Search Results for 'no confidence'
Ex-governor escapes law suit
(CNS): Full story — Stuart Jack, the former governor of the Cayman Islands, will not be held liable for the claim made by Stuart Kernohan, the former police commissioner whom he sacked, a judge has said. Following two days of legal wrangling by lawyers representing the Attorney General’s Chambers, the former Operation Tempura lead investigator and Kernohan, the judge made the decision that the claim did not demonstrate that the governor had acted illegally and therefore it should be the attorney general that should be left to face the law suit on behalf of the government. He made no decision on Bridger, however, as the former Metropolitan Police cop had not yet had the opportunity to defend his application to have his name taken off the writ.
Although the judge has prevented Kernohan from making a personal claim against Jack by denying his claim of misfeasance, Lord Justice Alan Moses has left room for Kernohan to seek more damages from the Cayman Islands government over and above the claim for loss of earnings if he is successful in winning his unlawful dismissal case and a breach of trust and confidence.
In his full ruling the judge gave some indication of his sympathy for Kernohan’s case and spelt out in detail the reasons for his judgement and his views on how Kernohan was treated.
Reviewing the circumstances of the case, Justice Moses described the incidents surrounding Operation Tempura as a “series of unusual events” that led to Kernohan’s dismissal. He revealed how Kernohan had been told in the first instance that he would be placed on required leave for only one month in March 2008, which would be under constant review. He was told at that point that he was not under investigation, despite the UK investigating team having already tried and failed to get a search warrant for his house. However, in May 2008 the special police investigation team led by Martin Bridger revealed that he was in fact under investigation for misconduct in a public office in connection with the Net News entry.
Bridger’s theory was that Kernohan not only acted improperly by asking the employees to search the newspaper offices but the former police commissioner did so for an ulterior motive against Anthony Ennis, though it was not clear exactly what the motive was.
It was not until September 2008 that Kernohan finally learned, as a result of the hearing regarding Justice Alex Henderson’s unlawful arrest, that the chief justice had already ruled that Kernohan had done nothing wrong when he authorized the employees to try and get copies of information that would indicated that the deputy commissioner was leaking sensitive information to the owner of the newspaper, Desmond Seales.
Kernohan was allegedly sacked for not returning to the island when asked to do so by the governor and for making disparaging remarks about members of Cabinet but was not officially cleared from the Operation Tempura investigation until more than a year after he was placed on required leave in April 2009.
In his claim against the various parties Kernohan claims that the governor acted in bad faith as he knew there was no proper grounds to place him on required leave, but not only did he do it, he allowed it to go on and on without responding to correspondence from Kernohan’s legal team.
The judge disagreed that this was an indication of malfeasance as he said it was not illegal to placeKernohan on suspension, so rather than bad faith it was more a case of “an error of judgement”. The judge also noted that the continuation of Kernohan’s required leave was at the advice of Bridger, who was the investigating officer, and the governor was not in a constitutional position to interfere with the operational details of the investigation and therefore was not himself directly liable, but the judge pointed out that the actions still bolstered Kernohan’s claim against the government in general.
He said the fact that Bridger did not accept the findings of the chief justice and carried on his investigation regardless did not mean the governor was acting in bad faith by not stopping him. He was, the judge stated, “restraining himself” from interfering with a police investigation, as he should.
The judge said the accusations that Kernohan was placed on required leave and kept there because the governor was trying to direct attention from his own involvement in the decision to allow the two Net News employees to enter their boss's office on the hunt for incriminating material made no sense.
He pointed out that if the chief justice had already noted that the entry into the newspaper office was not a crime then the governor had nothing to fear by being part of the decision to either instruct or agree to the decision to try that option before getting a search warrant or calling in the outside officers. “There is no rhyme or reason why the governor would need to distract attention … as his conduct, as already stated by the chief justice, was not considered to have been an offence,” the judge added.
In a ruling that took over two hours to deliver, the UK judge did point out, however, that this did not mean that many of the claims Kernohan was making about his treatment in the narrative of events might be valid. He said the governor did have a responsibility to see Kernohan did not suffer and that there was oversight of Bridger’s investigation.
The judge concluded that the Cayman Islands government in the form of the Attorney General was the correct defendant in Kernohan’s suit as there “was no basis for joining” Stuart Jack in person.
He pointed out that Kernohan had a wrongful dismissal case but more importantly there was room for damages to be claimed because of other issues that could be found to be breaches of trust and confidence but he said he would not allow a claim for aggravated damages in the case.
The judge said he believed that this was a case which “cries out for mediation” and that the parties should try to reach a settlement to save on expenses and to avoid further mistakes. He guessed that there would not be any winners in a long trial but lots of losers. He pointed out that during the investigation the ruling of the chief justice was kept from Kernohan and that he had never been given the chance to make representations about that. He also criticised the fact that despite the CJ’s ruling the Operation Tempura investigation continued without proper review.
The question of Bridger’s liability also remains unanswered as the judge said he could not rule on the claim against him as he had only just been served the papers directly when the hearing opened because of the situation that had arisen with his defence. Bridger had been represented by the attorney general’s office but as a result of a closed ruling made by Justice Charles Quin some weeks earlier the AG’s chambers had come off record, leaving the former Operation Tempura boss to fend for himself.
Anthony Akiwumi, who had come on record for the former Scotland Yard cop, pointed out at the end of the judge’s ruling that according to the Cayman Islands 1972 constitution, which was in effect at the time of Operation Tempura, the governor did have considerably more responsibilityfor the police, as he sought to define the position of his client who was faced with defending the suit without the protection of the Cayman government.
With the parameters of Kernohan’s claim now defined, unless the parties decide to settle there will be a long process of hearings and document exchange between the lawyers before the case itself comes before a judge to be heard. Setting out a timetable over the coming months, the parties agreed that if there was no mediation they would probably not be ready to set a date for trial until the end of the year and fixed a date for December for all the parties to return to the court.
Budget painful says governor
(CNS): Full story – Delivering the government's Throne Speech this morning, the governor described the budget for 2011/12 as a “painful process". Addressing the Legislative Assembly Monday morning, Duncan Taylor said that government was facing challenges in its efforts to cut costs in order to bring government finances back to a sustainable level while still delivering quality services. He said government's planned surplus this year was brought about as a result of not paying into the pension liability and thatin reality government was still spending more than it earned. Against the backdrop of the UK's request that civil service costs be cut, the speech was delivered by Taylor in isolation without the fiscal plans for 2011/12.
The Legislative Assembly was adjourned by the premier shortly after the governor left the parliament.
“I am praying I will have a budget to present next week,” McKeeva Bush told the House as he moved the adjournment for a date to be fixed.
The delivery of the actual spending plans and revenue expectations has been delayed as a result of concerns raised by the UK government that the personnel costs for the public sector are still too high. However, Bush has stated he does not want to cut salaries or benefits to civil servants and therefore cuts must be made elsewhere.
Delivering his second throne speech in his role as governor, Taylor said far more needed to be done when it came to government expenditure. He added that the past year had been a challenging one for the Cayman Islands because of the continuing recession and the impact of this on public finances.
“We are still feeling the impact of the global financial crisis and the recession which it provoked. Like most countries around the world, we are having to take difficult decisions to cut costs, in order to bring government finances back onto a sustainable track. It is a painful process,” he said.
With the UK still having the last word on this year's government spending, Talylor described the process of setting this budget as “stressful and prolonged” as he thanked all those who had worked on it. He added that the Portfolio of the Civil Service would continue supporting the steering group and teams that are carrying out the public sector reviews looking for spending cuts in government, but gave no more information on the most recent results of that team's work.
The governor also revealed that the Auditor General's Office intended to provide the Legislative Assembly with the six financial and performance government audit reports, which are currently outstanding, in the coming financial year and stated that the AG would make a difference by “holding government accountable for its spending and for providing value-for-money in publicservices,” but did not refer to the current empty chair on the Public Accounts Committee.
Although government was not in a position to reveal the actual numbers for the next financial year, the governor delivered a broad outline of the plans by the UDP administration and the official arm for the next twelve months.
He spoke at length about the implementation of e-services across government, from on-line training for civil servants to e-tickets being delivered by police.
Tackling crime would be a key objective during the next year to secure borders and prevent organised crime from gaining a foothold on these islands, Taylor said but noted the challenges. Although crime figures were down, he said, just one crime was one too many and the increase in robberies was of particular concern.
'Public confidence remains an elusive goal,” Taylor said. 'The RCIPS recognises the key benefits of having officers at neighbourhood level, known and trusted by those they serve and key to the securing of public confidence. This year, resources permitting, the RCIPS will increase the number of officers working with and at the heart of our communities.”
He also said that the new crime prevention strategy would soon be released to the public and that phase one of the national CCTV programme public surveillance camera system would be rolled out in the near future.
The governor listed a number of further policy plans and legislative changes that would come before the country's parliament in this financial year. These included necessary changes because of the Bill of Rights, which would be implemented in 18 months. He also pointed to planned amendments to the Judicature Law to widen the list of people eligible to serve on juries, and the Rehabilitation of Offenders Law, as well as a new law for the Commission of Standards in Public Life Bill. He also said there would be a new traffic law coming but there was no mention of the national conservation law, merely a policy intent to have EIAs conducted before developments begin.
Mac says no to 1 man-1 vote
(CNS): The premier has said that he does not support one man, one vote and never has. At a public meeting on Tuesday McKeeva Bush said that while he has always told the country he was not in favour of that type of vote, he did not believe the opposition supported it either as they did not enshrine it in the constitution when they had the chance. Bush accused the PPM ofrefusing to put it in the document despite being in government during the UK constitutional discussions. However, Alden McLaughlin says that it was the result of a "regretted compromise” because of the Bush’s vehement opposition that one man, one vote did not get enshrined. The PPM is and always has been in favour, he said. (Photo Dennie WarrenJr)
Speaking to an audience in front of the court house in a mid-term UDP rally Tuesday night, the premier stated that his opposition to one man, one vote had been constant, while this was not the case for the opposition.
He questioned whether the opposition leader, Alden McLaughlin, and the former leader of government business, Kurt Tibbetts, really wanted one man, one vote in George Town. He asked why, if they had supported it, did they not use their power as the government at the time and say in the constitution itself that such a voting method would come into effect on a certain day.
“If they have a gripe about one man one vote and want it for the next election then that’s what they should have done in London,” he said referring to the negotiations that took place between the Cayman delegation and the UK government in 2008. “The PPM refused to put it in the constitution.”
Bush described this as typical behaviour of the PPM who made promises which were never fulfilled.
However, the opposition leader pointed out that the vehement objection from the UDP delegation at the time, and in particular Bush and Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, led, much to McLaughlin’s regret, to a compromise to allow the legislators to select the method of voting instead of enshrining it. (See First round of Constitutional talks for UDP objections Pg 76)
“We were at the time trying to get a document everyone would support,” he noted, adding that it was Sir Ian Hendry, the UK representative that led the negotiations, who suggested the compromise of enshrining the size of the legislature but leaving the voting method to the local lawmakers in order to get passed the impasse. The opposition leader said the goal of the constitutional negotiations was to get a document that everyone, including the Chamber, the Human Rights Committee, the churches and the political parties, would support.
McLaughlin explained, “The premise was that the constitution should be a negotiated document with the agreement of all the Cayman delegation, not just the UK," and said it had to be supported by everyone in order to get the country to accept it. He said the PPM had wanted the entire delegation that went to London to come back and be in a position to support the ‘Yes’ campaign, but in the event that did not happen.
“I regret to this day that we made that compromise as the UDP reneged on the agreement,” McLaughlin said, pointing out that Bush had still come back and told the people to vote ‘No’ . “Maybe we were too idealistic,” he added.
However, McLaughlin said the PPM had always been in favour of one man, one vote and continued to support the concept, which is one of the points listed in the opposition leader’s motion of no confidence.
Following the publication by the boundary commission’s comments that at the public meetings they held there was widespread support for one man one vote, the decision by government to simply add more multiple members to existing constituencies has caused considerable criticism.
Ezzard Miller, the independent member for North Side who has been a vocal supporter of the concept said the premier is wrong when he thinks the people don’t support one man, one vote. “I do not agree with the premier that the people don’t want this, the people I represent certainly do and so do many, many others across the country,” he stated. Miller has frequently pointed out the inequality of the current voting system which is about to get worse with the introduction of two more members for George Town.
On Tuesday in an attempt to answer the criticism by Miller and Arden McLean who also represents a single member constituency Bush said it was not unfair that those districts only had one vote as he said it was because they were too small to have more. “If they were bigger they would have more,” he said, indicating that he misunderstood the fundamental issue of the objections.
Bush said that single member representatives could still be minister or even premier. However, the objections are more concerned about the ability of individual voters, not their members, to cast more than one vote and have a greater influence on the make-up of the entire government in multimember constituents compared to one man one vote which is believed by most to offer a more democratic and equitable way for a government to be elected.
No plan details at UDP rally
(CNS): The premier has failed to deliver details about the new cruise port developers that are offering to undertake a number of other infrastructure projects on island. Despite saying in his Monday night TV and radio broadcast that he would be updating the country on government’s plans for the cruise berthing facility and other new developments at the public meeting outside the courthouse on Tuesday night, McKeeva Bush reviewed the past but offered few details on the future. Although he said he planned to start some projects, he did not say which or when. He offered support for the oil refinery proposal again but failed to say if government had entered into a deal with the developers. (Photo Dennie WarrenJr)
Despite opposition from inside the civil service, as well as the PPM, their supporters and others who opposed the development proposals, Bush insisted that he would be going ahead with some new projects soon. He said the people of the country had voted for the UDP to deliver economic growth.
“The projects have to go through otherwise the country is going to go belly-up,” the premier warned as he accused the opposition of putting every possible barrier in place to prevent development. He said the PPM leader knew these developments would bring jobs and economic prosperity and he was attempting to stop all that with his no confidence motion.
The premier said he would be revealing the details of the projects before the end of the month but said nothing about the cruise berthing facilities and the recent decision to cancel the deal with GLF. He simply stated that government was in negotiations with a new group of developers that would deliver multiple infrastructure projects.
He did, however, state firmly that Dart would be capping and remediating the dump and “government would work with them” as it had been an unsightly mess for years, despite the situation with the CTC process. He said people could "cuss" him out but he wasn’t doing anything wrong. Bush also raised the possibility of an oil refinery once again, insisting this was a modern version that would be clean and not give off dirty emission. The premier said if this had been developed many years ago as he had suggested people would not be paying so much now for fuel.
In what turned out to be a mid-term political rally for the United Democratic Party, Bush ended a long night of political speeches, MC’d by Ellio Solomon, and focused on the shortcomings of the PPM and in particular the party leader, the no confidence motion filed by the opposition and what he said were the successes of his administration so far.
Aside from taking political swipes at Alden McLaughlin, the opposition leader, Bush also questioned the loyalty of the civil service, pointing to the recently leaked memo he had sent to heads of department. This illustrated the difficulties his government had to deal with in getting things done, he said, when the civil service were leaking things to the press, who were making headlines before he was able to deal with issues.
He also answered a number of the criticisms railed at him and his Cabinet colleagues, though not all of them. Bush said that while people were criticising and saying they weren’t free, he had never heard so much criticism in his life and wondered how much more freedom to criticise people wanted.
Bush also defended his travelling, which has been a particular focus for his critics, but he said he would continue to travel when it was needed. The premier said he had to work tirelessly going “from country to country” and had to “beg them for business” because of the state the PPM had left the public finances and the country in general. “We didn’t have money,” he said and added that Cayman was being watched and when its name was called by international bodies and G20 countries he had to be there to defend the financial sector.
He also defended his deputy, Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, and said there was nothing wrong with paving the private driveways in Cayman Brac as it was often done when the main roads were being paid to level the areas off so water would not run on to them.
Referring to his demands that civil servants find a surplus before the fiscal year end, the premier, who is also minister of finance, said it was completely puzzling that in March there was a surplus of around $15 million and then a few weeks later the country was running a deficit. He would not tolerate that and warned that he would not allow unnecessary spending and did not care which public servants weren’t happy.
Focusing heavily throughout his speech on the previous administration, he said his government was hindered by having to rectify the problems of the last one. Things, however, were now getting on track, Bush told the audience of around one hundred people, and that was why the PPM leader had brought the no confidence motion — because he knew things were set to turn around and he did not want to see the UDP government succeed.
“They know we are going to bring a better budget soon,” he added.
Extra spending not approved
(CNS):Government may have spent millions of dollars in this financial year differently from the expenditure plans approved by the country’s legislators, according to FOI requests. Government ministers have been moving money around and it is not clear if the spending is more or less than the amount formally approved as none of it has been regularized by the parliament’s Finance Committee, which has not met since last year’s budget appropriation. The requests show more than $800,000 has been taken from the NRA’s Grand Cayman budget and given to District Administration for roads in the Brac, while more than $173,000 has been spent by the Department of Tourism outside of its budget allocation.
The decision to pave some roads and private driveways in Cayman Brac led to the National Roads Authority being asked to send most of its heavy equipment, as well as some staff, to the Sister Island and resulted in a direct cut to its budget with the money being given to District Administration, which has managed the project on the Brac and invoices have been billed to the ministry. However, the managing director of the NRA points out that the movement of funds needed to be regularized by the Finance Committee.
A second FOI request revealed that the premier or his office had directed the Department of Tourism to pay expenses amounting to $173,845.47 over and above the allocated annual budget for 2010/11. The details of these expenditure changes have not been revealed, and because Finance Committee has not met to regularize these budget alterations it is not clear if this is extra spending or money that has come from elsewhere in the Ministry of Finance, Tourism and Development or why the extra cash was needed.
During any fiscal year government ministers will often be faced with a legitimate need to reallocate cash from one department to another within their own ministries or even from ministry to ministry. As a result, the Finance Committee, which is chaired by the premier, is supposed to meet in order to demonstrate in a public forum why public money has been moved from one place to another or why extra spending was required.
However, the Finance Committee has not met outside of the annual budget allocation meetings since the UDP administration came to office, almost two years ago. This means that there is no official public record of how money is being moved or why. Nor is there a record saying if more or less spending has been authorized by ministers within their departments and authorities over stretching the budget in total.
Although the movements are approved by Cabinet, because those meetings are held behind closed doors and with no up to date consolidated government accounts having been published for more than six years, the public is currently in the dark about the detailed spending of government ministers.
The documents relating to the two FOI requests by members of the public and sent to CNS (posted below) demonstrate the movement of around $1 million between just three government entities. However, there is likely to be changes in most ministries and departments, which could result in millions more of public dollars being spent in ways that are not only secret but that have not been formally authorized or scrutinized by the elected members of the legislature.
The failure of the Finance Committee to meet and regularize government spending is one of the twenty-four items raised on the opposition's no confidence in government motion which has been filed in the Legislative Assembly by the PPM leader Alden McLaughlin.
The independent member for North Side, Ezzard Miller, has also raised the issue on a number of occassions that the premier has not convened the committee to approve this spending and reveal to the country what money has been moved where and why.
UK cop’s complaints defamatory says governor
(CNS): The Governor’s Office has refused to release the details of why complaints made by Martin Bridger (left), the senior UK officer in a bungled corruption investigation, were dismissed because it says it would not only be a breach of confidence but it also contains defamatory material. Following an FOI request made by CNS, the office said that under section 54 of the Freedom of Information Law government does not have to release the documents. Despite the fact that Operation Tempura cost the Cayman taxpayer over $6 million, the full details of, or the motivation for, the parts played by local and UK officials, as well as Bridger’s complaint about why he thinks the investigation was halted, appear destined to remain a mystery.
An FOI request made in London to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for the details of Bridger’s complaint by John Evans, a witness in one of the court cases relating to Operation Tempura, was also refused recently. Evans was told by the UK authorities that releasing the information would be likely to prejudice relations between the United Kingdom and the Cayman Islands.
Although the FCO said it recognized the general public interest in openness in public affairs and that disclosure of the information might lead to better informed debate on a subject of public interest, it still considered that the balance is weighted against disclosure. It also noted that revealing the details may impact Cayman’s reputation and affect the financial services sector.
“We judge that disclosure would be prejudicial to the effective conduct of international relations between the United Kingdom and the Cayman Islands which depends upon maintaining trust and confidence between the governments,” the FCO officials said in the letter. “If the United Kingdom does not maintain this trust and confidence, its ability to protect and promote UK interests through international relations will be hampered … disclosure of the information requested could lead to a loss of confidence within the international community which could impact negatively on the Cayman Islands’ reputation and, more directly, on its financial services industry.”
It said disclosure could also prejudice relations between the Cayman and UK governments, which could undermine the confidence of governors in all the overseas territories that information they report to the UK would be kept confidential. “This could lead to more circumspect reporting by Governors, which could in turn damage the United Kingdom’s ability to ensure the good governance of the Overseas Territories,” the FCO said as it refused the application.
The explanation given by the Governor’s Office to CNS was considerably less detailed and simply stated that the law does not authorize the disclosure of any information that would be a breach of confidence or any defamatory matter.
Some of the details of Bridger’s complaints were, however, exposed in the Financial Times. Bridger claimed the investigation had been deliberately blocked rather than discredited because of the lack of evidence or the incompetence of the officers involved in the special operation investigation team, which became known as SPIT.
The entire episode continues to generate considerable disquiet in the local community for different reasons. Many people see the investigation as nothing more than a Caribbean jolly for ex-Metropolitan police officers, who by clouding their investigation in official secrecy were able to run up huge salary and expense claims, which were all paid for by the public purse. Others say that there could have been genuine corruption but the investigation was stopped by people who did not want the details of the police or official wrongdoing to be revealed.
The repercussions of the investigation continue to impact the local community as it fuelled distrust for the police and in particular officers from the UK. It also had a negative impact on local officers and many say it led to a rise in local crime as the RCIPS turned inward and away from normal policing.
The cost to the public purse — which is not yet over — has also been significant, especially at a time when government revenue was hit by the global crisis. While the unlawful arrest of a Grand Court judge was settled in a damages payment of more than $1.2 million and Chief Superintendent John Jones was eventually returned to post after being on required leave on full pay for more than 18months, the situation regarding other police officers has still to be settled.
Deputy Commissioner Rudy Dixon, who still remains on ‘required leave’ has, according to official records, been paid over $300,000 since April 2008 when he was suspended, as well as pension payments of around $52,440.54. Dixon was arrested by SPIT and charged with perverting the course of justice, and although he was acquitted at trial in November 2009, he has still not been reinstated in his post.
Stuart Kernohan, the former police commissioner, was also suspended as part of the Operation Tempura investigation and eventually sacked by the former governor. Kernohan has since filed a civil claim against the Cayman government and Bridger, which has not yet been settled. Finally, Burman Scott, who was also arrested in connection with the charges relating to Dixon, filed a civil case alleging unlawful arrest and his claim has yet to be dealt with.
The Operation Tempura investigation began when accusations were made that Deputy Police Commissioner Anthony Ennis was leaking information to the editor in chief of Cayman Net News, the late Desmond Seales.
Martin Bridger claimed that he and one other officer from Scotland Yard, who originally came to investigate the matter at the request of the then governor Stuart Jack, soon discovered that Ennis was innocent. However, he said he and his colleague had uncovered other irregularities that needed to be investigated and expanded the team. The investigation remained undercover from September 2007 until March 2008 when three of the four senior RCIPS officers were suspended from their jobs
Following the unlawful arrest of a grand court judge, two other failed court room cases, more than $6 million of public funds spent and no real concrete evidence of corruption, the then PPM government insisted that Bridger leave the country. Despite an investigation that continued for more than a year, Bridger was never able to back up his continued claims to elected officials of “rampant corruption” in the police and judiciary and he eventually departed in April 2009.
Soon after, the RCIPS took over the investigation to examine the alleged reports of corruption collated by SPIT. Although some officers have since been quietly dismissed, few details of the investigation or corruption allegations have ever been revealed.
Lawyer says OFCs are not information black holes
(CNS): Jeremy Walton, a partner at local offshore firm Appleby has said that the commonly held belief in the world’s major countries that Offshore Financial Centers are impenetrable fortresses when it comes to obtaining information for criminal and civil investigations is just not true. The Confidential Relationships (Preservation) Law is a "particularly misunderstood" tool for information-gatherers, Walton has revealed ahead of his planned appearance at the Offshore Alert conference next week. Walton told the offshore watchdog that the law’s principal purpose is not to avoid disclosing information, as some seem to believe, but to protect service providers against breach of confidence claims by their clients accused of fraud.
"It is a myth that offshore financial centers are information black-holes and that it is practically impossible to obtain information or relief for the victims of fraud," he told OffshoreAlert. "The myths of secrecy in offshore jurisdictions are debunked by a consideration of the practical remedies and relief available from offshore courts to obtain information and freeze assets for the purpose of pursuing fraud claims."
Offshore Financial Centers stand up well in comparison with big countries when it comes to obtaining information, Walton stated. "OFCs not only have adopted the same legal mechanisms which were created in onshore centers like London, their courts have gone even further to develop stronger and more sophisticated remedies for deserving claimants," he added.
The lawyer said that the ‘post-sale service’ which must be provided to purchasers of offshore products extends to the quality of the court system and the ability to obtain swift justice when those products are used as vehicles for fraud or any other wrongdoing. "In some OFCs a claimant can obtain a free-standing asset-freezing injunction which may not be available in either the UK or the USA," he stated.
Walton and other offshore practitioners will go into detail about the legal information gateways that exist in OFCs during a session entitled ‘Offshore but not Off-Limits: How Fraud Victims Can Obtain Relief in OFCs’ at The 9th Annual OffshoreAlert Conference, which will be held at The Ritz-Carlton, South Beach in Florida on April 4-6, 2011.
Rap not cause of crime
While all types of violent music have some negative influence on young people, I would not go as far to say that it prompts one to commit serious crimes. I also think making such comments (as those made by the police commissioner recently) discredits all the hard work and commitment that persons such as local rapper and recent Grammy award nominee, Jason Gilbert, and his group “The iZ” and others like D.L.S. have accomplished.
Rap music has come a long way since the 1980’s and early 90’s when “gangster” rap music was much more popular. Many rap artists these days are actually entrepreneurs, often wearing business suits, most having their own clothing line, fragrances and record labels. A few even have ownership in professional basketball teams (NBA). Hip Hop artist Jay-Z was recently featured in Forbes magazine alongside billionaire Warren Buffet. Although most focus on wealth and fame, I think they also inspire young people to do something positive with their lives and to dream big.
There are a number of things that contribute to our young people committing crimes and rap music, in my opinion, is not the main reason. I am not suggesting that parents allow their children to listen to violent music, but not all rap music is bad. I personally feel that the main reason for the increase of crime among our youth today is the breakdown of the family and society’s lack of patience and tolerance in grooming our youth.
Looking on the Economics and Statistics website, it showed that in 2009 Cayman had 232 filed divorces and in 2008, 196 divorces were granted, the highest in 24 and 23 years respectively. Any single parent can tell you how hard it is to raise a family on their own, whether it is financially, physically or mentally.
I read a study online by Heritage Foundation (www.heritage.org) that said: “The absence of the father is the single most important cause of crime and the percentage of single-parent households with children between the ages of 12 and 20 is significantly associated with rates of violent crime and burglary.” Material things can be replaced, but a great father missing from home is irreplaceable.
Many studies show that the breakdown within the home can be detrimental to young people, causing many to commit crimes. If you do not believe in the studies, just look around and watch from experience. Where do young men learn to assault women? Many times they see it happen growing up right in their own home. Where do young people pick up drug and alcohol habits? From their parents, relatives or persons close around them — actually many teens have admitted that their first alcohol drink came from their parents.
Young people not working or attending full time school is another cause which bolsters crime.
We all know that idleness and too much free time causes young people to get into mischief.
I think poor modeling also has an impact on our youth: every person on earth has thesocial responsibility to be a good role model within the community. However, a lot of the bad habits that our young people pick up, they pick up from adults — foul language, selfishness, anger, negativity, just to name a few.
I think the lack of positive role models within our community also has an effect on our youth.
A recent poll done by Gallup/USA Today showed President Barack Obama to be the “Most Admired Man” for the 3rd straight year. Whether you like him or not, it is evident that he is a family man and demonstrates and conducts himself in a very professional and admirable manner, which is very appealing to the younger generation.
The reason we have so many young people looking abroad and being influenced from overseas is because of the lack of role models here in Cayman. I am not saying we don’t have some in Cayman — I personally know several of them — but it is not to a magnitude of what is really needed. We need more role models and leaders who stand out, Caymanian role models and leaders, who aspire to inspire this new generation.
We as a nation need to start encouraging our children more and instilling positive things into their minds on a consistent basis; it has a negative influence on them when all they hear is negative things. I do not think we encourage our children enough to dream big, think positive, instill into them that they can do anything they put their minds to. Growing up I did not have much confidence in myself until other people took notice of my potential and started encouraging me, and I suspect many young people are going through the same thing today.
When I attended school, I recall one teacher telling me that I wouldn’t become anything. I also had people comparing me to family members who had certain addictions. We need to let our children know that their past, neighborhood, race, wealth or educational background does not affect their future.
Not to my surprise, the same study done by the Heritage Foundation, which I truly believe to be accurate, stated that “Neighborhoods with a high degree of religious practice are not high-crime neighborhoods.” I do not think that anyone can argue that the principles and morals that Christianity teaches us have been diminishing within our community.
Many of our elders will tell you that Cayman has changed significantly, and although I believe in change, there are just some things, such as our moral integrity, personal responsibility and community involvement, that should not change.
I call upon families, fathers in particular, to take your rightful place in society, to shelter your sons and daughters from destroying themselves. Teach them the right morals and principles that will help them to be successful in life and help build their characters, that will not allow them to bend under negative influence. These things cannot be taught in colleges or universities but can only be obtained within a loving home. In doing so, we will build a stronger community in the fight against crime, both locally and internationally.
Richard Christian is the president of the Young United Democratic Party (YUDP) and was responding to comments made by Police Commissioner David Baines in a presentation at the Caribbean Conference on Economic Co-operation held at the Ritz Carlton last month.
Motherly love ‘does breed confidence’
(BBC): Being lavished with affection by your mum as a young child makes you better able to cope with the stresses and strains of adult life, say researchers. Hugs, kisses and expressive declarations of love appear to rub off and foster emotional resilience. The results are from nearly 500 people, from the US state of Rhode Island, who were studied as children and adults. A secure mother-child bond may be key, the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health reports. But experts say it is important to know when to stop.
Over-mothering can be intrusive and embarrassing, especially as children grow older.
PPM asks UK not to tax
(CNS) The opposition has joined the government in calling on the UK not to change the economic model in the Cayman Islands with the introduction of direct taxes. In the wake of the recent letter to the local government fromthe OT director, Colin Roberts, that the UK is still expecting some new revenue raising measures from the Cayman government, the PPM has submitted a position paper to the FCO. The paper indicates that the UK should not undermine the jurisdiction’s financial services sector by forcing taxes on the country, despite the government’s failure to balance this year’s budget.
Although the People’s Progressive Movement has raised a number of concerns about the current government’s economic strategy, the opposition is singing from the same song sheet when it comes to taxation, with the party telling the UK that taxation would rock the pillars of the Cayman Islands economy.
Leader of the Opposition Kurt Tibbetts stated that, at the request of the FCO, he and members of the opposition met the delegation in connection with the current fiscal difficulties last week. Tibbetts described the meeting as frank and useful and said the FCO team of Andrew Paterson, Economic Advisor, Overseas Directorate and Carole Pretorius “were grateful for the insight provided by the opposition.”
Former education minister Alden McLaughlin told CNS that the FCO delegation had asked for the PPM’s input regarding the economic situation, and as a result the party had submitted a position paper.
“We hope this paper have some influence in the UK about not pressing for direct taxation,” McLaughlin said. “The major point is we want the UK to understand that it should not try to alter the fundamentals of the existing economic model. Direct taxation has certainly not helped the major countries so there is no reason to expect it would help Cayman.”
In the paper the PPM says taxation would slow the recovery and harm the country’s economic pillars. “We discern from the Director of the Overseas Territories Directorate’s letter of 12th March, 2010 that the UK is still pushing for us to identify additional sources of revenue and, it appears, for us to adopt some form of direct taxation. We do not agree with additional taxation, particularly in the present environment,” the document says.
Aside from the issue of taxation, the opposition says it hopes the new governor will directly tackle the issue of public spending as the PPM states that, with revenues shrinking as a result of the recession, government spending must shrink equally. The party said it was optimistic that the governor wouldl at last play his part as the person with constitutional responsibility for the civil service.
“The system visualised by the PFML and PSML presupposed that there would be somebody at the top to keep an eye on the civil service, someone who would ensure that the civil service operated in the intended manner. But, until now, no one has done that – neither the Governor, nor the Head of the Civil Service, nor the Financial Secretary,” the PPM states in the paper.
The party also notes that there was no mention in the recent Miller report of who has power over the civil service. “It is also unfortunate that the Miller/Shaw Report does not acknowledge that the elected Government does not have control of the civil service, and that this rests in the hands of the Governor and his appointed delegate,” the PPM told the UK.
The paper sets out the PPM’s concerns over the sale of government assets, the need for proper assessments before any services are privatized or before government enters into private sector partnerships.
The current uncertainty surrounding the economic situation is another issue which the PPM raises, in particular the constantly changing decisions about how government plans to tackle the budget deficit. “We are concerned by the state of uncertainty and ever increasing fear that has been steadily growing since the new government took office,” the PPM said.
“This is undermining confidence in a jurisdiction which is already challenged because of the huge increase in violent crime in recent months. The country is faced regularly with announcements that government will not be able to meet its obligations, then that all is well; that salaries and benefits of public servants will be cut, then the following week that they won’t be, then the next month that they will be; that key government assets will be sold off, then that they won’t be. This must cease.”
The PPM offers its backing to the proposed three-year plan and says it is optimistic that there is “no more nonsense about getting government finances straightened out within the year,” presuming that, as the FCO requires a three-year plan, it does not expect the budget to be balanced this year and has relaxed the controls over borrowing. “We are pleased but not surprised to hear that the FCO is willing to relax the finance requirements to allow the minimal necessary borrowing while we carry out the plan,” the PPM states.
The opposition team told the UK it believed the government must develop and announce a sensible recovery plan and then the country must be allowed to settle down and work through the challenges presented by the economic conditions the whole world is experiencing.