A Study of IKEA’s Product Design and Pricing Strategy Essay

IKEA’s competitive priority is based on producing quality products at a low price. This concept is exemplified in its’ corporate mantra † price with meaning†. This is achieved by creating inexpensive products without making its customers feel cheap. This manta is followed from design to the customer’s home. 2. Describe IKEA’s process for developing a new product? IKEA starts the process by picking what the new product will cost. This will help to determine color, materials used, and design. Next they choose a manufacturer using their network of manufactures. They do this by determining which manufacturer can most efficiently produce the new product. Next they design the product, keeping in mind efficiency, ie. Packaging, shipping ect. Every inch of the product is reviewed in order to maximize their ability to manufacture, ship and store the new product. Finally they ship it. While shipping, the key word is flat, in fact the flatter the better. From vacuum packing pillows to exclusively producing disassembled furniture, IKEA is committed to not shipping air. Lastly they must sell their new product. 3. What are additional features of the IKEA concept (beyond their design process) that contribute to creating exceptional value for the customer? The way they ship their products is clearly one of its greatest contributors to its low prices. By remaining flat, shipping only 65% full containers and by building its distribution centers near ports, railways, and highways IKEA is able to ship with great efficiency. They are able to ship the maximum amount of products, at the right time to the right stores keeping their prices 20 the 30 percent lower than their competition. 4. What would be important criteria for selecting a site for an IKEA store? IKEA stores require a large area to accommodate a large showroom, daycare and food court†¦

The Robin Hood Tax – Summary

Business Tax: Reading Week Notes The Robin Hood Tax * The idea behind the RHT is to generate hundreds of billions of dollars * That money could be used to kick-start the US economy and get America back on its feet * The RHT = 0. 5% tax on Wall Street transactions * Benefits: * It won’t affect the vast majority of Americans * It’s easy to enforce * It’s tough to evade * It taxes those who are to blame for the global financial crisis, rather than the average American * It will help limit riskless speculation that threatens financial stability The RHT is seen as justified as â€Å"the banks can afford it† * â€Å"It’s not a tax ON the people, it’s a tax FOR the people† * It will be implemented using a Financial Speculation (or Transaction) Tax (FST/FTT) * The FST is a small tax of less than half a percent on trades in derivatives, stocks, bonds and foreign currency * With an FTT, a small percent (between 0. 005% and 0. 5%) of the value of the trade is collected in tax revenue The tax will deter the most risky transactions and prevent some of the â€Å"gambling† which helped trigger the financial crisis * Why is the RHT needed? The financial crisis has left a massive hole in the US’s public finances and this needs to be filled. The money raised will generate jobs and strengthen public services * The money can also be used to fund new Green projects to help curb global climate change * Disadvantages The article is incredibly biased so it downplays this point: the tax will affect regular investors as well which could discourage normal people from investing * The tax will affect the value of pension funds, possibly discouraging trading which would see the value of pensions of many normal American’s fall * Banks may just past the cost of this tax onto the consumer * The affected companies may just move their business offshore or start trying to avoid other types of taxes * The tax could alter dealing s between US firms and other foreign firms.For example, foreign firms will be less likely to invest in the US markets * Overall that article was disgustingly bias but it does make a good point of taxing those who have the money and those who have put America (and the rest of the world) in the global financial mess its currently in * The RHT is also sometimes incorrectly called the ‘Tobin Tax’. The Tobin Tax is basically the RHT except it focuses solely on taxing financial taxation between countries to reduce rapid foreign investmentPAYE System Benefits| | Disadvantages| Simple| | Lack of accuracy| Provides real-time information to the government| | Reliance on Tax codes| Unavoidable| | No P45 form| Reduced the tax forms for employees| | Does not include Benefits in Kind (BIK)| No bad debt| | HMRC mistakes| Carbon Emissions Trading Scheme Benefits| | Disadvantages| Incentives for businesses to become environmentally friendly| | How many permits do you issue? What is the upper limit of pollution? Who decides? Reduces carbon emissions| | Low emission companies will have no incentive to reduce emissions further| Tax revenue for government| | Complicated system| Incentivises businesses to look for more environmentally friendly fuel sources innovation| | Inconsistent system| | | Higher costs for businesses passed onto consumers? | UK VAT System Benefits| Disadvantages| Difficult to avoid| Costly to implement| Simple| Users must be ‘tax savvy’| VAT is transparent| Regressive tax|Price does not increase when VAT is added| VAT is inflationary| Fairness| | Huge tax revenue for government| | VAT may be selectively applied| | Cheap admin costs for HMRC| | More efficient tool for macroeconomic policy than income taxes| | VAT charged on sale VAT charged on sale VAT paid on purchases VAT paid on purchases VAT Due VAT Due Input VAT Input VAT Output VAT Output VAT Exempt| Zero rated – 0%| Reduced rated – 5%| Standard Rated – 20%| Financial services| Cakes| Energy saving materials that are permanently installed (e. . loft insulation)| Too much to list| Insurance| Basic food| Mobility aids for the elderly| | Betting & Gambling| First aid| Nicotine patches + gum| | Education| Books| Sanitary protection products| | Burials/cremations| Children’s clothes| Fuels| | | Public transport| Protective equipment e. g. baby car seats| | | Books + Newspapers| | | The supply is taxable Can reclaim ALL input tax paid The supply is taxable Can reclaim ALL input tax paid

Appreciating Life as the Central Theme of the Movie Awakenings Essay

Appreciating Life as the Central Theme of the Movie Awakenings - Essay Example The plot of the movie directly relates to the primary theme in a very literal way. In telling the story of people whose lives have been taken away from them, in effect, via a medical illness for which there is no cure, overtly conveys the value of life. Though the patients are living and breathing individuals, they are extremely constrained in terms of movement, communication, independence and common daily activities that most people engage in every day without a second thought. They must live in an institutional environment where they are under constant supervision and care and cannot enjoy any of the trappings of ‘normal’ life such as love, activities, work, recreation and the pursuit of personal interests and fulfilment. As the movie focuses on the solitary and sedentary nature of these patients lives during the early parts of the film, the changes that occur when they are dosed with the new drug are made even more apparent, exciting and moving by contrast as the audi ence begins to see them leave their comatose states and become active individuals who each have a unique personality. Each patient, in particular Leonard the protagonist, is so utterly appreciative and excited by this new lease of life, that it forces the audience to relate to positive aspects of their own lives in a more appreciative way. As the narrative continues and the audience slowly realises that the effects of the drug are limited and of a short duration, this delivers a dramatic impact as life is again snatched away from the patients. As we see Leonard eventually retreat back to his vegetative state and his acceptance of his fate, it re-instates the vulnerability of life and the massive importance we must place on its value while we have it. The fact that Leonard tries to make the most of the rest of his time as an active individual despite understanding his destiny, is extremely moving and it effectively emphasises the theme of the movie. One scene in particular, where Leo nard dances with his love interest and tries to savour each moment of it as he knows it is his last, is particularly poignant. The setting of the story amidst a hospital environment also effectively serves to emphasise the movie’s theme. Hospitals are synonymous with death, illness and the mortality of life and this setting immediately relates to these ideas. Seeing characters taking medication, undergoing medical treatment and generally being in vulnerable and fragile states is directly indicative that life is a precious gift that should not be taken for granted. Sickness is often something that healthy people take for granted, in that, if they are not sick, they tend to focus on other problems within their lives, to the detriment of not enjoying their lives as much as they should. It is usually only when people are diagnosed with an illness that they begin to appreciate all that having a healthy body and mind means. In this medical setting, this theme is very dramatically c onveyed both literally and symbolically. Through the portrayal and development of characters the movie also explores its life-affirming theme. From the perspective of Leonard it is perhaps examined at its deepest level as the audience witnesses this character go from a catatonic state, to a thoroughly active

Learning and Personal Growth Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Learning and Growth - Personal Statement Example I was lucky enough to find an entrepreneur and a friend of my mother, who was not only well known but also deputy chair of the Entrepreneur Association, to accompany me to municipal office for arranging to complete many formalities. I also mobilized a very dedicated employee of my mother's company to help me on deciding the price of shares to be sold and also work as a liaison between my family and the management of the company. I believe that was one of my biggest accomplishment because of my relative inexperience in different things like management, finance and other things, I was still able to mobilize people to accomplish one of the challenging tasks of my life. I believe this also provided me an opportunity to show and hone my nature leadership skills as I achieved things beyond my capacity. It was during 2007 when I was project manager for the renovation of Translation Planning and Management System, a tool used for managing IBM globalization and localization processes. During Investigation, it came up that the system is not delivering value to the end users due to different problems such as low customer satisfaction, speed etc. This analysis provided me an insight into the fact that we must shift our focus from being technology driven to customer driven and should develop technologies which support end users. It was also revealed during our analysis that we must develop an application which can deliver the functionality of a web based application while remaining a desktop application. This approach not only clicked but also proved one of the most important innovations which helped to create an I.T. environment in IBM in Egypt, for the first time which revolved around the customer needs and demands. Essay # 2 Background I am a Master Degree holder from Yale and served as an angel investor for an international education product distribution company. Based on my analysis of the company and its products, I persuaded my parents to invest into the company based on my assessment using Valuation Adjustment Mechanism which demanded that the value of the shares hold by my parents would increase from one level to another upon failure of the firm to achieve certain profit levels. However, things did not worked the way as it were perceived and analyzed by me as the firm failed to achieved our desired results Mistake I believe my over-anxious approach of getting quick results as an investor was the major mistake committed by me in this situation. My Self- Reflection on this Mistake While reflecting on my mistake, I came up with different and multiple perspectives on the mistake I committed. I first realized that to be successful investor means patience as investment needs a long term horizon to achieve results. Inability to take into account prudent and sound business principles would yield into failure even if backed up by most advanced measurement techniques. I also felt that I failed to take into account the market cycle China was experiencing at that time besides understanding that for an angel investor, it is necessary that he or she must provide valuable experience, skills, and networking opportunities to

My Study in Global Political Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

My Study in Global Political Economy - Essay Example Getting this degree would not only satiate my passion, but it would also serve as a stepping stone for my future career. As a final year Bachelor’s degree student, majoring in Policy Studies and Administration with a concentration on Politics & International Affairs and Policy Streams, I have a solid academic foundation, both theoretically and practically when it comes to general politics and international relations. My knowledge in politics is an added boon as politics is intertwined with the economy, which in turn plays a big role in international relations. As an exchange student at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, I was greatly impressed by the speech of the former Prime Minister of Canada, Paul Martin, on the financial crisis, although I did not have enough knowledge about credit and Subprime Mortgage. As compared to the economy concerned with statistics and data, I am more interested, not to mention knowledgeable, in political economics, i.e. a study into the r elationship between politics and economy, for example, the political determinants and effects of economic outcomes, especially in the time of financial crises and global insecurity. That is why when I came across the master’s course in Global political economy offered by the  ­your institute, I could not help but apply for admission therein as this is the field I want to pursue. This is in line with my career goals of working in the international commerce department of a multinational company, or the foreign affairs department of the government. Getting this degree would help me develop the necessary coping skills with regard to any future career challenges; it would enable me to enhance my knowledge and improve my skills in both global politics and global economy.  

Online Instruction versus Face to Face Instruction Essay

Online Instruction versus Face to Face Instruction - Essay Example Classrooms may now be visited by logging in to virtual sites, teachers send through instruction via emails and forum posts, and, that picture of the pretty girl one is staring at may actually belong to his classmate’s daughter. Indeed, while online instruction offers convenience, portability, and arguably the same amount of â€Å"contact hours† and learning resources, face to face instruction tends to cater to a wider range of learning styles and a more secure and valid method of performance assessment. Online and face to face instruction differ on how they are attended. Online instruction is a system wherein students simply log on to their school’s website where they are provided with a myriad of options, from logging in to their online classes to checking out campus updates. On the other hand, usual face to face instruction requires the student to be in an actual concrete classroom, listening to an actual lecture or presentation conducted by a physically presen t instructor.. Face to face instruction is also referred to as â€Å"traditional instruction† or â€Å"chalk and talk† instruction (Smith, Ferguson and Caris). The concept of distance education offered by online instruction is not new as distance learning has been offered in earlier decades through the television and the mail. With the advancements in technology, online instruction has a tendency to mimic face to face instruction in many aspects (Aragon, Johnson and Shaik). After the initial birthing pains, online instruction has adapted more and more characteristics of face to face instruction. Before classes start in both online and face to face instruction, students are provided with a class syllabus and a list of requirements for the course such as textbooks and reading materials. In both cases, students are given options to purchase hardcopies of these materials or download electronic copies from indicated sources. In terms of course requirements, both online and face to face instruction require students, to a certain degree, to submit the same amount of term papers and research reports as part of their grades. Attendance to online classes is monitored by requiring students a certain number of discussion posts at different days of the week. In the same manner, the length of time required to take either online or face to face instruction are roughly the same. The direction of learning in the two modes of instruction is also a critical difference. To a certain degree, online instruction process is initially one-way, with the student going over all the learning materials before throwing a question through email or an online forum designated for their respective concerns. This one-way direction of instruction has long been discouraged by experts in the field of education because it does not cater to the different learning styles that students may have (Smith, Ferguson and Caris). Online instruction greatly limits the interactions between student s and the teacher and venues for spontaneous ideas and debates are unavailable. Due to the limited interaction, teachers likewise have limited venues to properly assess a student’s progress in online instruction compared with face to face instruction. In a face to face setup, students who are more comfortable of expressing their thoughts verbally are able to participate better during class discussions, thereby demonstrating that he or she is indeed familiar with the topics. Teachers may also be able to use a wider range of

Marketing Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 3

Marketing Strategy - Essay Example ed to dramatic recalls of many of its diverse products which are in sharp contrast to the brand-building efforts undertaken by the company to build trust in quality as it primary positioning strategy. These failures have been well-publicised. It is recommended that the business turn toward low-cost social media as a means of injecting transparency into the consumer market whilst also supplementing this strategy with heavier, short-term emphasis on promotion development. It is further recommended that the business seek out a new youth market, focus more on corporate social responsibility, and build an online CRM model that engages consumers more effectively. Toyota maintains strong internal competencies and a dedicated organisational culture with tacit and explicit knowledge that brings the business more efficiencies and this should be utilised as a promotional resource to rebuild trust in markets that now have questions about Toyota’s quality competency. Research has identified that Toyota conducts considerable market research on consumer characteristics in diverse markets to create localisation strategies which tends to outperform competitors that attempt to build homogenous marketing strategies. However, this is insufficient for improving its market position and requires adjustment in marketing focus. Toyota is currently positioned as a quality-focused organisation, giving it significant historical marketing advantages over its main competitors in the UK. However, in recent years, Toyota has been burdened with negative publicity associated with a variety of recalls in North America, Europe and Asia which sheds negative light on its quality measures. Coupled with economic problems in the United Kingdom stemming from the 2008 and 2009 recession, once-predictable consumer purchasing behaviours have changed, now making it difficult for Toyota to maintain its market share as price-sensitive consumers look for lower-cost automobile options. Toyota is an

Report on the Religious Life of Planet Earth Essay

Report on the Religious Life of Planet Earth - Essay Example This article will explain what religion looks like. It will provide examples of three beliefs related to religion in line with the function of religion to the survival of human kind. Religion can be defined as a collection of belief systems, cultural systems and worldwide views which relate humanity to the spiritual world (Pope, 1996). In most cases, religions have various symbols, which have their meanings. Certain individuals claim that religion is the act of believing in a supreme being. Most scholars in the discipline of science believe that religion was formulated in order to manipulate humankind. However, other individuals claim that religion is a way of life. As an alien trying to determine the aspect of religion in the world, it is prevalent that the earth is a religious planet. Contrarily, different individuals have different opinions regarding religious status. One of the most prevalent examples that point out the existence of religion on earth is the gathering of individua ls in fellowship (Pope, 1996). Individuals usually gather in certain places in order to fellowship and give thanks to their creator. Therefore, it is necessary to be committed to a certain religion in order to appreciate and understand the teachings. In addition, the philosophy of religion also reveals the existence of religion. It is prevalent that religion would be non-existent if there was no philosophy of religion. Recently, most of the individuals who claim to be religious usually spend most of their time reflecting about the existence of a supreme being. Moreover, they are significantly inspired when they take part in worship acts (Pope, 1996). The planet earth also meets the specifications of a religious planet. This is because approximately 84% of the population comprise of followers of one of the 23 radical religions that are known to the human species (Pope, 1996). Religion enables individuals to understand certain concepts hence; sustaining morality. According to empirica l research, religion plays an essential function in planet earth. For instance, religion helps human beings to define who they are. Additionally, religion holds the society together through the provision of human desires such as integrity, discipline, love and empathy. Some of the individuals believe that religion has a medicinal value that is portrayed through healing especially after prayers. Furthermore, religion also ensures that human beings are able to live according to the guidelines of human life (Pope, 1996). While observing the aspect of religion on earth, I found out that religion was extremely crucial among the believers. As stated above, religion is defined as a response to the dimensions of life which are regarded sacred. Religion can also be defined, by the way an individual prefers to worship and perform their spiritual practices. Research asserts that there are three main religions that are recognized all over the world. They include Christianity, Islam, and Hinduis m (Pope, 1996). In conclusion, the Christians believe in the existence of God who is the sole creator of everything in the universe. In addition, they usually quote the scriptures enshrined in the Holy Bible which resembles an instruction sheet. On the other hand, Muslims believe in a supreme being named Allah.

Supply chain management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Supply chain management - Essay Example The active participants in a supply chain are linked by information flows and physical flows. Information flows are the various communication channels that these firms use to coordinate and control the daily flow of goods and services in the supply chain. These channels are used by various partners in the supply chain as a conduit of information regarding their plans. Physical flows are the storage, transformation and movement of goods and services, and they constitute the most visible component of the supply chain. Supply chains find themselves competing against other supply chains due to the competitive nature of today’s markets (Lu 2012: 59). This has led to the creation of various forms of supply chain management modules. One of these modules of supply chain management is the green supply chain management. This involves the incorporation of environmental friendly practices in activities and processes that take place in supply chain. Green supply chain management requires i ntegration of environmental friendly practices in all levels of the chain of supply. This includes product design, material selection and sourcing, delivery of the final product to the consumer and manufacturing process. Firms should also consider the end of life handling of the product after it is used or after fulfilling its intended purpose. This paper aims to discuss green supply chain management. Green supply management is the process of using environmentally friendly implements and their transformation into byproducts that can improve or be recycled (Ehrgott 2009: 271). The basic principle of green supply management is to reduce costs while at the same time conserving the environment. When a company reconsiders its options and adopts environmental friendly solutions for their production activities, they are likely to reap substantial benefits (Worthington 2012: 104). This is because, instead of focusing on reducing the unit cost of production, a company strives to reduce overa ll production costs. This can be achieved by applying environmental friendly innovations, which can have a substantial impact on production. This is because most environmental solutions are cheap and easy to implement at no extra cost (Zhang 2010: 2). An example of this is a top European company that designed a system that would be using 95 horsepower. The engineer in this company re-designed the system by using pipes with a bigger diameter than the initial ones and reducing their length. This saw a significant reduction for energy in terms of horsepower to 7. This goes to show that environmental friendly designs do not necessarily mean spending a lot of money, but small changes can bring about tremendous benefits to a firm. Various factors have influenced the management of supply chains around the world ranging from the beginning of the global economy to changes in the environment. The environment has played a significant role, in influencing supply chains, to change their orientat ion towards environmental solutions. These solutions are effective and efficient in terms of costs and resource utilisation. Human utilisation of natural resources has been an on-going process since the beginning of life, which until a few hundred years ago, was a sustainable activity (Cohen 2010: 213). This is because up until then, the environment was able to cope and sustain the demands of humans. Today, human activities have

The Life Plan After College Essay Example for Free

The Life Plan After College Essay The Life Plan will help you to achieve your short-term, mid-term, and long-term life goals. It allows you to visualize your future. Its focus is on three major life areas, academic, career, and personal. Individuals who have a clear vision of their future have a greater likelihood of realizing their dreams and goals than those who treat life as a stream of random unrelated events. A secondary outcome of this assignment is that it will allow you to demonstrate your written communication skills. Instructions: Respond to the following questions by answering in complete paragraphs. Be specific and detailed in your responses. Use examples to illustrate your points. Make sure that your responses are grammatically correct with no errors in punctuation or spelling. Proof your work and have others proof your work. Use the College writing lab if you need additional assistance with grammar, structure, or punctuation. Produce a document with no errors. Questions: 1. Now that you have entered college, what are the immediate short-term goals you expect to achieve this semester and the following two semesters? Address the goals that are relevant to you in the academic, personal, and career realm. What does it mean to you to achieve these goals? Why do want to major in __________? What opportunities will your completing this academic degree will be available to you? Who can help you make your career and or academic decisions? 2. Visualize yourself, as you grow older. What do you see your accomplishments to be ten years from now, twenty, and thirty? What advocational goals do you have? These could include hobbies, artistic, musical or other creative pursuits. What do you hope to be doing following your retirement? Where will you live and work? Do you see yourself contributing to others in your community as you achieve the goals you have set? If so, how? Will you volunteer in some way in your community? What things will be necessary to allow you to live your long-term vision of this future? Again, address the areas of academic, personal, and career, as you respond to this question. 3. Identify and write about your mid-term goals in the areas of academic, personal and career. These are things you hope to complete during the next two to five years. These might include transfer to another higher education institution, relocating, finding a job more closely related to your career interest area, starting a family etc.

Digital modulation and demodulation

Digital modulation and demodulation Chapter 1 Digital Communications 1.0 Digital Communication 1.1 Introduction Communication Process: When we think of communication, we usually think of people talking or listening to each other. This may happen face to face, or it may occur through the assistance of a telephone, radio, or television. Basically, communication is the transfer of information. Life In our modern, complex world depends more and more on the transfer of information. The increasing dependency on the transfer of information has stimulated the growth of more and more communication systems. This surge in communication and communication systems has been referred to as a technological revolution. This shows understand the transfer of information in a communication system The communication system will consist of at least the three parts shown. The channel can be as simple as the air that carries the sound of your voice, or as complex as the satellite network required to carry a television program around the world. The most common problem encountered by the communication process is interference. Interference is any force that disrupts or distorts the information or message while it is being channeled. It could be noise, as in the case of normal conversation, or atmospheric weather changes, as In the case of radio or television The biggest cause of interference, however, is a simple misinterpretation of the intended message. Cultural, economic, and political diversities allow people to receive the same message but interpret it differently. Communication Systems: Communication system is a combination of processes and hardware used to accomplish the transfer of Information (communication). A system is a group of interrelated parts. We find that there are systems all around us. In nature, we can also find examples of systems that have been created by people. An automobile, a washing machine, and an electric drill are examples. 1.2 TYPES OF COMMUNICATION: Based on the requirements, the communications can be of different types: Point-to-point communication: In this type, communication takes place between two end points. For instance, in the case of voice communication using telephones, there is one calling party and one called party. Hence the communication is point-to-point. Point-to-multipoint communication: In this type of communication, there is one sender and multiple recipients. For example, in voice conferencing, one person will be talking but many others can listen. The message from the sender has to be multicast to many others. Broadcasting: In a broadcasting system, there is a central location from which information is sent to many recipients, as in the case of audio or video broadcasting. In a broadcasting system, the listeners are passive, and there is no reverse communication path. In simplex communication, the communication is one-way only. In half-duplex communication, communication is both ways, but only in one direction at a time. In full-duplex communication, communication is in both directions simultaneously. Simplex communication: In simplex communication, communication is possible only in one direction. There is one sender and one receiver; the sender and receiver cannot change roles. Half-duplex communication: Half-duplex communication is possible in both directions between two entities (computers or persons), but one at a time. A walkie-talkie uses this approach. The person who wants to talk presses a talk button on his handset to start talking, and the other persons handset will be in receiving mode. When the sender finishes, he terminates it with an over message. The other person can press the talk button and start talking. These types of systems require limited channel bandwidth, so they are low cost systems. Full-duplex communication: In a full-duplex communication system, the two parties-the caller and the called-can communicate simultaneously, as in a telephone system. However, note that the communication system allows simultaneous transmission of data, but when two persons talk simultaneously, there is no effective communication! The ability of the communication system to transport data in both directions defines the system as full-duplex. 1.3 ANALOG VERSUS DIGITAL TRANSMISSION: In analog communication, the signal, whose amplitude varies continuously, is transmitted over the medium. Reproducing the analog signal at the receiving end is very difficult due to transmission impairments. Hence, analog communication systems are badly affected by noise. In a digital communication system, 1s and 0s are transmitted as voltage pulses. So, even if the pulse is distorted due to noise, it is not very difficult to detect the pulses at the receiving end. Hence, digital communication is much more immune to noise as compared to analog communication. 1.4 Digital Modulation: Firstly, what do we mean by digital modulation? Typically the objective of a digital communication system is to transport digital data between two or more nodes. In radio communications this is usually achieved by adjusting a physical characteristic of a sinusoidal carrier, the frequency, phase, amplitude or a combination thereof. This is performed in real systems with a modulator at the transmitting end to impose the physical change to the carrier and a demodulator at the receiving end to detect the resultant modulation on reception. * Modulation is the process of varying some characteristic of a periodic wave with an external signal. * Modulation is utilized to send an information bearing signal over long distances. * Radio communication superimposes this information bearing signal onto a carrier signal. * These high frequency carrier signals can be transmitted over the air easily and are capable of traveling long distances. * The characteristics (amplitude, frequency, or phase) of the carrier signal are varied in accordance with the information bearing signal. * In the field of communication engineering, the information bearing signal is also known as the modulating signal. * The modulating signal is a slowly varying signal as opposed to the rapidly varying carrier frequency. The principal of a digital communication system is that during a finite interval of time, it sends a waveform from a finite set of possible waveforms, in contrast to an analog communication system, which sends a waveform from an infinite variety of waveform shapes, with theoretically infinite resolution. In a DCS (digital communication system), the objective of the receiver is not to reproduce a transmitted waveform with precision. The objective is to determine from a noise-perturbed signal which waveform from the finite set of waveforms was sent by the transmitter. Why Digital?  · The primary advantage is the ease with which digital signals, compared with analog signals, is regenerated. The shape of the waveform is affected by two basic mechanisms. As all transmission lines and circuits have some non-ideal frequency transfer function, there is a distorting effect on the ideal pulse. Unwanted electrical noise or other interference further distorts the pulse waveform. Both of these mechanisms cause the pulse shape to degrade. * With digital techniques, extremely low error rates producing high signal fidelity are possible through error detection and correction but similar procedures are not available with analog. * Digital circuits are more reliable and can be reproduced at a lower cost than analog circuits. * Digital hardware lends itself to more flexible implementation than analog circuits. * The combination of digital signals using Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) is simpler than combining analog signals using Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM). Metrics for Digital Modulation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Power Efficiency Ability of a modulation technique to preserve the fidelity of the digital message at low power levels Designer can increase noise immunity by increasing signal power Power efficiency is a measure of how much signal power should be increased to achieve a particular BER for a given modulation scheme Signal energy per bit / noise power spectral density: Eb / N0 à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Bandwidth Efficiency Ability to accommodate data within a limited bandwidth Tradeoff between data rate and pulse width Throughput data rate per hertz: R/B bps per Hz à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Shannon Limit: Channel capacity / bandwidth C/B = log2(1 + S/N) Disadvantages of Digital Systems * Digital systems tend to be very signal processing intensive compared with analog. * Digital systems need to allocate a significant share of their resources to the task of synchronization at various levels. With analog signals synchronization is accomplished more easily. * One disadvantage of digital communication system is non-graceful degradation. When the SNR drops below a certain threshold, the quality of service can change form very good to very poor. Most analog systems degrade more gracefully. Formatting The goal of the first essential processing step, formatting is to ensure that the source signal is compatible with digital processing. Transmit formatting is a transformation from source information to digital symbols. When data compression in addition to formatting is employed, the process is termed source coding. The digital messages are considered to be in the logical format of binary 1s and 0s until they are transformed by pulse modulation into base band (pulse) waveforms. Such waveforms are then transmitted over a cable. No channel can be used for the transmission of binary digits without first transforming the digits to waveforms that are compatible with the channel. For base band channels, compatible waveforms are pulses. The conversion from a bit of streams to a sequence of pulse waveforms takes place in the block labeled, modulator. The output of a modulator is typically a sequence of pulses with characteristics that correspond to the digits being sent. After transmission through the channel the pulse waveforms are recovered (demodulated) and detected to produce an estimate of the transmitted digits. Formatting in a digital Communication System Symbols When digitally transmitted, the characters are first encoded into a sequence of bits, called a bit stream or base band signal. Group of K bits can then be combined to form new digits, or symbols, from a finite or alphabet of M = 2^K such symbols. A system using a symbol set size of M is referred to as M-array system. Waveform Representation of Binary Digits Digits are just abstractions way to describe the message information. Thus we need something physical that will represent or carry the digits. Thus binary digits are represented with electrical pulses in order to transmit them through a base band channel. At the receiver, a determination must be made regarding the shape of pulse. The likelihood of correctly detecting the pulse is a function of the received signal energy (or area under the pulse). PCM Waveform Types When pulse modulation is applied to a binary symbol, the resulting binary waveform is called a PCM waveform. There are several types of PCM waveforms. These waveforms are often called line codes. When pulse modulation is applied to non-binary symbol, the resulting waveform is called an M-ary pulse modulation waveform. The PCM waveforms fall into the following four groups. 1) Non return to zero (NRZ) 2) Return to zero (RZ) 3) Phase encoded ) Multilevel binary The NRZ group is probably the most commonly used PCM waveform. In choosing a waveform for a particular application, some of the parameters worth examining are 1) DC component 2) Self clocking 3) Error detection ) Bandwidth compression 5) Differential encoding 6) Noise immunity The most common criteria used for comparing PCM waveforms and for selecting one waveform type from many available are 1) Spectral characteristics 2) Bit synchronization capabilities 3) Error detection capabilities ) Interference 5) Noise immunity 6) Cost and complexity of implementation Bits per PCM Word and Bits per Symbol Each analog sample is transformed into a PCM word up to group of bits. The number of quantization levels allowed for each sample can describe the PCM word size; this is identical to the number of values that the PCM word can assume. We use L=2^l Where L is the number of quantization levels in PCM word, l is the number of bits needed to represent those levels. M-ARY Pulse Modulation Waveforms There are three basic ways to modulate information onto a sequence of pulses; we can vary the pulses amplitude, position, or duration. This leads to the names 1) PAM (pulse amplitude modulation) 2) PPM (pulse position modulation) 3) PDM/PWM (pulse duration modulation/ pulse width modulation) When information samples without any quantization are modulated on to the pulses, the resulting pulse modulation can be called analog pulse modulation. When the information samples are first quantized, yielding symbols from an M-ary alphabet set, and the modulation on to pulses, the resulting pulse modulation is digital and we refer to it as M-ary pulse modulation. Base-band modulation with pulses has analogous counterparts in the area of band-pass modulation. PAM is similar to amplitude modulation, while PPM and PDM are similar to phase and frequency modulation respectively. Spectral Density The spectral density of a signal characterizes the distribution of the signals energy or power in the frequency domain. Energy Spectral Density We can relate the energy of a signal expressed in time domain to the energy expressed in frequency domain as: à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¾ Ex = à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã‚ « x ²(t) dt -à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¾ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¾ = à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã‚ « |X (f) | ² df -à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¾ Where X (f) is the Fourier transform of the non periodic signal x (t). Let à Ã‹â€  (t) = |X (f) | ² à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¾ Ex = 2 à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã‚ « à Ã‹â€ x (f) df -à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¾ Power Spectral Density The power spectral density function Gx (t) of the periodic signal x (t) is real, even and nonnegative function of frequency that gives the distribution of the power of x (t) in the frequency domain. à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¾ Gx (t) = à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ |Cn| ² à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã‚ «(f-nfo) n =-à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¾ PSD of a periodic signal is a discrete function of frequency. à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¾ Px = à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã‚ « Gx (t) df -à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¾ à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã… ¾ = 2 à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã‚ «Gx (F) df 0 If x (t) is a non-periodic signal it cannot be expressed by a Fourier series, and if it is a non-periodic power signal (having infinite energy) it may not have a Fourier transform. However we still express the PSD of such signals in a limiting sense. Chapter 2 Modulation and Demodulation 2.0 Modulation and Demodulation Since the early days of electronics, as advances in technology were taking place, the boundaries of both local and global communication began eroding, resulting in a world that is smaller and hence more easily accessible for the sharing of knowledge and information. The pioneering work by Bell and Marconi formed the cornerstone of the information age that exists today and paved the way for the future of telecommunications. Traditionally, local communication was done over wires, as this presented a cost-effective way of ensuring a reliable transfer of information. For long-distance communications, transmission of information over radio waves was needed. Although this was convenient from a hardware standpoint, radio-waves transmission raised doubts over the corruption of the information and was often dependent on high-power transmitters to overcome weather conditions, large buildings, and interference from other sources of electromagnetic. The various modulation techniques offered different solutions in terms of cost-effectiveness and quality of received signals but until recently were still largely analog. Frequency modulation and phase modulation presented certain immunity to noise, whereas amplitude modulation was simpler to demodulate. However, more recently with the advent of low-cost microcontrollers and the introduction of domestic mobile telephones and satellite communications, digital modulation has gained in popularity. With digital modulation techniques come all the advantages that traditional microprocessor circuits have over their analog counterparts. Any shortfalls in the communications link can be eradicated using software. Information can now be encrypted, error correction can ensure more confidence in received data, and the use of DSP can reduce the limited bandwidth allocated to each service. As with traditional analog systems, digital modulation can use amplitude, frequency, or phase modulation with different advantages. As frequency and phase modulation techniques offer more immunity to noise, they are the preferred scheme for the majority of services in use today and will be discussed in detail below 2.1 Digital Frequency Modulation: A simple variation from traditional analog frequency modulation can be implemented by applying a digital signal to the modulation input. Thus, the output takes the form of a sine wave at two distinct frequencies. To demodulate this waveform, it is a simple matter of passing the signal through two filters and translating the resultant back into logic levels. Traditionally, this form of modulation has been called frequency-shift keying (FSK). 2.2 Digital Phase Modulation: Spectrally, digital phase modulation, or phase-shift keying, is very similar to frequency modulation. It involves changing the phase of the transmitted waveform instead of the frequency, these finite phase changes representing digital data. In its simplest form, a phase-modulated waveform can be generated by using the digital data to switch between two signals of equal frequency but opposing phase. If the resultant waveform is multiplied by a sine wave of equal frequency, two components are generated: one cosine waveform of double the received frequency and one frequency-independent term whose amplitude is proportional to the cosine of the phase shift. Thus, filtering out the higher-frequency term yields the original modulating data prior to transmission. * Modulate and demodulate/detect blocks together are called a modem. * The frequency down conversion is performed in the front end of the demodulator. * Only formatting, modulation, demodulation/detection and synchronization are essential for a digital communication system. * FORMATTING transforms the source information into bits. * From this point up to pulse modulation block, the information remains in the form of a bit stream. * Modulation is the process by which message symbols or channel symbols are converted to waveforms that are compatible with the requirements imposed by transmission channel. Pulse modulation is an essential step because each symbol to be transmitted must first be transformed from a binary representation to a base band waveform. * When pulse modulation is applied to binary symbols, the resulting binary waveform is called a PCM waveform. When pulse modulation is applied to non-binary symbols, the resulting waveform is called an M-ary pulse modulation waveform. * Band pass modulation is required whenever the transmission medium will not support the propagation of pulse like waveforms. * The term band pass is used to indicate that the base band waveform gi (t) is frequency translated by a carrier wave to a frequency that is much larger than the spectral content of gi (t). * Equalization can be described as a filtering option that is used in or after the demodulator to reserve any degrading effects on the signal that were caused by the channel. An equalizer is implemented to compensate for any signal distortion caused by a no ideal hi(t) * Demodulation is defined as a recovery of a waveform (band pass pulse) and detection is defined as decision-making regarding the digital meaning of that waveform. 2.3 Linear Modulation Techniques * Digital modulation techniques may be broadly classified as linear and non-linear. In linear modulation techniques, the amplitude to the modulation signal S (t) varies linearly with the modulating digital signal m (t). * Linear modulation techniques are bandwidth efficient. * In a linear modulation technique, the transmitted signal S (t) can be expressed as: S (t) = Re [Am (t) exp (j2pfct)] = A [mr(t)cos(2pfct) mI(t)sin(2pfct)] Where A is the amplitude fc is the carrier frequency m (t) = mr(t) + mI(t) is a complex envelope representation of the modulated signal which is in general complex form. * From the equations above, it is clear that the amplitude of the carrier varies linearly with the modulating signal. * Linear modulation schemes, in general do not have a constant envelope. Linear modulation schemes have very good spectral efficiency. Normalized Radian Frequency Sinusoidal waveforms are of the form: X (t) =Acos (wt+f) - (1) If we sample this waveform, we obtain X[n] =x (nTs) =Acos (wnTs+f) =Acos (wn+f) (2) Where we have defined w to be Normalized Radian Frequency: w=wTs The Signal in (2) is a discrete time cosine signal, and w is the discrete time radian frequency. w has been normalized by the sampling period. w has the units of radians/second, w=wTs has the units of radians; i.e. wis a dimensionless quantity. This is entirely consistent with the fact that the index n in x[n] is a dimensionless. Once the samples are taken from x (t), the time scale information is lost. The discrete time signal is just a sequence of numbers, and these numbers carry no information about the sampling period, which is the information required to reconstruct the time scale. Thus an infinite number of continuous time sinusoidal signals can be transformed into the same discrete time sinusoid by sampling. All we need to is to change the sampling period with changes in frequency of the continuous time sinusoid. 2.4 Baseband Transmission Baseband Demodulation/Detection  · The filtering at the transmitter and the channel typically cause the received pulse sequence to suffer from ISI (Inter Symbol Interference), thus the signal is not quiet ready for sampling and detection.  · The goal of the demodulator is to recover the pulse with best possible signal to noise ratio (SNR), free of any ISI.  · Equalization is a technique used to help accomplish this goal. Every type of communication channel does not require the equalization process. However equalization process embodies a sophisticated set of signal processing techniques, making it possible to compensate for channel induced interference.  · A received band pass waveform is first transformed to a base band waveform before the final detection step takes place.  · For liner systems, the mathematics of detection is unaffected by a shift in frequency. * According to the equivalence theorem, all linear signal-processing simulations can take place at base band (which is preferred for simplicity) with the same result as at band pass. Thus the performance of most digital communication systems will often be described and analyzed as if the transmission channel is a base band channel. Chapter 3 p/4 Quadrature 3.0 p/4 Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (p/4 QPSK) 3.1 Linear Modulation Techniques * Digital modulation techniques may be broadly classified as linear and non-linear. In linear modulation techniques, the amplitude to the modulation signal S (t) varies linearly with the modulating digital signal m (t). * Linear modulation techniques are bandwidth efficient. * In a linear modulation technique, the transmitted signal S (t) can be expressed as: S (t) = Re [Am (t) exp (j2pfct)] = A [mr(t)cos(2pfct) mI(t)sin(2pfct)] Where A is the amplitude fc is the carrier frequency m (t) = mr(t) + mI(t) is a complex envelope representation of the modulated signal which is in general complex form. * From the equations above, it is clear that the amplitude of the carrier varies linearly with the modulating signal. * Linear modulation schemes, in general do not have a constant envelope. Linear modulation schemes have very good spectral efficiency. There are three major classes of digital modulation techniques used for transmission of digitally represented data: * Amplitude-shift keying (ASK) * Frequency-shift keying (FSK) * Phase-shift keying (PSK) All convey data by changing some aspect of a base signal, the carrier wave, (usually a sinusoid) in response to a data signal. In the case of PSK, the phase is changed to represent the data signal. There are two fundamental ways of utilizing the phase of a signal in this way: * By viewing the phase itself as conveying the information, in which case the demodulator must have a reference signal to compare the received signals phase against; or * By viewing the change in the phase as conveying information differential schemes, some of which do not need a reference carrier (to a certain extent). A convenient way to represent PSK schemes is on a constellation diagram. This shows the points in the Argand plane where, in this context, the real and imaginary axes are termed the in-phase and quadrature axes respectively due to their 90 ° separation. Such a representation on perpendicular axes lends itself to straightforward implementation. The amplitude of each point along the in-phase axis is used to modulate a cosine (or sine) wave and the amplitude along the quadrature axis to modulate a sine (or cosine) wave. In PSK, the constellation points chosen are usually positioned with uniform angular spacing around a circle. This gives maximum phase-separation between adjacent points and thus the best immunity to corruption. They are positioned on a circle so that they can all be transmitted with the same energy. In this way, the moduli of the complex numbers they represent will be the same and thus so will the amplitudes needed for the cosine and sine waves. Two common examples are binary phase-shift keying (BPSK) which uses two phases, and quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK) which uses four phases, although any number of phases may be used. Since the data to be conveyed are usually binary, the PSK scheme is usually designed with the number of constellation points being a power of 2. 3.2 Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK) Amplitude shift keying ASK in the context of digital communications is a modulation process, which imparts to a sinusoid two or more discrete amplitude levels. These are related to the number of levels adopted by the digital message. For a binary message sequence there are two levels, one of which is typically zero. Thus the modulated waveform consists of bursts of a sinusoid. In Amplitude Shift Keying the Amplitude varies whereas the phase and frequency remains the same as shown in following . One of the disadvantages of ASK, compared with FSK and PSK, for example, is that it has not got a constant envelope. This makes its processing (eg, power amplification) more difficult, since linearity becomes an important factor. However, it does make for ease of demodulation with an envelope detector. Thus demodulation is a two-stage process: à ¥ Recovery of the band limited bit stream à ¥ Regeneration of the binary bit stream 3.3 Frequency-shift keying (FSK) Frequency-shift keying (FSK) is a method of transmitting digital signals. The two binary states, logic 0 (low) and 1 (high), are each represented by an analog waveform. Logic 0 is represented by a wave at a specific frequency, and logic 1 is represented by a wave at a different frequency. In frequency Shift Keying the frequency varies whereas the phase and amplitude remains the same. Phase shift keying (PSK) Phase Shift Keying (PSK) was developed during the early days of the deep-space program. PSK is now widely used in both military and commercial communication systems. In phase shift Keying the phase of the transmitted signal varies whereas the amplitude and frequency remains the same. The general expression for the PSK is as Where, ji(t) = the phase term will have M discrete values, given by, ji(t) = 2pi /M 3.4 Binary PSK In binary phase shift keying we have two bits represented by the following waveforms; S0(t) = A cos (wt) represents binary 0 S1(t) = A cos (wt + p) represents binary 1 For M-array PSK, M different phases are required, and every n (where M=2n) bits of the binary bit stream are coded as one signal that is transmitted as A sin (wt + qj) where j=1,.., M 3.5 Quadra phase-Shift Modulation Taking the above concept of PSK a stage further, it can be assumed that the number of phase shifts is not limited to only two states. The transmitted carrier can undergo any number of phase changes and, by multiplying the received signal by a sine wave of equal frequency, will demodulate the phase shifts into frequency-independent voltage levels. This is indeed the case in quadraphase-shift keying (QPSK). With QPSK, the carrier undergoes four changes in phase (four symbols) and can thus represent 2 binary bits of data per symbol. Although this may seem insignificant initially, a modulation scheme has now been supposed that enables a carrier to transmit 2 bits of information instead of 1, thus effectively doubling the bandwidth of the carrier Eulers relations state the following: Now consider multiplying two sine waves together, thus From Equation 1, it can be seen that multiplying two sine waves together (one sine being the incoming signal, the other being the local oscillator at the receiver mixer) results in an output frequency double that of the input (at half the amplitude) superimposed on a dc offset of half the input amplitude. Similarly, multiplying by gives which gives an output frequency double that of the input, with no dc offset. It is now fair to make the assumption that multiplying by any phase-shifted sine wave yields a demodulated waveform with an output frequency double that of the input frequency, wh

Greek Legacies :: essays research papers

Greek legacies are their governmental systems, culture and arts, and science and technology. Classical Greece was a time where the growth of a community held strong through times of plague, wars, and numerous breakthroughs. A major legacy left by classical Greece was a government based on direct democracy. With a direct democracy, citizens ruled by majority vote. The citizenship was expanded to all free males, except foreigners. Those not considered citizens were women, slaves, and all foreigners. In 621 b.c.e., Draco, an Athenian lawmaker wrote the first legal code. In the legal code Draco dealt with contract and property ownership, it also included debt slavery. In classical Greece, citizens were also allowed to bring charges of wrong doing with a trial by jury. Direct democracy was a new innovation that not only changed the world, it also helped classical Greece become a great and powerful nation. Another legacy left by Greece was their culture and art. With their culture they created the Greek language. The Greeks also invented their mythology, which included gods and goddesses. Through myths, Greeks tried to understand the mysteries of nature and the power of human passion. God lived forever and Greeks attributed human qualities to them. The Olympic Games were originated in Greece around 776 b.c.e. They were dedicated to the god Zeus, the Greeks even suspended the wars between city-states so the athletes of the Olympics could compete. Philosophers, lovers of wisdom, were determined to seek the truth. There philosophy was based on two assumptions: (1) The universe (land, sky, and sea) is put together in an orderly way, and subject to absolute and unchanging laws, and (2) people can understand these laws through logic and reason. The three main philosophers of classical Greece are Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. The arts of classical Greece had a different flair than any other civilization. The Greeks invented both drama and built the first theaters in the west. Statues in Greece depicted their gods and goddesses in idealized human form, their faces neither showed laughter or anger, only serenity. Athena, goddess of wisdom, is found in the Parthenon, dressed in full battle armor, holding a six-foot high figure of victory. The Parthenon is a masterpiece of not only craftsmanship, but also design. Artisans built the 23,000 square ft. building with the traditional style that had been used several hundred years before. Classical Greece’s art and culture inspired Greeks to pursue their life as a privilege.

Animal Disturbances in Eastern Deciduous Forests Essay -- Ecology, Eco

The study of ecology is currently primarily focused upon anthropogenic effects on ecosystems as well as feeding relationships; however, non-feeding interactions are also an important factor in understanding the balance of the ecosystem and identifying issues. These interactions are generally termed disturbances. What constitutes a disturbance? White and Pickett defined it as â€Å"any relatively discrete event in time that disrupts ecosystem, community, or population structure and changes resources, substrate availability, or the physical environment† (White 1985). Some definitions of disturbances such as Grime's require the destruction of biomass, however, this tends to rule out many events that cause changes in the makeup of ecosystems yet are not feeding interactions (Buckley 1992). All animals interact with their environment beyond simply feeding as even walking can affect the makeup of the environment by crushing grasses or insects. Still, not all animals have the same degree of effect on the environment - certain animals are considered to be â€Å"ecosystem engineers.† These ecosystem engineers include crocodiles and beavers, animals that substantially change the environment around them to adapt it to their needs. Clive G. Jones defined ecosystem engineers as â€Å"organisms that directly or indirectly modulate the availability of resources to other species, by causing physical state changes in biotic or abiotic materials. In doing so, they modify, maintain, and create habitats†(Jones 1994). Of course, not all organisms that have non-trophic effects on their environment are ecosystem engineers. It is simply that the effects of the ecosystem engineer tend to be the best studied as they have the largest, most deliberate effect. H... ...ing monoculture comes a plethora of plant viruses that were previously reduced by diversity. As Castello states: â€Å"As forests become monocultures of one or several species, and as they suffer from mismanagement...they become more vulnerable to the impacts of biotic and abiotic stresses†(Castello 1989). Problematically, little is known about plant viruses and thus little is known about how to manage forests to prevent viruses or reduce their impact. There is some disagreement on whether a lack of disturbances truly leads to monoculture as certain ecologists including Hubbell believe that recruitment failures outweigh any possible effect of disturbances (Hubbell 1999). However, as studies have shown, disturbances can drastically increase recruitment failures. Nearly all researchers did agree that anthropogenic disturbances universally reduce diversity in ecosystems.

Gullah

The recent rise in Black consciousness has created an extraordinary interest in the study of Black heritage and the preservation of Black culture in America. Many scholars and students are turning their attention to A frican-American cultural patterns, which have been long ignored and often scorned. Black people are realizing more and more that these patterns exemplify key features of their heritage and may offer not only clues into the past, but also provide guides to survival in the future.As this interest gains momentum, African-Americans are looking toward the South, particularly to its rural and isolated islands where so many of the unique elements of contemporary Black culture have their roots. The culture of the Sea Islands is such a special case. The lack of contact with the mainland helped to preserve some of the important features of their African culture. Because the Africans that were brought to these islands were not sold and resold as often as those on the mainland, som e of their ancestral family patterns remain even to this date. ——————————————————————————- A. Sea Islands Begin just north of Georgetown, South Carolina, and continue to the Florida border. It is estimated that there are approximately 1,000 islands along the coast of South Carolina and Georgia separated from the mainland by marshes, alluvial streams and rivers. 1. Some of the islands are bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and are as far as twenty miles or more from the mainland. 2. They range in size from the uninhabitable ones to John’s Island South Carolina, the second largest island in the United States.B. European settlement 1. The Sea Islands have formed the basis of a very profitable agriculture. 2. During slavery, the long staple cotton grown here was considered the best available anywhere and brought very favorable prices on the world market 3. The economy of the region was based almost entirely on slavery, and because of the labor intensity of the crops, very large plantations developed in this area. a. Some Whites owned entire islands containing thousands of acres of land and maintained hundreds of slaves to till the soil. C. Isolation 1.The isolation of the islands and the large numbers of slaves meant that the influence of American White culture upon African and slave culture was minimal. 2. To further enhance the development of a unique Black culture, there was the continual importation of slaves directly from Africa. a. The overwhelming number of slaves entering South Carolina during the 18th century came directly from Africa. b. The isolation of the islands made them a prime location for slave traders to land illegal cargoes of Africans after the Slave Trade Act of 1808. c. Africans were imported into the islands as late as 1858.D. Cultural formations 1. There was a geographical, social and cultural basis for the retention of many elements of African culture in the Sea Islands and the development of a distinctive African-American culture. 2. The word â€Å"Gullah† was once defined as the way of speaking of Blacks on the Sea Islands. In recent years, Gullah has come to mean not only the speech of Black islanders but also their culture and way of life. a. Food- traditional seafood and rice dishes â€Å"Hoppin John† and â€Å"Frogmore Stew† b. Arts-basket weaving, donning fishnets, pottery, and quilting. . The first American cowboys were the Blacks in the Carolina low country (Sea Islands). d. Contributions to American music are also evident. e. Tradition of fishing passed from one generation to another. f. During the slave period many of the customs the people developed clearly reflected African culture and post-bellum conditions enhanced their retention. Basket weaving is one of the dominant crafts of the region, and one of the oldest crafts of African origin in theUnited States. Crabbing and fishing are a very important part of the Sea Island culture.Sea Island children are intimately familiar with the ocean and learn the art of casting and netting as early as the age of three. E. Development of survival patterns 1. Philosophy and utilization of time. Older Blacks have a different relationship to time than many younger and â€Å"up to date† Blacks. 2. Environment coping a. Dealing with atmospheric changes F. Psychological and sociological issues. 1. Many Sea Island Blacks may have different self perceptions and attitudes as compared to Blacks raised in other areas. 2. The Sea Island Blacks frequently owned their land since the years before Reconstruction.Many of them do not know what it means to pay rent or a mortgage and to some the very concepts are meaningless. 3. The fact that the people were very isolated from mainstream culture, they could only survive by developing a posture of self-s ufficiency and independence. 4. Many elderly Sea Island Blacks had very limited interaction with Whites. 5. Black activism of Sea Island Blacks a. Some of the earliest support for the civil rights movement came out of the Sea Island and Martin Luther King developed some of his major campaigns during retreats to the area. . Local independence and activism has its roots in the Reconstructionist Era and the Black majority in the area. c. A large portion of the elderly Sea Islanders registered to vote before 1910. G. Uniqueness of Sea Islands 1. They are home of a West African people called Gullah. They were captured from this area because the Europeans needed technology and labor to build their empires and America. The Gullah captives possessed skills (technology) in agriculture, science, animal farming, construction, navigation, government, and teaching. 2.The knowledge and need for farming and building in the Sea Islands required specialized skills that were found in abundance in Wes t Africa 3. The isolation of the Gullah from mainland whites and other Africans allowed the Gullah to maintain a high degree of African culture. Also, the high concentration of Africans allowed a Gullah community to form an Afrocentric cultural entity within a European American cultural context. H. Gullah Dialect 1. The Gullah â€Å"accent† is much more than just an accent on the English language. Gullah, as a language, uses distinct African language patterns, and conceptual meanings.In other words, the Gullah language is uniquely African, with English words added to it. 2. One study says that the origin of the term Gullah and the Blacks came from the West Coast of Africa, but exactly where has not been agreed upon. a. One is that Gullah is a shortened form of Angola, the name of an African West Coast district lying south of the Equator and the mouth of the Congo River. b. A second suggestion is that Gullah comes from the name of the Liberian group of tribes known as Golas li ving on the West Coast between Sierra Leone and the Ivory Coast. . Gullah has been called the most African of any of our Black dialects, yet it can be traced back in practically every detail to English dialect speech. There has been an interchange of cultural values between the Black and White communities who have lived and worked together on the Sea Islands from the first days of settlement. The dialect was nourished in isolation and has survived with little change because of the continued isolation of its native area. The Parable of the Lost Sheep, Luke 15:2-3 King James VersionAnd the Pharisees and scribes murmured saying, this man receiveth sinners and eateth with the them. And he spake this parable unto them, saying What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness and go after that which is lost, until hefind it? Gullah Version En de Pharisee en de law teesha dem saat ta mek cumplain,say â€Å"Dis man sociat e widsinna en ebn eat mong am. Now den Jesus done know dem binna nek cumplain bout am. So e tell am one parryubble, say â€Å"Supposin a hondad sheep blonks ta one a oona.Ef one a dem sheep done loss een de wood wa you fa do? Sho nuf, you gwain lef de ninety-nine oddares safe een de pasta. You gwain saach fa de one wa loss tel you fin am eni? † I. Sea Islands Today 1. Today, an estimated 270,00 people along the Georgia, Carolina, and northeastern Florida coasts speak of Gullah. The dialect survived primarily among rural Blacks who largely depended on farming and fishing. Many of these people are now moving into jobs in the various resort industries, which are springing up on the islands, thus ending their isolation.Nonetheless, Gullah has a way of surviving even in small clusters in New York City where its speakers are often mistaken for Barbadians. 2. Because many corporations are now building their resorts on the islands and the United States Marine Corps has established a training base on Paris Island, many sociologists theorize the Gullah culture will soon die out. Nonetheless, although the pressures on the Gullah culture to disintegrate and assimilate are great, there are a number of people who are making valiant attempts to maintain, and preserve this treasured culture.

Evidence Law

UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI FACULTY OF LAW TAPE RECORDED LECTURES THE LAW OF EVIDENCE LLB II 2003 LAW OF EVIDENCE Lesson 2 RELEVANCE & ADMISSIBILITY RES GESTAE ‘Res Gestae’, it has been said, is a phrase adopted to provide a respectable legal cloak for a variety of cases to which no formula of precision can be applied’. The words themselves simply mean a transaction. Under the inclusionary common law doctrine of Res Gestae, a fact or opinion which is so closely associated in time, place and circumstances with some act or event which is in issue that it can be said to form a part of the same transaction as the act or event in issue, is itself admissible in evidence. The justification given for the reception of such evidence is the light that it sheds upon the act or event in issue: in its absence, the transaction in question may not be fully or truly understood and may even appear to be meaningless, inexplicable and unintelligible. The importance of the doctrine, for present purposes, is its provision for the admissibility of statements relating to the performance, occurrence or existence of some act, event or state of affairs which is in issue. Such statements may be received by way of exception to the hearsay rule. Res Gestae forms part of hearsay. R V. BEDINGFIELD [1879] Vol. 14 Cox C. C. 341 A girl was living with her boyfriend until the relationship turned sour. The boyfriend allegedly cut her throat. She managed to run out even with a cut hroat and managed to say ‘see what Harry (Bedingfield) has done to me’. In court the question arose as to whether this statement could be admitted in evidence. Lord Justice Cockburn was emphatic that it could not be admitted. He said that it was not part of the transaction, that it was said after the transaction was all over. (The transaction being the cutting of the throat) The Judge held that it was not admissible as part of the Res Gestae since it was som ething stated by her after it was all over. The girl said after it was all over. Under S. 33 of Law of Evidence Act, this would have been admitted. 33. Statements, written or oral, of admissible facts made by a person who is dead, or who cannot be found, or who has become incapable of giving evidence or whose attendance cannot be procured, or whose attendance cannot be procured without an amount of delay or expense which in the circumstances of the case appears to the court unreasonable, are themselves admissible in the following cases— ) When the statement is made by a person as to the cause of his death, or as to any of the circumstances of the transaction which resulted in his death, in cases in which the cause of that person’s death comes into question and such statements are admissible whether the person who made them was or was not, at the time when they were made, under expectation of death, and whatever may be the nature of the proceeding in which the cause of his death comes in question; R V. Premji Kurji [1940] E. A. C. A 58 In this case the accused was charged with murder, the deceased had been killed with a dagger and there was evidence that the accused had been found standing over the deceased body with a dagger dripping with blood. The prosecution adduced evidence that a few minutes before, the accused had been seen assaulting the deceased’s brother with a dagger and he had uttered words to the effect that ‘I have finished with you; I am now going to deal with your brother’. The question was whether this statement was admissible as forming part of the transaction. Is that part of the same transaction as the murder? Were the words uttered parts of the same transaction? It was held that they were part of the same transaction because when two acts of an accused person are so interwoven as to form part of the same transaction, it is not proper to shut out evidence of one of the acts even though it may involve introducing evidence of the commission of another offence. R V. RAMADHANI ISMAEL [1950] ZLR 100 A Girl was living in the village with her parents and she was allegedly raped by the accused. After the rape incident, she unlocked the door and ran over to her parents’ house, a few paces away from the accused’s house. She got hold of her father’s hand and took him to the accused house. She pointed to the accused person and said ‘daddy, this is the Bwana’ and the question was whether this statement was part of the transaction. The transaction here is rape, which is already finished by the time she goes to call her daddy. Is it admissible? The court held that it was not part of the transaction. The transaction was already over. Different courts have different conception of what forms part of the transaction. The court in this rape case adopted a conservative view of what formed the transaction. TEPPER V. R [1952] A. C 480 In that case there was a fire some place and a house was burning and the lady was heard to ask somebody who looked like the accused some minutes later ‘your house is burning and you are running away’ the question was whether this statement was part of the transaction as the fact in issue the fact in issue being Arson. It was held to be part of the transaction. R V. CHRISTIE 1914 AC 545 The accused was convicted of indecent assault on a boy. The boy gave un-sworn evidence in which he described the assault and identified the accused but made no reference to any previous identification. The House of Lords, by a majority of five to two, held that both the boy’s mother and a constable had been properly allowed to give evidence that shortly after the alleged act they saw the boy approach the accused, touch his sleeve and identify him by saying, ‘That is the man’. Evidence of the previous identification was admissible as evidence of the witness’s consistency, ‘to show that the witness was able to identify at the time’ and ‘to exclude the idea that the identification of the prisoner in the dock was an afterthought or mistake. THOMPSON V. TREVANION 1693 Skin L. R. 402 This case had to do with statements made by participants in or observers of events. Thus in this case it was decided that what a wife said immediately upon the hurt was received and before she had time to devise or contrive anything for her own advantage was held to be admissible in evidence. ALL THE ABOVE CASES HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH WHETHER THE STATEMENT IS PART OF THE FACT OF IN ISSUE. R V. RATTEN [1972] A. C 378 Ratten was charged with the murder of his wife. He offered the defence of accident. He said that he was cleaning his gun and it accidentally went off injuring his spouse. There was nobody else at the scene of crime or at the point where this incident occurred and the prosecution sought to tender evidence of a girl who worked with the telephone exchange who said that a call had had been made from the accused house at about the time of the murder. The girl said that the voice on the phone betrayed emotion, she was begging to have the police called over and before the operator could link the woman with the police the phone hang up on the woman side. The question was, was the statement by the telephone operator admissible as part of the transaction? Did it happen contemporaneously with the facts in issue? The court held that the evidence of the telephone operator was admissible and in explaining why the Privy Council explained that the important thing was not whether the words were part of the transaction. The important thing was whether the words were uttered during the drama. The court also said that the particular evidence of the operator contradicted the evidence which was to the effect that the only telephone call outside from his house during the murder was only a call for an ambulance. Section 7 â€Å"7. Facts which are the occasion, cause or effect, immediate or otherwise, of relevant facts or facts in issue, or which constitute the state of things under which they happened or which afforded an opportunity for their occurrence or transaction are relevant. † They will be those facts which will afford the opportunity to the facts in issue. The occasion may not be a fact in issue but it helps us understand the fact in issue or relevant facts. CAUSE/EFFECT John Makindi V. R EALR 327 The accused in this case was charged with the murder of a boy over whom he stood in loco parentis (foster father) to. In his defence the accused averred that the deceased was epileptic trying to explain away the injuries on the boy and how they may have occurred. Medical evidence showed that the boy had died due to severe bleeding in the head and a doctor testified that there were blood clots in the boy’s head which had opened causing a lot of blood to flow from the deceased’s head and therefore occasioning his death. The prosecution tendered evidence that the accused had previously beaten up this boy and had previously been convicted for beating up this boy and he had threatened the boy with further beatings on account of having been convicted. The question was whether evidence of previous beating was admissible. The court held yes that the evidence of previous beatings was admissible in the circumstances? Could the court admit the evidence of past beatings? The court held that the beatings of earlier beatings was dmissible because having taken the evidence of blood clots at the head, it was important to know the cause of the blood clots and the evidence of the previous beatings was admissible as a fact leading to the bleeding and ultimate death. The cause of things or relevant facts or facts in issue will be admitted to explain the cause of death. E. g. the opening of the blood clots and loss of lots of blood. The previous beatings showed us the cause and was thus admissible, so the cause of thi ngs and the cause of relevant issues will be admitted. They explain the cause of death like in this case. STATE OF AFFAIRS R V RABIN & ANOTHER [1947] Vol. 14 E. A. C. A 80 In this case there was a charge of corruption and the prosecution tried to lead evidence of a previous shady dealing in which the two persons whose conduct was in issue were involved. The question was whether the evidence was relevant. The court held that the evidence of the previous shady dealings was relevant because it gave the state of things under which the bribe was given. It explained the state of things in which the transaction occurred. The transaction which is the fact in issue. OPPORTUNITY R V Premji Kurji R. V. (1940) 7 E. A. C. A. 40 The case shows that the accused had opportunity to commit the murder. This case discusses Res Gestae. The deceased had been killed with a dagger, and evidence was admitted at the trial of the fact that just prior to the death of the deceased the accused had assaulted the deceased’s brother with a dagger and had uttered threats against the deceased. It was held that the accused had an opportunity, he had used the dagger only a few minutes before he used it to commit the murder. Section 8 8. Any fact is relevant which shows or constitutes a motive or preparation for any fact in issue or relevant fact. † Facts which relate to motive, preparation or conduct of any fact in issue will be relevant. Motive is that which makes a person do a particular thing or act in a particular way. For instance a person who is accused of rape may be motivated by lust or desire. A person who says they killed in self defence will be motivated by fear. Motive is what influences a person’s acts or conduct. For all voluntary acts, there will be a motivation and you need to look at a person’s conduct to explain away the motivation. Similarly any fact that would constitute preparation for a fact in issue is also going to be admissible. The planning or arranging means and measures necessary to commit an act or to do something. If it is a crime, it will be the type of measures one takes to help achieve the committing of that that crime. For example if you intend to steal there will be surveillance involved. Hiring implements required to commit the crime. Similarly any fact which shows the conduct of any party to the proceedings is relevant. Section 8 (4) 8. (4)The word â€Å"conduct† in this section does not include statements, unless those statements accompany and explain acts other than statements. † Statements are expressly excluded. You are not talking about statements but preparation. Under section 8 you are dealing with things that people do and not things that people do. If you want to bring in a statement, it would have to be associated with an act. Section 9 9. Facts necessary to explain or introduce a fact in issue or elevant fact, or which support or rebut an inference suggested by such a fact, or which establish the identity of any thing or person whose identity is relevant, or fix the time or place at which any fact in issue or relevant fact happened, or which show the relation of parties by whom any such fact was transacted, are relevant insofar as they are necessary for that purpose. † Facts, which e xplain or introduce facts in issue, are relevant. It is only phraseology of Section 9 that differs from factors that have been explained in Section 6,7 and 8. 10. Where there is reasonable ground to believe that two or more persons have conspired together to commit an offence or an actionable wrong, anything said, done or written by any one of such persons in reference to their common intention, after the time when such intention was first entertained by any one of them, is a relevant fact as against each of the persons believed to be so conspiring, as well for the purpose of proving the existence of the conspiracy as for the purpose of showing that any such person was a party to it. † The legislator is said to have been acting Ex Abundante Cautella. Out of an abundance of caution. This section deals with conspiracies. If there are reasonable grounds to believe that there is a conspiracy, then whatever is said or done by any person in reference to their common intention, after the time such intention was formed, is a relevant fact. What does a conspiracy entail? It is where people sit and agree and form a common intention to do something. Common intention is the defining factor of the conspiracy. It is relevant to prove 1. That it is a conspiracy; and 2. To prove that persons were parties to the conspiracy. R V. KANJI 1949 VOL 15 EALR 116 It is stated with reference to S. 10 that a person who joins a conspiracy in law is responsible in law for all the acts of his fellow conspirators done in furtherance of the conspiracy whether done before during or after his participation. It is only after common intention is established. STANLEY MUSINGA ET AL V. R [1951] 18 EACAR 211 Here the court said that â€Å"A person who joins a conspiracy is responsible in law for all the acts of his fellow-conspirators done in furtherance of the conspiracy, whether done before, during or after his participation. † The time when, by act or declaration, reference is made to the common intention is not important so long as it is after that time when the intention is first entertained by one of the conspirators. R V. MULJI JAMNADAS ETAL 1946 13 EACA 147. The defendants were charged with a conspiracy to effect a lawful purpose by unlawful means, in that they toured the neighbourhood in a lorry to recruit labour for the Company’s Sugar Works, and that acting together they did on a number of occasions compel persons by the use of force and threats of force to get into the lorry and submit to being carried away on it for labour at the Sugar Works. The defence argued that intimidating labour into employment was not an offence known to the criminal law of Uganda, and did not, therefore, constitute â€Å"unlawful means†. The Court noted, however, citing from ARCHBOLD, that a tort which is not a criminal offence is sufficient to satisfy the provision as to â€Å"unlawful means†, and upheld the convictions. Section 11 – Facts which are inconsistent with or which affect the probability of other facts. 11. Facts not otherwise relevant are relevant— a) if they are inconsistent with any fact in issue or relevant act; or b) if by themselves or in connection with other facts they make the existence or non-existence of any fact in issue or relevant fact highly probable or improbable. What kind of facts are relevant S. 11 (b) is the epitome of all that is found relevant in a fact in issue. Read S. 5 along with S. 11. Section 12 12. In suits in which damages are claimed, any fact which will enable the court to de termine the amount of damages which ought to be awarded is relevant. † Section 12 – Deals with the facts which affect the quantum of damages. This Section is said to be a boon to ambulance chasers. E. g. contributory negligence your participation affects the amount of damages you receive. If the plaintiff in a civil suit claims damages as compensation for injuries suffered, the amount of damages which will compensate him naturally becomes a fact in issue. Evidence which helps the court to determine the amount of damages is relevant. The following cases show various types of facts which the courts have considered in reaching an assessment M’IBUI V. DYER [1967] E. A. 315 (K) â€Å"Wounding in course of arrest by private person on suspicion of felony. Psychological factors of malingering and â€Å"compensationists† taken into account, as well as aggravation of damages by element of injury to reputation. † MU WANI [1964] E. A. 171 (U)WANGA V. JI â€Å"The deceased was an African child and the court considered the amount of damages for the loss of service to the mother and grandparents, the father being deceased. † Section 13. Bf 13. Where the existence of any right or custom is in question, the following facts are relevant— a) any transaction by which the right or custom in question was created, claimed, modified, recognised, asserted or denied, or which was inconsistent with its existence; or b) particular instances, in which the right or custom was claimed, recognized or exercised, or in which its exercise was disputed, asserted or departed from. If what you have in issue is your right in custom, 13 (a) factors that show when customs were created, whether it is relevant and what kinds of arguments were made for the custom. Locus classicus) Relevance and admissibility SIMILAR FACTS EVIDENCE: The definition Similar facts evidence can only be led if there are similar facts to those under consideration. There has to be substantial connection or similarity of what the person did. The court has a number of questions should ask Is it relevant? Can the offence be proved without similar facts evidence? What othe r purpose does the evidence serve other than cause prejudice against the accused person? Section 14 and 15 deal with similar facts evidence. Section 14 and 15. 14. 1)Facts showing the existence of any state of mind, such as intention, knowledge, good faith, negligence, rashness, ill-will or good-will towards any particular person, or showing the existence of any state of body or bodily feeling, are relevant, when the existence of any such state of mind or body or bodily feeling is in issue or relevant. 15. (2)A fact relevant within the meaning of subsection (1) as showing the existence of a state of mind must show that the state of mind exists, not generally, but in reference to the particular matter in question. 3)Where, upon the trial of a person accused of an offence, the previous commission by the accused of an offence is relevant within the meaning of subsection (1), the previous conviction of such person is also relevant. 1. Can we infer that something was done by human beings because similar incidents have been occasioned by human beings in the past? Can we rule out natural occurrence when something happens because similar things have happened before? 2. Is it legitimate to infer that the accused person has committed the act under investigation merely because it is shown that he has done similar things in the past? It is notable that when you are dealing with similar facts, the general principle of law is that it is not legitimate to infer that an accused person committed a particular offence merely because he had committed a similar offence in the past. The reason is because; 1. Firstly there is the policy of consideration of fairness to the accused person. 2. Secondly similar facts evidence is evidence that can bring about a lot of prejudice to the accused person. The offence can be proved without the similar evidence; 3. Thirdly the burden that an accused person has when they come to court is that they have to be ready to defend their whole lives. Evidence of similar facts may be led if there is substantial connection between those similar incidents and the one in issue. You cannot lead evidence of fact just to show connection. There has to be substantial connection in similarity in what a person did. The court should ask whether 1. Evidence of similar fact is relevant; 2. There is a purpose that is served by the evidence other than to cause prejudice against the accused person. Evidence of similar fact helps to establish intention and it can also be used to rule out defence such as honest intention. Even then a Judge has discretion to keep away evidence of similar facts if it is prejudicial to the accused person. The locus classica on evidence of similar facts is Makin V. AG Makin and his wife were charged with murdering a child. It was shown that the child’s mortal remains were found buried in the garden of the Makins. There was no evidence that they had killed the child but there was evidence that the Makins had adopted this child from the parents. There was also evidence that the Makins had also adopted other children who were unrelated to this one. They were being paid after they adopted the children. There was also evidence that the children were never again seen by their parents after being adopted by the Makins. The investigators had found mortal remains of children in gardens of the houses that the Makins had lived in before. The question was, is this evidence of houses and backyards relevant in the trial for the murder of a specific murder. The evidence was admitted though there was not direct evidence to show that the Makins had actually killed the children. There was substantial connection between the activities of the adoption of the other children and the one under investigation. There was striking similarities between the cases and the Makins had the opportunity to murder the children but the evidence of their dealings with other children was taken into consideration because of the similarities that the investigators had found. In that case, 2 basic principles were established and reiterated in the case of John Makindi V. R. The Principles were as follows: 1. You cannot lead similar facts evidence merely to show the accused disposition to commit an offence. Lord Herschell states as follows â€Å"It is undoubtedly not competent for the prosecution to adduce evidence tending to show that the accused has been guilty of criminal acts other than those covered by the indictment for the purpose of leading to the conclusion that the accused is a person likely from his criminal conduct/character to have committed the offence for which he is being tried. † Disposition should not be motivation for leading similar facts evidence. . On the other hand, the mere fact that the evidence adduced tends to show the commission of other crimes does not render it inadmissible if it be relevant to an issue before the jury and it may be so relevant if it bears upon the question whether the acts alleged to constitute the crime charged in the indictment were designed or accidental or to rebut a defence which would otherwise be open to the accused. Essentially the Makin case established parameters for admitting evidence of similar facts. Similar facts evidence cannot just be used to show disposition. The second proposition delimiting evidence of similar facts is found in S. 15 of the Evidence Act 16. When there is a question whether an act was accidental or intentional, or done with a particular knowledge or intention, the fact that such act formed part of a series of similar occurrences, in each of which the person doing the act was concerned, is relevant. The question arose as to whether the defence had to wait until a defence arose to raise similar fact evidence or could they raise it to prevent the accused from even thinking of raising a defence. Had Lord Herschell only given direction on which subsequent courts could built on and in Harris V DPP AC. 394 Viscount Simmons settled the matter . â€Å"It was an error to draw a closed list of circumstances of when similar facts evidence was admissible. He dispelled the notion that Lord Herschell one did not have to wait until the accused person raised a defence of accused or mistake for one to bring up the defence before introducing such evidence. Lord Herschell only gave instance when similar facts evidence could be raised and that Lord Herschell only raised instances. Mohammed Said Akraby v. R. [1956] Vol. 23 EACA 512 It was held in this case that even though the prosecution did not have to wait until the accused raised a defence; the judge had discretion to exclude similar facts evidence if its probative value was out weighed by the prejudicial effect. It was always going to be a balancing act what purpose does the evidence serve other than cause prejudice. Noor Mohammed v. R. [1937] Vol. 4 E. A. C. A The accused was charged with murdering his wife by poisoning. There was no evidence that he had administered the poison but prosecution sought to adduce evidence that the accused had had another wife who died as a result of poisoning in circumstances which suggested that the accused had lured the wife into taking poison as a cure for a toothache. The accused was convicted but on Appeal, the Appeal was allowed on the grounds that evidence admitted by the trial judge was very prejudicial to the accused person. In the words of the court, the probative value was outweighed by the prejudicial effect even though the evidence was technically admissible. Similar facts evidence must have strong probative value weighed against prejudice. R v. Scarrot [1978] 1 AER 672 Discussing further probative value versus prejudicial effect, Lord Scarman stated in this case: â€Å"Such probative value is not provided by mere repetition of similar facts. There has to be some features in the evidence sought to be adduced which provided an underlying link. The existence of such a link is not to be inferred from mere similarity of facts which are themselves so common place that they can provide no sure ground for saying that they point to the commission by the accused of the offence under consideration. † Evidence of similar facts has to have its own persuasive value and not to just have probative value it just not depend on coincidence. Admissible similar facts evidence falls into 3 categories which depend on what it is directed towards. 1. Similar facts evidence to establish state of mind with which some act proved to have been done was done i. e. hat motivated the act; 2. Similar facts evidence to prove the identity of the perpetrator or doer of an act; 3. Similar facts evidence to establish the commission of the act itself and therefore rule out an act of nature or miracle. UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI FACULTY OF LAW XXX LLB II 2003 LAW OF EVIDENCE Lesson 3 Firstly the question of similar facts evidence to establish state of mind â⠂¬â€œ the accused may admit that he committed an act but his state of mind is not discernible. Looking at the evidence it is overwhelming that the accused committed the crime but it is not clear what his state of mind was. Under this circumstance it may be the case that he had no intention to do what he did. E. g. a person could have killed a human being but the case could be that he killed the human being thinking it to be an animal. If the accused person had done similar actions where the state of mind was clear, then it can be inferred that the present act was done with the same state of mind as the previous ones. If however the state of mind in previous actions is unclear, the very nature of those acts conceded along with the present one may lead to an inference as to what the state of mind was. For instance if a student was to be caught during the exams copying from the Evidence Act and in defence says that he did not know that he was wrong to copy from the Act, if there is evidence that such a student has been previously caught in another subject doing the same and has been reprimanded for it, then the evidence would go to show that he is not innocent, the Evidence can be used to infer. R . V. Francis Francis was charged with attempting to obtain money from another person by presenting a certain ring to be a diamond ring. He said that he had no knowledge that the ring he was purporting to sell was not a diamond ring and was worthless. There was evidence that he had previously approached other persons previously who had refused to give him money for the ring when they realised that the ring was not a diamond ring. The question was whether the Evidence of previous transaction with other persons where these people had refused to give him money for the ring by realising that the ring was worthless relevant. The court held that it was relevant to rebut the defence of lack of knowledge. The evidence of Francis’s experience with other people was relevant to rebut lack of knowledge. The evidence of Francis with other persons was relevant here to rebut lack of knowledge. John Makindi V. R Evidence of similar fact in John Makindi was admitted on the ground that it illustrated the hostility and ill-will between John Makindi and his foster child. On state of mind one of the findings explained the cause of loss of blood and the other evidence showed that he had been previously taken to court and had threatened the child with further beating on account of having sent him to prison. Similar evidence can be used to show the intention in which an act was done. You can pin the act on a person because they admitted but you may be unable to establish what the state of their mind was. You use similar fact evidence to illustrate that a person had fraudulent intention. R V. Armstrong Armstrong was charged with murdering his wife by administering arsenic poison on her. This poison was actually found in his house tied up in packets containing a fatal dose. Armstrong claimed that he used the poison to kill weeds as a gardening aid. There was actually no evidence that he had administered the poison on his wife. The prosecution however sought to lead evidence that a few weeks after Armstrong’s wife’s death he had attempted to murder another man by giving him arsenic poison. The question was whether this evidence was admissible. The defence raised the objection that the evidence was prejudicial and irrelevant. The court held that the evidence was admissible and in the words of Lord Hewart â€Å"†¦ The fact that Armstrong was subsequently found not merely in possession of but actually using for a similar deadly purpose the very poison that caused the death of his wife was evidence from which the jury might infer that the poison was not in his possession at the earlier date for an innocent purpose. † R V. Bond [1969] 2 K. B. 389 Dr. Bond was charged with using some instruments on a woman with the intent to procure an abortion. He denied the intent, he said that he was not using the instrument to procure an abortion but the instruments were to examine the woman. The prosecution however sought to lead evidence that the doctor had used the same instruments on another woman occasioning an abortion and the girl on whom he was being accused in using the instruments testified that the doctor had told her words to the effect that he had made dozens of irls happy and could do the same to her. The defence objected to this evidence on the grounds that it was prejudicial and irrelevant but it was admitted on the grounds that it showed the doctor’s intention in purporting to examine the woman and rebutted the doctors’ assertion that he was using it to examine the woman. Achieng’ V. R Achieng’ was a permanent secretary who had an imprest account and was charged with stea ling 76,000/- from that account. His defence was that he had no intention to defraud and that he intended to account for the money but was apprehended prematurely. The prosecution however adduced evidence to the effect that on six previous occasions, Achieng’ had taken money from his imprest account and never accounted for it. The question was whether the evidence of previous occasions was admissible and the court held that it was admissible because it rebutted his defence of intention to account for the money. The Queen V. Harold Whip and Another (1955) 28 KLR The two accused were charged with conspiracy to defraud the City Council. The case for the prosecution was that pursuant to an agreement between the two accused, one of them was a City Council Engineer and the other one an excavator, the 1st accused, certified payments as due to the 2nd accused firm for the excavation of hard rock which the 1st accused knew to be greatly in excess of what had been excavated. The 1st accused had therefore caused excessive payment to be made by the City Council to the contractors. The prosecution alleged that this was done fraudulently and that he had not just made an honest mistake in the estimation of the rocks. The prosecution actually brought evidence that there had been a case where the same accused had overestimated the amounts owed to the 2nd accused an event which had occurred in 1953. The court held that the 1953 transaction rebutted a defence of honest mistake. Essentially showing the state of mind with which he had acted. R V. Mortimer Mortimer was charged with murdering a woman cyclist by knocking her down. He claimed that it was an inevitable accident. The prosecution however adduced evidence that Mortimer had on previous occasions knocked down other female cyclists. It was held that this evidence of the previous incidence was admissible to show that he intended what he had done. It was not an accident. The nature of the event as a whole ruled out coincidence and the conclusion was gleaned from looking at the transaction as a whole. SIMILAR FACTS EVIDENCE TO IDENTIFY THE PERPERTRATOR OR DOER OF AN ACT Where it is shown that a particular act has been done but nobody knows for sure who did it, if it so happens that other acts of distinctive similarity with the one under consideration have occurred and a particular person has been involved, then an inference may be drawn that he was the doer of the act under consideration. It is notable however that for this inference to be drawn the similarity must be very distinct to ensure propensity on its own should not be used to judge a person. For example if handbags disappear and it is known that they disappear during the break and this time a person is caught walking out with a handbag and then it is discovered that this person never comes back to class after the break and a modus operandi is drawn that this person has been taking the handbags and the person has a liking for a particular kind of handbag. Essentially you are looking for similarities. R V. STRAFFEN: In this case a young girl was found strangled by the roadside and it was clear from examining her that there had been no attempt at sexual assault on her person. Straffen had been seen around the scene of crime but there was no evidence that he was directly or indirectly connected with the murder. It was established as a fact that Straffen had strangled two girls at a different place two months earlier and had also left their bodies by the roadside. It was also clear that there had been no attempt at sexual assault on these girls. Straffen had been committed to a mental hospital for the offence and at the time the girl whose murder was under consideration had been killed; Straffen had escaped from the mental hospital and was at large. When the police went to interview him he said even before he was questioned ‘I did not kill the girl’. He was convicted on the basis of the evidence of the other two girls. Again it was established that he had had the opportunity to murder the girl having escaped from the mental hospital and the fact that he had been seen near the scene he had the opportunity and the propensity was so distinct. Thompson V. R Thompson had carnal knowledge of two boys and he gave them a date 3 days later. He described the place of the date as a street outside a public toilet. Thompson met the two boys at the appointed hour. On noticing the presence of strangers, Thompson gave the boys some money and asked them to go away. It turned out that these strange persons were police and when they approached Thompson he told them that they had got the wrong man. On being searched Thompson was found in possession of a few bottles of chemicals and a further search of his house yielded photos of naked boys. The judges relied on this evidence and its use as alleged by the boys. The boys said what the chemical had been used for. In the words of the court, being gay had characteristics that were easily recognisable. It elicited a distinct propensity and was therefore a reliable means of identification. Paul Ekai V. R [1981] CAR 115 Paul was charged with the murder of Joy Adamson a famous conservationist. His defence was an alibi (alibi is assertion of not being at the locus quo). Ekai said that he had been in Isiolo staying with his grandmother. The evidence was that on the material night, one of the 3 trunks of boxes in the deceased tent including the one containing the cash box had been forced open by a person using a bar which had been taken from the workshop at the camp. The intruder had escaped using the animal enclosure. The prosecution gave evidence that 3 weeks earlier, there had been a theft at the camp and on that occasion the box containing the cash box had been forced open with the bar taken from the camp workshop. The intruder on that previous occasion had gone out through the animal enclosure. When Paul was apprehended after the murder, he was found in possession of some clothes stolen from the camp on the previous occasion. Paul was the deceased’s worker and he had a good knowledge of the camp and taking all these factors into consideration it was held that the evidence of the previous theft was admissible in attempts to prove the murder because the acts exhibited a distinct modus operandi. Similar fact evidence can be lead to prove the commission of an act This applies in situations where it is not clear whether the act was done or it happened miraculously. If it is shown that a similar act has occurred caused by human intervention, this is a good ground for inferring that a particular act was actually done as opposed to it just happening miraculously. This is normally in situations where if you look at the acts in isolation, you can dismiss human act and attribute them to nature but when you look at the acts together you can see they had help. R V. Smith Smith married his first wife. He took out an insurance policy on her life in his favour. He made representation to his personal doctor that his wife was epileptic, a few months later his wife’s dead body was found floating in the bathtub and a few months later the insurance paid. Smith proceeded to marry another woman, took out an insurance policy on her in his favour and made assertions that she was epileptic and she too was found dead in the tub and he proceeded to collect insurance and married yet another one whose body was also found dead. He was charged with murdering wife no. on the basis of the subsequent deaths of wives 2 and 3 in similar circumstances. In the words of the court the coincidence was too fantastic to be credible and this of course ruled out the possibility that the drowning of the women in the bath was an accident. In the words of the court the act was done by human hands and the motive was clear so it was not an act of God. Makin V. Attorney General The question arose whether the dy ing of the children adopted by the Makins was coincidental. R V. BOLL In the Republic V. Boll, Boll stayed with his sister as husband and wife when incest was not an offence and they even had a child together when incest was not an offence. After parliament made incest an offence, the two were charged for having an incestuous affair, but they continued living together as man and wife. Even after incest had been made an offence, they still continued to live together as man and wife and the question was whether the evidence of the previous cohabitation as man and wife could be used against them. They were convicted of incest because their previous association ruled out innocence of their subsequent association. The logic was that if two people have previously lived as husband and wife, unless they separate to live under separate roofs they continue to live as husband and wife. The burden is on them to rebut this presumption and they were unable to do that. To summarise similar fact evidence we should look at Section 16 of the Evidence Act â€Å"When there is a question whether a particular act was done, the existence of any course of business, according to which it naturally would have been done, is relevant. † For instance if you are trying to establish whether 2 people had lived as husband and wife. If you can show previous cause of dealing where they were living as man and wife that would be admissible. Admission of similar fact evidence is the exception to the general rule and will only be admitted when it has strong probative value. What is similar fact evidence and when is it admissible? Section 15 and 16 wise sayings of judges and case law. JUDICIAL NOTICE Judicial notice is defined as what judges see or the liberty accorded a judicial officer acting as such to recognise the existence or non-existence of certain facts or phenomena without calling for evidence. On what basis will Judicial Notice be allowed: – 1. The habit or customs of the court and this relates to the authenticity for instance of certain signatures. You don’t have to prove the authenticity every time they come to court. Seals of the court you don’t have to prove their authenticity because the court habitually uses the seal. The names and official designation of high ranking officers past and present; International relations of a country if Kenya is at war with a country judges are expected to know; 2. Where statutes decree that certain things be judiciary noticed e. . certain certificates that judges will decree should be taken judicial notice of; 3. Need to make things workable e. g. the practice of the court, how the court conducts itself is taken judicial notice of. Ordinary rules of reasoning don’t need evidence to be proved. 4. Basis of judicial notice is that of matters that are known by everybody e. g. judges would know that if you imbibe certain liquids you can get intoxicated this is commonly known. One cannot assume that judges are so ignorant that they won’t know what everybody else knows. The effects of judicial notice Section 59 of the Evidence Act â€Å"No fact of which the court shall take judicial notice need be proved. Judicial notice dispenses with proof. Section 60 enumerates matters that the court should take judicial notice of. 60. (1)The courts shall take judicial notice of the following facts:- a) All written laws, and all laws, rules and principles, written or unwritten, having the force of law, whether in force or having such force as aforesaid before, at or after the commencement of this Act, in any part of Kenya; ) The general course of proceedings and privileges of Parliament, but not the transactions in their journals; c) Articles of War for the Armed Forces; d) The public seal of Kenya; the seals of all courts of Kenya; and all seals which any person is authorized by any written law to use; e) The accession to office, names, titles, functions and signatures of public officers, if the fact of their appointment is notified in the Gazette; f) The exist ence, title and national flag of every State and Sovereign recognized by the Government; ) Natural and artificial divisions of time, and geographical divisions of the world, and public holidays; h) The extent of the territories comprised in the Commonwealth; i) The commencement, continuance and termination of hostilities between Kenya and any other State or body of persons; j) The names of the members and officers of the court and of their deputies, subordinate officers and assistants, and of all officers acting in execution or its process, and also of all advocates and other persons authorized by law to appear or act before it; ) The rule of the road on land or at sea or in the air; l) The ordinary course of nature; Preston Jones V. Preston Jones – Preston went abroad and resided there for 9 months and therefore had no nuptial intercourse with his wife. 3 months after he came back, a baby was born to his wife fully mature. He petitioned for divorce on the grounds of adultery . Relying on the evidence that the ordinary course of nature i. e. that human gestation period was 9 months and not 12 or 3 months. The court held that the matrimonial offence of adultery was not proved. In the words of judges â€Å"though the court took judicial notice of the normal life of human gestation period, it was not completely ruled out that there could be abnormal periods of human gestation. m) The meaning of English words; n) All matters of general or local notoriety; (things that everyone knows) o) All other matters of which it is directed by any written law to take judicial notice. Should we take judicial notice of customary law? Kimani Gikanga The issue arose as to whether in a dispute involving customary law whether customary law should be taken judicial notice of. Judges were of the opinion that the party that seeks to rely on the customary should prove that customary law as a matter of fact by calling expert witnesses. This is because of the difficulty of establishing what the customary law is at any given time since it is unwritten. Section 18 of the Magistrates Act Magistrates are allowed to take Judicial Notice of customary law without having to call for proof for it and if there is a dispute, then it will have to be established by proof. If customary law is a disputed tenet, then there is need for proof. If there are contestations then proof will have to be called. Section 60 (1) (b)Judicial Notice should be taken of the general course of proceedings and privileges of parliament, but not the transactions in their journals. The court need not call for evidential proof of privileges accorded to parliament. These provisions however exempts from judicial notice transactions in parliamentary journals. Whatever is recorded in the Hansard is not going to be taken judicial notice of. Section 60 (1) (c) -Judicial Notice should be taken of articles of war for the Armed Forces. Section 60 (1)(e)-the public seal of Kenya; the seals of all courts of Kenya; and all seals which any person is authorized by any written law to use; Section 60 (1) (f) – The accession to office, names, titles, functions and signatures of public officers if the fact of their appointment is notified in the Gazette; Section 60 (1) (g) the existence, title and national flag of every State and Sovereign recognized by the Government; this is to avoid embarrassment. Section 60 (1) (h) Natural and artificial divisions of time, and geographical divisions of the world, and public holidays; Section 60 (1)(i) The extent of the territories comprised in the commonwealth; Section 60 (1)(j)the commencement, continuance and termination of hostilities between Kenya and any other State or body of persons; Section 60 (1)(k)the names of the members and officers of the court and of their deputies, subordinate officers and assistants, and of all officers acting in execution of its process, and also of all advocates and other persons authorized by law to appear or act before it; Section 60 (1)(l)the rule of the road on land or at sea or in the air; Section 60 (1)(m) the ordinary course of nature; Section (1)(n)the meaning of English words; Section (1)(o)all matters of general or local notoriety; Section (1)(p)all other matters of which it is directed by any written law to take judicial notice. PRESTON JONES VS PRESTON Preston went abroad and resided there for 9 months and therefore had no nuptial intercourse with his wife. 3 months after he came back, a baby was born to his wife fully mature. He petitioned for divorce on the grounds of adultery. Relying on the evidence that the ordinary course of nature, human gestation was 9 months not 12 months or 3 months. The court held that the matrimonial offence of adultery was not proved. In the words of the judges, â€Å"though the court took judicial notice of the normal life of human gestation, it was not completely ruled out that there could be abnormal periods of human gestation. Re Oxford Poor Rate Case: Burns V. Edmund In this case Crichton J. halved the conventional award of damages for loss of expectation of life to the wife of a deceased criminal after taking judicial notice of the fact that â€Å"the life of a criminal is an unhappy one. † UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI FACULTY OF LAW XXX LLB II 2003 Law of Evidence Lesson 4 PRESUMPTIONS: These are inferences that a court may draw, could draw or must draw. Presumptions are devices that entitle a court to pronounce on a particular issue not withstanding the fact that there is no evidence or there is insufficient evidence. The inference that the court may draw could be affirmative or dis-affirmative (on the yes or on the no) presumptions enable a court to find a fact to exist or to find a fact not to exist. Essentially presumptions will have effect on the burden of proof. If we are saying that presumptions will help the court to find a certain fact to exist, it will have an effect on what burden of proof a person will have. There are 3 categories of presumptions: 1. PRESUMPTIONS OF FACTS these are inferences that may be drawn upon the establishment of a basic fact. The operative word in these presumptions is ‘may’. When you find a basic fact to exist, you are invited to come to court. There is an invitation to the court to draw a certain inference. 2. REBUTTABLE PRESUMPTIONS OF LAW They are inferences that must be drawn in the absence of conclusive evidence to the contrary. A good example is the presumption of innocence, that every person accused of a crime is innocent until proved guilty. Until there is conclusive evidence dispelling the innocence of the accused person. Essentially these presumptions are said to be mandatory until you have other conclusive evidence to the contrary. 3. IRREBUTTABLE PRESUMPTIONS OF LAW: These must be drawn no matter how much evidence exists to the contrary. Once you establish the basic fact pertaining to the presumption then you have to draw the inference that will dispel that presumption. They will usually be drawn from statutory provisions. They are public policy pronouncements, which decree that in the interest of public certain matters are decreed to be a certain way e. g. an 8 year old boy is not capable of carnal knowledge. Section 4 of the Evidence Act defines presumptions of facts and rebuttable presumptions of law 1) â€Å"Whenever it is provided by law that the court may presume a fact, it may either regard such fact as proved, unless and until it is disproved, or may call for proof of it. † 2) Whenever it is directed by law that the court shall presume a fact, it shall regard such fact as proved, unless and until it is disproved. † 3) When one fact is declared by law to be conclusive proof of another, the court shall, on proof of the one fact, regard the other as proved, and shall not allow evidence to be given for the purpose of disproving it. PRESUMPTIONS OF FACTS: (DISCRETIONARY PRESUMPTIONS) They are inferences that may be drawn. Section 4 (1). Evidence Act Section 77(2). The court may presume that the signature to any such document is genuine and that the person signing it held the office and qualifications which he professed to hold at the time when he signed it. † The court is allowed to presume and it is incumbent on the person who argues otherwise to prove their case. Section 92. The court may presume that any document purporting to be a copy of a judgment or judicial record of any country not forming part of the Commonwealth is genuine and accurate, and that such judgment or record was pronounced or recorded by a court of competent jurisdiction, if the document purports to be certified in any manner which is certified by a Kenya consular officer or diplomatic representative in or for such country to be the manner commonly in use in that country for the certification of copies of judgments or judicial records. Section 93. The court may presume that any book, to which it may refer for information on matters of public or general interest, and that any published map or chart, the statements of which are admissible facts and which is produced for its inspection, was written and published by the person and at the time and place by whom or at which it purports to have been written or published. There are certain things that are non-contestable and one should not waste the courts time trying to prove them. Section 113 this section used to help in probate matters but once the Law of Succession was put into being it was repealed. This was important when we would talk about proof of death within 30 years. Section 119. The Court may presume the existence of any fact which it thinks likely to have happened, regard being had to the common course of natural events, human conduct and public and private business, in their relation to the facts of the particular case. (Presumption of likely facts) We are talking about an inference that may be drawn regarding natural events, human conduct and the common course of natural events. You infer from what you see. If a person is caught with stolen goods, it is presumed that he stole them or that he knows who stole them. If they cannot adequately explain how they came to possess stolen goods, then the incumbent of proof is on them to say how the owner came to lose the goods. The ability of the court of law to draw an inference Presumption of guilty knowledge. From experience we can infer that a woman who is in possession of stolen goods after the theft and cannot give account of those goods is either the thief or has received them knowing them to be stolen. We are talking of recent possession. In Zus V. Uganda the question arose, the court here refused to apply the doctrine of recent possession after the accused was found in possession of a stolen bicycle 7 months after it had been recorded lost. The trial court had actually applied that doctrine to convict the thief of both the theft and receiving stolen goods because the accused had not given any reasonable explanation by how he had come upon the bicycle. The Appeal Court held that 7 months cannot be described as recent and consequently the court of appeal quashed the conviction for theft while upholding the conviction for receiving stolen goods. PRESUMPTION OF LIKELY FACTS S. 119 (IMMUTABILITY OF THINGS) A thing or state of things which has been shown to exist within a period shorter than that within which such things or state of things usually cease to exist is presumed to be still in existence. An example is given in the case of Kanji & Kanji V. R. 1961 E. A 411 C. A In this case a sisal factory employee’s arm was amputated by a sisal decorticator in April 1960. An examination done by a Mr. Perkin in September 1960 showed that there was no barrier or fence to protect the employees when feeding the machine with sisal leaves. The firm was held liable for failing to provide ample barriers to protect employees from the machine and this finding was held on the basis of the presumption of the immutability of things. On appeal the factory owner had argued that there was some form of fence at the Factory when the accident occurred in 1960. This barrier was not found to be in place in September when Mr. Perkins did his inspection. The Court held that the Magistrate was correct in presuming that the machine was in the same condition in April as it was in September 1960. It is unlikely that there was a barrier in April which disappeared by September but the factory owners were welcome to bring in evidence to prove that there had been a barrier in April. OFFICIAL & JUDICIAL ACTS ARE REGULARLY PERFORMED (PRESUMPTION OF REGULARITY) It is based on sound public policy which imputes good faith on official and judicial conduct. The burden is on he/she who alleges irregularity to bring the evidence to disprove or establish the irregularity. Looking at how our courts run, this might not be the way to go. For instance if your file gets lost, will you allege that the file got lost by the court. THE COMMON COURSE OF BUSINESS HAS BEEN FOLLOWED IN PARTICULAR CASES The basis of this presumption is business practice. If some business has been carried out pursuant to this common course, it is going to be presumed to be so unless the person alleging otherwise brings evidence to the contrary. If you have a quarrel with the common course of business, it is incumbent on you to prove that the common course of business was not followed. EVIDENCE WHICH COULD BE PRODUCED AND IS NOT PRODUCED WOULD IF PRODUCED BE UNFAVOURABLE TO THE PERSON WHO WITHHOLDS IT: This again is something that you draw as a worldly-wise person. If someone is withholding evidence, it would be presumed that the person withholding the evidence is because It Is against them and it is incumbent upon the person withholding the evidence to show that it is not so. ACCOMPLICES ARE UNWORHTY OF CREDIT & THAT THEIR EVIDENCE SHOULD NOT BE USED TO CONVICT UNLESS IT IS CORROBORATED There are certain witnesses who are held suspect and accomplices are some of these witnesses. The reasons for the unworthiness of the evidence are that an accomplice is a participant in the offence and such a person would be highly tempted to pass the buck. Having participated in the commission of the offence an accomplice is generally an immoral person and their word should not be taken without corroboration. An accomplice is likely to favour the state in hope for a pardon. It is necessary to get independent testimony on material particulars. Davies V. DPP 1954 AC 378 The Appellant together with other youths attacked another group with fists. One of the members of the other group subsequently died of stab wounds inflicted by a knife. Six youths including the Appellant and one L were charged with murder but finally the Appellant alone was convicted. L and the others were convicted of common assault. At the Appellant’s trial, L gave evidence for the prosecution. Referring to an admission by the Appellant of the use of a knife by him. The Judge in this case did not warn the Jury on the danger of accepting L’s evidence without corroboration. On Appeal the Appellant was saying that he was wrongly convicted because of lack of this warning on the part of the judge. The court held that there was no good reason for quashing the conviction because L did not know before the murder that any of his companions had a knife. Essentially the court held that L was not an accomplice in the crime of murder. The court here defined accomplices as persons who are Participes Criminis in respect of the actual crime charged whether as principal participants before or after the fact. It included people who procured, aided or abetted in the commission of the crime. The Court was trying to exonerate L from being a participant. He did not participate in the stabbing because he was not aware that his colleague had a knife. REBUTTABLE PRESUMPTIONS OF LAW: To rebut this presumption you need conclusive evidence. These are presumptions that are decreed by law. A good example is the presumption of genuineness in a document purporting to be the Kenya Gazette. There is also the presumption that a person between 8 and 12 is not criminally liable unless it can be shown that he knew that his action was morally and legally wrong. Once you establish the basic fact, then the person could not be exposed to criminal liability unless you bring evidence to show that he knew that what he did was legally and morally wrong. Section 83. Presumptions as to documents â€Å"(1)The court shall presume to be genuine every document purporting to be a certificate, certified copy or other document which is— a) declared by law to be admissible as evidence of any particular fact; and b) Substantially in the form, and purporting to be executed in the manner, directed by law in that behalf; and c) Purporting to be duly certified by a public officer. 2)The court shall also presume that any officer by whom any such document purports to be signed or certified held, when he signed it, the official character which he claims in such document. To be able to disprove documents under this act you have to bring evidence. Records of Evidence Section 84Whenever any document is produced before any court, purporting to be a record or me morandum of any evidence given in a judicial proceeding or before any officer authorized by law to take such evidence, and purporting to be signed by a Judge or magistrate or any such officer as aforesaid, the court shall presume— a) that the document is genuine; ) that any statements as to the circumstances in which it was taken, purporting to be made by the person signing it, are true; and c) that such evidence was duly taken. The use of the word ‘shall’ documents are presumed to be genuine. Section 85. The production of a copy of any written law, or of a copy of the Gazette containing any written law or any notice purporting to be made in pursuance of a written law, where such law or notice (as the case may be) purports to be printed by the Government Printer, shall be prima facie evidence in all courts and for all purposes whatsoever of the due making and tenor of such ritten law or notice. There is a public policy that such a documents shall be genuine unles s there is conclusive evidence to the contrary. Sections 86, 87 and 88, Section 86:(1)The court shall presume the genuineness of every document purporting to be— a) London Gazette, the Edinburgh Gazette, or the official Gazette of any country in the Commonwealth. b) A newspaper or journal; ) A document directed by any law to be kept by any person, if such document is kept substantially in the form required by law and is produced from proper custody. (2)Documents are said to be in proper custody if they are in the place in which and under the care of the person with whom they would naturally be; but no custody is improper if it is proved to have had a legitimate origin, or if the circumstances of the particular case are such as to render such an origin probable. Section 87. Where any publication or part thereof indicates or purports to indicate the name of any person by or on behalf or under sponsorship of whom, or the place at which or date on which, such publication or any part thereof was contributed, it shall, in any proceedings for an offence under any written law or for contempt of any court, be presumed, until the contrary is proved, that such publication or part thereof was contributed, by or on behalf or under the sponsorship of such person, or at such place or on such date, as the case may be. Use of the word ‘shall’ all publications will be deemed to have been published, edited, printed in the place that they are said to have been published unless you can bring evidence to the contrary. Section 88:When any document is produced before any court, purporting to be a document which, by the law if force for the time being in England, would be admissible in proof of any particular in any Court of Justice in England, without proof of the seal or stamp or signature authenticating it, or of the judicial or official character claimed by the person by whom it purports to be signed— a) the court shall presume that such seal, stamp or signature is genuine, and that the pers