Archive for March 12th, 2009
Liechtenstein Pledges Tax Openness
(New York Times): Liechtenstein bowed to international pressure Thursday, saying it would adopt global standards on transparency and information exchange in tax matters, turning up the heat on Switzerland and other tax havens to follow suit. “The Liechtenstein government accepts the OECD standards on transparency and information exchange in tax matters and supports the international measures against non-compliance with tax laws,” the tiny principality said in a statement. Pressure has been building on tax havens to do their part by divulging more information on potential tax evaders.
Cayman’s human rights debate goes global
(CNS): The world’s leading international human rights watchdog has picked up the current debate in the Cayman Islands regarding section 16 in the Bill of Rights of the proposed Constitution and issued a global press release stating that the territory should revise the draft constitution to give full protection to all against unequal treatment, and the British government should ensure that this happens. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has sent letters to both the governor, Stuart Jack, and the British foreign secretary, David Miliband, urging them to make section 16 a free standing right.
In its worldwide release HRW explained that Cayman is going through the process of voting on a new constitution and told the story of how the government had eliminated what was originally proposed as a free-standing guarantee of equality before the law but had limited anti-discrimination protections only to rights expressly included in the constitution.
“This means that large and critically important areas of daily life would not be covered, including access to jobs, housing, and medical treatment,” HRW states. The release says that it is understood that the government has succumbed to pressure from religious groups, and the action was apparently intended to deny protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.
“The British government is using a double standard, approving a draft constitution for an overseas territory that gives fewer protections than British citizens enjoy at home,” said Boris Dittrich, advocacy director of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights programme at Human Rights Watch. “Equality means equality, and it should apply across the board.”
Human Rights Watch urged the British and Cayman governments to ensure that protections in the new constitution apply not only to discrimination by the state, but also to discrimination by private entities. The HRW also cited the work of Equality Cayman, a nongovernmental organization which has strongly criticized the scope of the proposed language for section 16 in the draft constitution, stating that it offers inadequate protections against prejudice and inequality. “Protecting against discrimination and promoting equality should be core purposes of a bill of rights,” said Dittrich. “The territory’s new constitution should not fall short of that aim.”
In a letter to the governor the widely respected group urged support for full protections against discrimination in the new constitution. “We urge you and your government to support the introduction of a new section 16 in the Cayman Islands constitution that will include a free-standing right not to be discriminated against in all aspects of life,” wrote Dittrich on behalf of HRW. “This right should apply to all people in the Cayman Islands on a broad range of grounds, including sexual orientation and gender identity. This free-standing right should apply against discrimination originating both from acts by the government and by private parties in the Cayman Islands.
Equality Cayman intends to submit its petition to government this weekend requesting a choice at the referendum between the originally proposed free standing right and the laterally introduced closed right in section 16. Despite the passage of the referendum bill, the grass roots organisation is still hopeful that the government will listen to their proposal.
FOI commissioner favours mediation
(CNS): Cayman’s Information Commissioner has issued a set of policies and procedures on how she intends to be guided in exercising her duties and authorities under the Freedom of Information Law. Jennifer Dilbert said her overriding policy will be to seek mediated resolutions to appeals without having to resolve matters through a formal hearing, as she said both parties maintain more control over the outcome and it is more efficient.
“I hope, through these policies and procedures to provide, for all Cayman, certainty, transparency and efficiency in the dispute resolution and appeal processes,” she stated. “I intend to actively seek mediated resolutions as part of the process.” She said mediation would take into consideration the fact that the learning curve for public authorities about their new responsibilities is steep, and the understanding of the public will take some time to mature.
In the policies and procedures Dilbert explains the grounds for appeal, which includes the failure within the 30 day period of offices to indicate whether or not it holds a record, to communicate the information contained in a record, respond to a request for a record, to provide a notice in writing of its response, or otherwise failed to comply with an obligation imposed under this Law. Applicants can also appeal if a government office charges a fee that is in contravention of the law.
Dilbert explained that the information commissioner may direct staff from the ICO to investigate an appeal and attempt, through mediation, to assist theparties to settle the dispute, but she noted that not all files would be appropriate for referral to mediation. The mediation process is separate from a subsequent formal hearing by the information commissioner. All information provided by the parties during mediation is treated on a “without prejudice” basis, which means each party can engage in free and frank discussions without fearing damage to their case should the matter proceed further. The details of the mediation discussions will not be shared with the information commissioner to ensure that, if the matter proceeds to a formal inquiry, the commissioner remains impartial. Where an appeal is not settled, the applicant may request the matter proceed to a formal hearing before the commissioner under section 43 of the Law.
The commissioner is responsible for monitoring and enforcing compliance with the Freedom of Information Law by over eighty public authorities. That law gives the public the right to request records in the custody or control of a public authority, and requires that authority to provide the record within 30 days, unless one of the limited exceptions to disclosure applies. Individuals who are dissatisfied with the response of the public authority to their request may file an appeal with the information commissioner.
The public is invited to submit any comments on the interim guidelines to the Information Commissioner’s Office at the address below by the end of March 2009. For more information contact Jennifer Dilbert, Information Commissioner for the Cayman Islands, Information Commissioner’s Office, 1st Floor, Cayman Corporate Centre, 27 Hospital Road PO Box 10727, Grand Cayman KY1-1007, CAYMAN ISLANDS, Telephone: +1 345 244 3619 email: appeals@ico.gov.ky
UDP fields team of eleven
(CNS): The United Democratic Party has announced the names of the eleven candidates who will represent it at the forthcoming General Election on 20 May. The eleven ‘man’ team includes two women and is made up of the five existing members of the Legislative Assembly and six new candidates, who with the exception of Mark Scotland are new to the party slate. Criticising the current administration, party leader McKeeva Bush also introduced the UDP campaign slogan of "A better way forward" as well as his political colleagues.
Former CEO of Cayman Airways Mike Adam, Corporate Manager Pearlina McGaw-Lumsden, Butterfield Bank Senior Analyst Jonathan Piercy and talk show host Ellio Solomon will run in George Town, and MD of ARCP Mark Scotland, and owner of APS Security Dwayne Seymour will run in Bodden Town. Julianna- O’Connor-Connolly, the First Elected Member for the Sister Islands, will contest her seat for Cayman Brac and Little Cayman again, and the four familiar West Bay MLAs, Leader of the Party McKeeva Bush, Rolston Anglin, Cline Glidden Jr. and Eugene Ebanks, will also return to the hustings to contest their West Bay seats.
Introducing his full team, Bush said that between them they had more than 60 years of legislative experience and a wide range of professional backgrounds. “Together, we will pursue an agenda that puts every Caymanian in a good job, lowers the cost of living for every family and prepares every student for success in our rapidly changing economy,” he said.
The number of candidates won’t go unnoticed by sporting fans but Bush said he also had at least one more potential on the bench in North Side, since Ezzard Miller, while he was running as an independent, had publicly announced his willingness to work with the UDP. He also introduced a new ‘coach’ when he said that well know local lawyer and party member Sherry Bodden would be sharing the post of party chairman with Billy Reid.
Announcing the official team on Wednesday morning, 11 March, Bush said it was a feel-good day when the campaign to rid the country of the shackles of the old government had started. He said the team could not have come together at a better time to save the Cayman Islands from spiralling debt and spending as well as a financial service industry facing trouble.
“The problems we face are in part because of the global recession, but they have been compounded by government mismanagement,” Bush said. “The education system is failing students and the cost of living is rising every passing day. While the emphasis is put on buildings teachers and students left behind. Our way of life is being threatened and at this critical point the Cayman Islands needs new ideas and leadership to put us back on solid footing for the challenges ahead.”
Although the manifesto is not yet complete, he said that a priority for a UDP administration would be to balance the government budget and publish the accounts. He said it was ridiculous that the country does not currently know the state of government finances and that the current government was in breach of the Public Management Finance Law.
“We are committed to returning fiscaldiscipline to government spending and borrowing,” he said. “We will also pursue an agenda that puts every Caymanian in a job.”
Cline Glidden also said he was hoping to spearhead a campaign to better manage legislative time and said he was hoping to change Standing Orders so that the meeting times of the House could be changed to start sitting in the afternoon and continue later into the evening to accommodate the needs of ministers. “We recognise that we have not, under this administration, been making the most efficient use of parliamentary time,” he said. Bush offered his support to Glidden and said he himself had raised the problem of the time the House sits back in 1985 but for one reason or another it was never possible to change the situation. However, he was now making a commitment to do that if elected.
Bush also defended the party system and said it was the way forward, as party politics reflected the maturity of a political system. “It brings Cayman more in line with other advanced countries,” he said, explaining that it was better for voters to understand who was supporting who when they voted for them and not after the fact. “We can’t run this in an ad hoc fashion. We need organised politics by coming together before the election so people can see where we stand,” Bush added. He said while there were debates and discussions among his team, his was impressed with their input and their new ideas and that he was confident they were all up to the job.
