Attempting the Impossible: A Plea for Legal Economy

Attempting the Impossible: A Plea for Legal Econom

The Akan Law of Property.

"The Akan Law of Property" endeavours to describe the present position of land-tenure in a homeonomic group of Gold Coast peoples. It attempts neither to expound the ancient customary law, nor to give a definitive restatement of the modern law - and that for a very good reason. The law of the Gold Coast today is a law in transition, from an entirely unwritten body of rules fortified by long-established usage, but subject as customary law so often is in its unwritten stages to local exceptions and shifting emphases, and designed for the simple needs of a people without commerce or permanent agriculture, to a twentieth-century legal system suitable for the requirements of a modern economy based on cash-crops and trade. The crystallization of valuable rights in land, claimed concurrently by a hierarchy of holders from the paramount stool to the individual cultivator, is illustrative of this change in purpose. The complex and fluid nature of land-rights in the Southern Gold Coast at the present time, due to this transition and the partial reception of English law, has for long led responsible persons to call for a statement of the modern law, and at the same time has deterred anyone from making the attempt. The existing authorities are brief or out-of-date. No-one would minimise the valuable contributions of Sarbah, Danquah and Rattray to our knowledge of Akan law; but there has been up till now no book solely or even largely devoted to the Akan law of property, nor one which has set out to synthesize the developing customary law with the many decisions of the superior courts on that law. Nor has much attention been paid to the decisions of native courts, which often reflect changing attitudes in advance of official recognition. "The Akan Law of Property" is divided into three Parts: Part I deals with the Persons of Akan Law - the Stool, the Family, and the Individual. Part II covers the Institutions of Akan Law - sale, pledge, tenancy, gift, caretakership, succession. Part III deals with Miscellaneous Topics; the use of writing, the function of long possession, and the application of registration to Akan tenure. Part I; the land-rights of stools are set out, the vague term "stool land" is analysed into its component parts, the modern separation (formerly inconceivable) between the chief and his stool is shown. The complicated and varied problems (both of fact and law in each particular case) whether a stool has rights of ownership, or only of jurisdiction, or both, are considered in a separate chapter. In the sphere of the family, the term "family property" is also divided, so as to show the exact interrelation between a family and its members, and especially the weakening control now exercised by a family over its members. The rights of citizens and "strangers" (the latter of increasing importance today) are also examined. Part II: dealings with rights in land are considered in the complexity induced by concurrent separation of interests, and the diversity of possible subject-matter. The more interesting features here include (1) the virtual disappearance of the ancient pledge; (2) the growth of new forms of tenancy; (3) the institution of "caretakership"; (4) developments in the customary law of testate and intestate succession, particularly through the demand that widows and children of males should be provided for. Part III; the efforts of the superior courts to fill the gap caused by the absence of rules of prescription or limitation in Akan law are examined; whilst the chapter on WRITING reveals the consequences of the not always happy marriage between English and African law. In Chapter XIII present legislation and experiments relevant to registration of title, and a tentative scheme for recording titles, are set out, with an eye to the future development of Gold Coast land-law, in which it is expected that registration will play a large part. Apart from the mass of new material presented here, the method used in collecting this material is largely novel. The Akan law being mainly unwritten, reliance had to be placed on the personal receipt of oral information on the spot: the method thus differs widely from that customary in legal research (except for the investigations into customary law in the Punjab and Indonesia). In Africa up to now most of the collection of information on customary laws has been made by anthropologists, and not by lawyers. "The Akan Law of Property" thus represents a new venture in the techniques of legal research

What ‘incomparable Jewells Havens, and sure harbours are’: the remains of late 16th century Dover harbour and their wider significance

SUMMARY: During excavations undertaken for the Dover Western Dock Revival Scheme, Kent, UK, Archaeology South-East (ASE; UCL Institute of Archaeology) encountered substantial remains associated with the development of the port of Dover. Despite natural limitations, especially in the form of silting from the River Dour and longshore drift, Dover has historically been a strategic location in which to maintain a port. The remains presented here comprise a nationally significant waterfront revealed during the revival scheme; that is, the Tudor engineering commonly attributed to Sir Thomas Digges, overseen by the Privy Council and commissioned by Elizabeth I

Measuring Metacognition in Cancer: Validation of the Metacognitions Questionnaire 30 (MCQ-30)

Objective The Metacognitions Questionnaire 30 assesses metacognitive beliefs and processes which are central to the metacognitive model of emotional disorder. As recent studies have begun to explore the utility of this model for understanding emotional distress after cancer diagnosis, it is important also to assess the validity of the Metacognitions Questionnaire 30 for use in cancer populations. Methods 229 patients with primary breast or prostate cancer completed the Metacognitions Questionnaire 30 and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale pre-treatment and again 12 months later. The structure and validity of the Metacognitions Questionnaire 30 were assessed using factor analyses and structural equation modelling. Results Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses provided evidence supporting the validity of the previously published 5-factor structure of the Metacognitions Questionnaire 30. Specifically, both pre-treatment and 12 months later, this solution provided the best fit to the data and all items loaded on their expected factors. Structural equation modelling indicated that two dimensions of metacognition (positive and negative beliefs about worry) were significantly associated with anxiety and depression as predicted, providing further evidence of validity. Conclusions These findings provide initial evidence that the Metacognitions Questionnaire 30 is a valid measure for use in cancer populations

P14.02 An electronic behaviour diary: Monitoring the effects of advanced obstetric surgical skills training

Objective: Training should lead to improvements in the quality of clinical care delivery. It is essential to follow up participants after a training intervention to monitor changes in behaviour associated with adoption of lessons learned into clinical practice. We introduced an electronic diary to facilitate monitoring whilst minimising effort for participants. Method: An electronic diary was created using a freely available on-line platform. Following a training intervention on advanced obstetric surgical skills, obstetric residents from Kenya were invited to pilot completing the diary after their labour ward shifts. Entries were anonymised. Participants were asked to enumerate the times they utilised specific skills, or to state why they had been unable to do so, using tick box options. Reflections on skills used were entered using free comments. Results: All participants reported changed behaviours, for example, improved surgical knot-tying, safer needle handling, separate closure of uterine incision angles and techniques for delivery of the impacted fetal head. 6 reported conducting vaginal breech birth and 6 performed vacuum-assisted birth. All reported improvements in use of the safe surgical checklist, obtaining consent and respectful maternity care. 7 had participated in newborn resuscitation. Reflections suggested participants experienced improved levels of confidence and satisfaction when implementing new skills. Conclusion: This pilot study has demonstrated the feasibility of monitoring clinical behaviour change following training using an electronic platform. Monitoring the effect of training is essential to prove that training results in improvements to clinical practice. We plan to roll out this intervention following future training interventions