Black Immigrant Daily News

On October 13, the Cayman Islands Government issued a press release stating that “Cabinet approved the commencement of Parts 1 and 2, as well as sections 99 and 101, of the Legal Services Act (LSA) effective Friday, 14 October 2022.”

For people who are interested in learning more about Parts 1 and 2 and 99 and 101, it is useful to provide a brief explainer.

Members of the public are reminded, however, that nothing mentioned in this explainer is deemed legal advice and it is just the sharing of information to help members of the public to understand why the Legal Services Act has been so controversial for decades.

Part 1

To start, Part 1 contains helpful definitions, including what activities are covered by the term “legal services” and an explanation of what it means to practice Cayman Islands law.

Part 2

Part 2 then deals with the establishment of the Cayman Islands Legal Services Council to regulate the practice of law in the Cayman Islands.

Now, the purpose of Council is, generally speaking, not controversial because everyone agrees that the practice of law should be regulated.

What is controversial, however, is the composition of the Council.

According to the Legal Services Act, the council will consist of seven members, including

(a) the Chief Justice

(b) the Attorney General

(c) a non-practising attorney-at-law who is a Caymanian appointed by the Premier

(d) a non-practising attorney-at-law who is a Caymanian appointed by the Leader of the Opposition

(e) two practising attorneys-at-law who are Caymanians appointed by the Premier after consultation with the bodies representing the legal profession

(f) a practising attorney-at-law who is a Caymanian appointed by the Leader of the Opposition after consultation with the bodies representing the legal profession.

Some professional say that the challenge with the proposed membership of the Council is that the powers of so many powerful people are concentrated in one place. This is problematic for many reasons, especially the possibility of breaching the doctrine of separation of powers.

Now, if you are asking what is the doctrine of separation of powers, it is an important concept that suggests that the powers of the judiciary (i.e., the court), the Executive (i.e., Cabinet, which the Attorney General is a part of) and the Legislature (which the Attorney General is also a part of) should not be mixed together in one place and should remain separate.

If separation is not practiced, then too much power from different arms of government might become heavily concentrated in one place. This is not good from the perspective of good governance, especially independence.

The mixture of persons from the Legislature, the Judiciary and the Executive on the Council may also pose issues for someone who wishes to challenge a decision of the Council.

For example, if a sitting judge or the Attorney General is the chairperson of the Council responsible for disciplining an attorney, then when the attorney challenges the decision of the Council, the attorney may have questions about whether he or she will have a chance at a fair trial when he or she goes to court.

This concern arises because it would have been an active, sitting judge on the Council that was part of the decision-making to discipline the attorney in the first place.

Some serious thought therefore needs to be given to the possibility of conflicts of interest like this between the courts and the Council.

This is important because such conflicts could threaten the right to a fair trial.

The other issue is that there are several political appointments to the Council. These include persons appointed by the Premier and the Leader of the Opposition.

The fear in this case is that political appointees may carry out the wishes of politicians rather than follow a strict code of conduct.

While one could expand on the concerns here, it is more useful point to provide some solutions that have been proposed over the years. These are set out below.

The Council should not include the Attorney General or any active, sitting judgeThe Council should not include any political appointeesInstead, a variety of people should make up the Council, including retired law firm partners, retired audit firm partners and other governance professionalsAll of these positions should also be advertised in a transparent way and selections should be based on competencies and not hand-picked in secret

The other controversial issue is that, even if the Council is set up properly, the intention under the Legal Services Act is for the Council to carry out the functions imposed on the Council under the Proceeds of Crime Act (2020 Revision) ins questionable regarding the expectation that the Council will act as a Supervisory Authority or a regulator to ensure that lawyers stay in line with anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing requirements.

The reason that some professionals have pushed back on this is because they say that the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (“CIMA”) is already in place as a regulator for anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing purposes.

In fact, CIMA inspects very complex structures and assists international regulators including the Securities and Exchange Commission to solve important crimes.

Once CIMA is provided with more funding and more staff to regulate lawyers for anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing, CIMA will competently to do the job, in the same way that CIMA has done so for big banks, investment management companies and other complex structures.

With CIMA being such an obvious solution as a regulator, it is challenging to understand why there may be resistance to CIMA as a regulator for lawyers for anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing purposes.

Section 99 and 101 of the Legal Services Act

Tomorrow, the explainer will continue, covering the regulations that can be made by Cabinet under section 99 of the Legal Services Act and the types of transitional provisions that can be made under section 101 of the Legal Services Act, including what Cabinet might suggest as transitional provisions to penalize or forgive persons who have been practising Cayman Islands law for years overseas without any Cayman legal practice certificates.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

OBSERVER: A fresh appeal has been made to those persons who may information pertaining to the shocking double murder at Pillar Rock to come forward.

Police Commissioner, Atlee Rodney, made the appeal during a recent media appearance where he was speaking briefly on a number of murder cases that remain unsolved.

He is encouraging persons to speak up.

“This is still under active investigation. It has been one of those tedious cases where you don’t have a lot of information that is coming forward, and it is so gruesome, and not only that one, but the one in Golden Grove, the double murders have been very troubling to law enforcement, but I am looking at what the investigators are doing and we have been doing a tremendous job, and I am just hoping that we will put our hand on some credible information and evidence that can lead us to an arrest.

“We will continue to appeal to the public about anybody who saw something in the area, you can talk to the police, a police friend, a police relative or if you just want to talk to the Tip Number that would assist us, because we need some additional information. Yes, we have some information that we are working with, we have some theories that we are following, but we are still hoping that we can get some credible information that can assist us in the investigation,” Rodney said.

A Mexican national is said to be assisting the police with their investigation into the murder of two Mexican nationals that took place last month.

Reliable sources disclosed that he was taken into custody but has since been released.

Thirty-nine-year-old Rodolfo Sandoval Stone and 36-year-old Cesar Santos Ramirez were fatally shot at Pillar Rock on September 7.

It was reported that one of the men was found with multiple gunshot wounds to his body.

The second man, who had earlier been reported missing, was later found dead in a pool with multiple gunshot wounds to his body as well.

Both men reportedly held management positions at a leading local resort.

Nevertheless, Rodney gave the commitment of his officers in continuing their investigations into all of the unsolved homicides.

Persons can call crime stoppers at 1-800 TIPS or 1-800-8477 if they have any information.

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The Gaston Browne Administration needs to come up with ways in which all persons would benefit from its electioneering moves – in particular the wiping-off of utility arrears – says Harold Lovell.

On October 5, the Cabinet announced that the Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA) will forgive the debts of residential customers whose electricity and water accounts were in arrears before and up to December 31, 2021.

Additionally, those who pay the current month’s obligation, from this amnesty, will be reconnected by November 1, the Cabinet decided.

But Lovell, the United Progressive Party’s (UPP) Political Leader, says there should have been a more sustainable and people-friendly approach to this decision.

For quite some time, the UPP has been suggesting that the fuel variation charge – which forms a major part of the domestic electricity bill – should be adjusted according to the price of fuel on the world market.

The whole point of the fuel variation charge, Lovell notes, is that the price of fuel varies.  Therefore, when the price is high, the charge will increase, and when it goes down, the charge, likewise, will drop. This is the reason it was introduced years ago, he says.

Had the Government been utilizing this method, Lovell says, there would have been no need to offer some customers an amnesty while others receive nothing.

The UPP believes that keeping the cost of electricity low –

by correcting the issue of the fuel variation charge – would have made the payment of utilities much more manageable for the average household, and therefore many who fell into arrears would not have done so.

Lovell says this would have been a more responsible way to manage the country’s resources.

The Party has no issues with certain relief measures, since many people are in urgent need of assistance, Lovell says.

However, he adds that the timing proves the Administration’s motives are sinister, since the UPP’s recommendations for relief were ignored during the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet has also decided that unpaid property taxes up to December 31, 2021 will also be wiped off under its amnesty programme, provided that home-owners pay the current year’s tax.

Hospital bills owed to the Sir Lester Bird Medical Center, and in arrears for more than 180 days, will also fall under the amnesty programme, and these balances will be forgiven.

Lovell says, again, that all debt forgiveness should have been accorded at a time when most people were feeling the pinch and were in need of such help.

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A joint firearms operation between INTERPOL and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) has led to the seizure of some 350 weapons, 3,300 rounds of ammunition and record drug hauls across the Caribbean.

Operation Trigger VII (24 – 30 September) saw officers from 19 countries coordinate controls at airports, seaports, land border and inland hotspots, acting on intelligence pointing to organized crime groups and individuals involved in firearms trafficking.

They also searched warehouses, inspected packages and carried out targeted checks at firearms dealerships, shooting ranges and private security companies.

Police made a total of 510 arrests during the week-long operation, including the subject of an INTERPOL Red Notice wanted for murder.

Officers in Haiti inspect vehicle

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Trigger VII actions also led to the impressive seizure of 10.1 tonnes of cocaine and 2.5 tonnes of cannabis, highlighting the convergence of trafficking routes and the use of firearms used to control the illegal drug trade.

An operational hub was hosted by CARICOM IMPACS in Barbados. Officers from INTERPOL, the Joint Regional Communications Center (JRCC), the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and US Homeland Security Investigations(HSI), worked side-by-side to provide real-time assistance to officers in the field.

Guadeloupe inspection

When customs authorities in Dominica x-rayed a suspicious package, they sent information to the operational hub for checks on the sender and intended recipient.

ATF and HSI queried their respective databases, and officers found multiple firearms purchases, placing the package under surveillance. When the recipient came to collect the shipment, police discovered 20 pistols and multiple rounds of ammunition hidden in cereal boxes.

Investigations are continuing both in the United States and Dominica.

HSI and the Royal Bahamas Police Force worked closely on an international controlled delivery from Fort Lauderdale to Nassau. The package, which had been flagged in the US, was monitored throughout its shipment in order to seize two firearms and arrest the recipient.

A number of emerging trends were identified throughout the operation. In St Kitts and Nevis, for example, officers saw their first seizure of firearms assembled using ‘80 per cent’ pistol frames.

Also known as ghost guns, these weapons are unserialized and untraceable as they are often completed at home using specialized kits, allowing individuals to bypass gun laws and checks.

Authorities in Jamaica, with support from US law enforcement, made a record-setting bust when they intercepted 500.2 kg of cocaine – worth approximately USD 25 million – about to be loaded onto a private jet bound for Canada. In a separate case, they also seized 500kg of cannabis.

In Curaçao, the Coast Guard stopped vessels carrying a total of 3 tonnes of cocaine and 1.8 tonnes of cannabis. Authorities made 17 arrests in connection with the shipments, believed to have originated in Venezuela.

Authorities in Bonaire made similar interceptions of cocaine en route from Venezuela, seizing nearly 4 tonnes.

Several countries reported reverse trafficking routes, an increasing trend, with seizures of cannabis coming from Canada and the United States into the Caribbean region. Cannabis plants, forged US currency, stolen vehicles and vessels, contraband cigarettes and alcohol were also seized during the operation.

“The results of Operation Trigger VII show how firearms are clear enablers of most types of crime. When we go after their weapons, we also go after the full range of activities carried out by organized crime groups,” said INTERPOL Secretary General Jürgen Stock.

“The results also highlight the power of what law enforcement bodies can achieve when we work in a joint, coordinated manner, sharing information in real-time on cross-border investigations,” the Secretary General added.

Lt. Col. Michael Jones, Executive Director of CARICOM IMPACS, said: “Without this cohesive action among agencies, our region will not be able to effectively tackle illicit trafficking and by extension, transnational organized crime.”

“Operation Trigger VII allowed authorities to gain a better understanding of existing threats, patterns, trends and smuggling channels within the region, hence ultimately saving lives. I am indeed proud of the role CARICOM IMPACS played in the exercise and more so of its role as a coordination hub,” concluded Mr. Jones.

Stephen Kavanagh, INTERPOL’s Executive Director of Police Services, highlighted that the operation was the first joint effort between INTERPOL and CARICOM IMPACS against firearms and would likely yield results for months to come as investigations continue.

The operation was carried out under the framework of INTERPOL’s Project Target, funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.

Participating countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Bonaire, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, France (Guadeloupe and Martinique), Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, The Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos.

SOURCE: INTERPOL. Headline photo: In Dominica officers discovered 20 pistols and multiple rounds of ammunition in cereal boxes.

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