Commentary: Everybody's Business: Loopholes

Published on Friday, December 7, 2007

By: Gordon Barlow

In several past columns I have wondered how realistic it is to claim that Cayman operates according to the rule of law. There are just too many situations where unwritten rules and traditions carry more weight than laws solemnly passed by our legislators.

Where the Immigration Law applies, decisions are often made – and have always been often made – by Immigration Officers or Boards of political cronies in pursuit of either their personal agendas or their political agendas.

The political agendas (“stick it to the Jamaicans”, for instance) are clear, despite pro-forma denials; but personal agendas (“toss this man off the Island because he dumped my friend’s daughter”, for instance) are usually secret. I can’t see the Freedom of Information Law being of any help there...

Other decisions are sometimes made – and have always been sometimes made – by some public servants in pursuit of either their personal agendas or what they personally perceive as Cayman’s national interests.

The perceived national-interest agendas and the personal agendas tend to coincide more often than pure coincidence warrants. “It is in Cayman’s best interests that my generous and powerful friend gets to do what he wants to do.” Oh, really?

The draft Freedom of Information Law is as full of loopholes as the Immigration law is. Each of them might as well begin with the words, “All Sections of this Law may be enforced or not enforced at the complete discretion of whoever is in charge at the moment.”

In many ways, Caymanians’ selective attitude towards law-enforcement reflects the Islands’ history.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries “the lawless Caymanas” had few formal laws at all. For most of that time, the rules of life were made by pirates and slave-owners. We have plenty of laws now, but old habits die hard.

In Cayman, not everybody in our society is held accountable to the laws or the courts, because of all the discretionary exemptions. If you know a person with influence, he can use his discretionary authority to let you do what you want. So much for the rule of law.

In Cayman, it can take seventeen court appearances and four years of absent prosecution witnesses before a criminal accusation is finally thrown out by the seventeenth judge. In that particular case, which ended just last week, the victim received no compensation for her ordeal. The government lawyers and the Police witnesses were not held accountable.