Judicial website posts all active laws and amendments
(CNS): For the first time the public can access all of the laws in the Cayman Islands in the same place free of charge on a readily accessible up-to-date database. Not only will ordinary citizens have direct on-line access to every piece of legislation he laws are posted alongside amendments allowing people to see the changes to legislation in context. Alongside the laws the judicial services department is also posting judgments from the courts on its website as well, beginning with the Financial Services Division. Chief Justice Anthony Smellie QC said: “A critical part of maintaining the rule of law is to make it as easy as possible for members of the public to find out what the law is.”
Bringing together laws and respective amendments, the database should help people better understand the laws that govern the country. Although laws are published when they are passed, the chief justice said it has been very difficult to know whether they have been amended or changed or whether the law is only partially in force.
“This part of our website brings all the laws and the amendments together in one place. I am very grateful to all members of the team who have been involved in this,” the Chief Justice added noting specially the work of legal researcher for the government legal department, Christine Cooke, who compiled the laws.
The online publishing of judgments will gradually expand to cover all parts of the court, with all judgments ultimately placed on the site shortly after being handed down.
“Public access to decisions of the court and of the laws is very important,” said Court Administrator n McCormac. He added that these advances add to a range of information already on the website. This includes information for jurors and witnesses, for those considering proceedings under the Children Law, and for those making a Small Claim with an extensive guide prepared by the Office of the Complaints Commissioner.
“This has all been a big team effort,” said McCormac. He credited major contributions to Court Librarian Beverley Speirs and volunteers from various firms under the umbrella of INSOL [International Association of Restructuring, Insolvency & Bankruptcy Professionals].
To access go to www.judicial.ky then select from the main menu, “Laws” or “Judgments.” For Laws, a drop-down menu shows “Laws Adopted” and “Laws-in-Force.” For direct access to laws-in-force, the link is www.judicial.ky/laws/laws-in-force. The service is provided free of cost to members of the public who are required to register through a simple online process.
Category: Local News
What a bunch of span filled repeating trash. Dont sign up or your inbox will be filled with the same crap over and over
It appears you have to sign up and then wait a couple of days for approval before you can log in.
Thank you for the hard work that went into making this website availabe, it is much appreciated. Is there a way to filter a particular law, its amendments and bill by year, so that they appear in order? It would be helpful, especially where there are many amendments to a law.
Fixed
This is not a welcome step. It is merely a means of getting ready to make access to the laws on available to the lawyers, not the public, by charging a fortune for access in the near future. Shameful.
Wow! Someone has looked into his or her crystal ball and seen a fortune before the court has announced a subscription fee. You should set up shop.. You would make a fortune, given the number of gullible persons around. ( from the "likes" so far.)
With some exceptions, for Bills and Laws made since hurricane Ivan, this type of information has been freely accessible to the public at http://www.gazettes.gov.ky.
I have viewed the webpage of Laws at http://www.judicial.ky and while the presentation has improved some, sadly the website also says: “Access to the laws is free of charge until the 31 December 2013; after that date, full access will be on payment of a subscription though view only access will be free of charge”.
In my view, the public should have full access to this type of information at the expense of government general revenue, and without the need to subscribe to that website.
So members of the public will still be able to view the laws and amendments. There will be no block to access to information. Print copies of laws are actually availed for sale from the legislative assembly and I think it is fine to pay a small subscription fees if one has a continuing, routine need for print laws.
Excellent! This is long overdue but better late than never.
Excellent!
Thanks Chief Justice Smellie and everyone else involved. Now if only the police would follow suit and publish the names of persons convicted of crimes and update it when the sentences have expired. Afterall, they were convicted in open court to which the public has free access, so what is there to hide? The public has a right to be informed so that one and all can take informed decisions that could help them avoid becoming victims of crime.
They are only posting laws and amendments which, I might add, we can freely obtain already from the Gazettes website.
What we need to see is the entire GCCL made electronic. Although the courts have been making noises about this for years, they have made no progress whatsoever (with the exception of the FSD Division which is relatively new anyway).
Clients in other jurisdictions are horrified when they find they we literally have to read through the paper files here – in a day and age where in any other jurisdiction, all you have to do is enter a search term and hey presto, your answer is there in seconds. The same search conducted manaually at the court offices takes days.
This site contains all current Laws, soe still in force datingback to the 1960's. The GIS website only has Laws dating back to mid-2004.
What is different between this resource and others is that the laws and amendments arecollated together. In other resources, you have to search for a,end,nets that you may not even know exist. So this is a step up on the game.