order, this being only by way of compliance with a final order or Judgment. The Court of Appeal's remit being to read the contradictions in the provisions of the act and provide a composite view.

d. A ring-fencing order as defined, being an order made to provide confidentiality in proceedings especially evidence given in the said proceedings, in this instance to prevent the same being used in the parallel criminal proceedings. Being a fairly novel principle the Court of Appeal was being called to examine the efficacy and fairness of these proceedings, in the context of the possible prejudice to the defendants in the said parallel criminal proceedings.

The decision of the Court of Appeal:

http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2006/390.html

a. Whereas it was desirable to have the Defendants attend the proceedings, the balance was in favour of preserving the interest of the Zambian Government in preventing any ofthe Defendants from absconding, hence it was appropriate at Law for Mr Justice Smith to have made the order for Video Link evidence, whereas the facts of Polanski's case differ from this, the consideration of other competing factors made the prescription of video evidence an inconvenient but necessary evil. In essence all cases turn on their own facts. The Court of Appeal considered however that Smith J's prescription of a ring-fencing arrangement provided a necessary safeguard to any concerns the Defendants would have as to potential prejudice in the Criminal proceedings, arising from the use/misuse of evidence gathered in the Civil proceedings.

b. In a civil trial, a party does not have an absolute right of attendance, whilst the Court of Appeal considered the case of Muyldermans v Belgium (1991) 15 EHRR 204, the proceedings and the circumstances were in its view different from the present case. The provisions of Article 6 of the ECHR merely provide an absolute right for a party to be informed about Civil proceedings and not necessarily a right to attend or be present.

c. Any potential lacuna in the provisions of the State Immunity Act providing a basis for the Attorney- General to escape sanction for contempt in the event of his breaching the provisions of the ring-fencing order were cured by the Undertaking of the Attorney-General of Zambia to abide by the provisions of the Ring-fencing order and indeed to waive his Immunity from enforcement of any contempt proceedings. Thus providing a template for States where Immunity comes into issue. In essence an Undertaking potentially shall provide a re-inforcement of the Courts Jurisdiction to sanction contemptuous behaviour.

This is a particularly important Judgement in the area of Administrative Law/Civil Procedure and I shall in a later post examine the Judgement and its Implications.