Abstract
The Cayman Islands has a population of 63,415 (Cayman Islands Government) and an area of 264 square kilometres, making it the world’s twentieth smallest nation or territory by geographical area and 35th smallest by population (United Nations Statistics Division). As a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, there exist many connections to other parts of the world that are geographical, legal and socio-political; yet the Cayman Islands and other such territories exhibit traits that may be described as insular or openly international. The British Overseas Territories amount to 14 distinct and effectively self-governing territories that are spread across the globe. Indeed, of the 50 remote islands gazetted by Schalansky (Atlas of remote Islands: Fifty Islands I have never set foot on and never will, Penguin Books, London, 2010), 20 of these islands share a heritage with the former British Empire and, for those with a population and operant legal system, they share the basic underpinning of the English common law [Eight are, or have been, part of a British Overseas Territory; 12 are part of a Commonwealth Nation with the UK monarch as the head of state (aside from Banaba Island in Kiribati which is a presidential republic but still a member of the Commonwealth of Nations)]. Whilst geographically remote, the British Overseas Territories share a direct connection with elements of supervisory governance (as did the now independent Commonwealth Nations) still exercisable by the UK’s Government in London, UK. This article will explore the provision of legal education, the diversity of the judiciary and the issues associated with jury size, juror selection and fair, impartial decision making in the Cayman Islands in order to explore the concepts of insularity, internal connectivity and remoteness in law for this particular British Overseas Territory (further references in the text, abbreviated as BOT).
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Notes
Patchett (1973: 17–35).
Yusuf and Chowdhury (2019).
The Common Law is derived from custom and judicial precedent, rather than statutes, and typical of the Anglo-American and English-speaking jurisdictions. Colonial settlements would operate on the existing Common Law as understood in England & Wales, but each settlement could, and would, diverge from that point onwards according to subsequent localised decisions or accepted customs and practice.
Brougham in HC (1828: 154).
In the broadest sense, the Privy Council is the Sovereign’s advisory body which performs a wide range of functions such as the issue of Royal Charters (such as city status or special status for incorporated companies) and matters relating to the accession of a new Monarch. The Judicial Committee was the court of final appeal for the entirety of the British Empire but also considers some domestic matters such as ecclesiastical appeals and disciplinary appeals from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
Mance and Turner (2017).
Williams in HC (1870).
Mitchell (2016: 38).
For example, former judges from Jamaica and New Zealand have sat, in examples given by Mance (2017: 11).
This has occurred in The Bahamas (on four occasions; and heard appeals from nearby Bermuda and Turks & Caicos) and Mauritius (on three occasions), according to Mance (2017: 12).
Mitchell (2016: 49).
Judicial and Legal Services Commission (2019).
Commonwealth Secretariat (2015).
Available at: https://www.ccj.org/about-the-ccj/faqs/ (Accessed on December 15, 2019).
Hostettler (2004).
12 member juries were, and are still, used in what were the larger and more autonomous Dominions of the British Empire such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
Hendry and Dickson (2015): 168.
For example, see Farran (2007).
Judicature Law (2017 revision), s.16.
Winker (2018).
Cayman News Service (2019), in which there were 12 defendants jurors.
Lempert (1975): 699.
Thomas (2010): 51.
Under the Grand Court Rules, O.52: the power of the court to punish for contempt may be exercised by an order of committal to prison. For case law, see for example: In the matter of the Freedom of Information Law (2015 Revision) [2017] (1) CILR 257.
Foreign & Commonwealth Office (2009): 14–16.
Lord Diplock (1972) Cmd. 5185.
Criminal Procedure Code (2019 revision), s.129(1).
As cited by Davies (1989): 173–175.
Hendry and Dickson (2015): 367.
Courts (Constitution and Jurisdiction) Ordinance 2007, s.16.
For example, see the Attorney General for Akrotiri and Dhekelia v Steinhoff [2005] UKPC 31.
Kyprianou (2010): 50.
The Falkland Islands Courts (Overseas Jurisdiction) Order 1989 SI No. 2399, as amended, s.3.
s.4 and ss.6–7.
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Bromby, M. The Cayman Islands: Paradoxes of Insularity in the Caribbean and Other British Overseas Territories. Liverpool Law Rev 42, 35–49 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10991-020-09261-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10991-020-09261-0