FOI

(CNS): The information commissioner has warned that her office’s ability to function properly is under threat because of budget cuts. In addition, the office’s legal budget has been removed at a time when the governor’s office is challenging a decision by the commissioner in relation to her order to release information in connection with the discredited internal police investigation Operation Tempura. Writing in her quarterly report on the activities of the office, Jennifer Dilbert stated that the budget cuts were such that it was seriously interfering with the independence of her office. The introduction of FOI has changed the electorate’s relationship with government and hampering its progress via financial restrictions should be of genuine concern to voters.

(CNS): The Cayman Islands information commissioner is not alone in her battle to deal with a mounting workload in the face of declining resources. Jennifer Dilbert and her team joined 33 other offices around the world in a survey recently undertaken by the Centre for Freedom of Information based in the UK. The research found that many commissioners believe they are under resourced. According to the results, 58% said their financial and staff resources were insufficient, while another 19%, including Cayman, reported that its resources were ‘not at all sufficient’. Nevertheless, Dilbert said Cayman had made great strides despite the resistance to the law.

(CNS): Efforts by government to keep secret how much was paid to performers for particular events hosted by the Department of Tourism have been thwarted by the information commissioner in her 29th decision. Jennifer Dilbert has ruled that the amount artists are paid and the total cost of promotional events paid for by the public purse are not exempt under the law and has ordered the department to disclose the fees paid to artists, which were redacted in a partial release to an FOI request.

(CNS): Updated - The Cayman Islands Airport Authority (CIAA) Board went way beyond its stipulated role as an oversight body and interfered directly in the management of the facility, according to observations made by a government watchdog. Comments in the management letter last year which accompanied the CIAA financial accounts for the year ending 2011 reveal that the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) had raised concerns, not only about the board’s interference with the management, promotion and recruitment of staff, but a requirement imposed by the board on management that it must approve all of the businesses given work at the airport, which was described by the public auditors as a conflict of interest.

(CNS): For the first time, Caribbean governments and civil society have come together to discuss access to information, public participation in governance, and access to justice at a landmark conference held in Kingston, Jamaica. Representatives from eleven Caribbean countries attended the “Regional Conference on Freedom of Information in the Caribbean: Improving Management for the Environment,” including Information Commissioner, Mrs. Jennifer Dilbert and Deputy Information Commissioner, Mr. Jan Liebaers. “Not only has Cayman passed legislation, but we have legislation that is operational and being enforced by the ICO. We have found that in many Caribbean countries, while they had the law on the books, the law was not enforced and we were able to provide guidance,” said Commissioner Dilbert.

(CNS): Candidates putting themselves forward for the May election are being invited to meet with the information commissioner to discuss the Freedom of Information Law. Jennifer Dilbert issued an open invitation to would-be politicians following public discussions in the media that, she said, demonstrate a lack of understanding of the law among some candidates. Meanwhile, the current politicians have finally completed their review of the law, which was a requirement of the original legislation. The sub-committee has made recommendations to clarify the FOI law and improve its application but has rejected calls to introduce a fee or remove the right of applicants to remain anonymous.

(CNS): The information commissioner has upheld a decision by the governor's office to keep correspondence between the Cayman government and the UK over the budget secret. In her 28th decision Jennifer Dilbert found that the records in question were exempt under the Freedom of Information law as she said she was convinced that the documents contained “candid and robust discussions” that are protected under the law in relation to free and frank exchanges between officials. Weighing her finding against the public interest, Dilbert said disclosure of the records would not necessarily promote greater understanding of the budget processes or reveal any wrongdoing.

(CNS): The governor has won the first round in his legal fight to keep details of a discredited internal police investigation secret. His office confirmed Tuesday that Justice Sir Alan Moses had stayed the release of a document that Information Commissioner Jennifer Dilbert had directed should be given to an FOI applicant. The request was for a copy of a report relating to a complaint filed by Martin Bridger (left), the lead investigator on the ill-fated operation into potential police corruption. However, the governor is fighting to keep the report under wraps and out of the public domain. As a result, his office is the first government entity to attempt to overturn one of Dilbert’s decisions through the courts.

(CNS): The Cayman Islands government was owed more than CI$16.5 million in uncollected debt at the end of 2012, a freedom of information request has revealed. The massive hole in the public purse ranges from more than $250,000 on more than 280 bad cheques to $1.7 million on 698 uncollected garbage fees. The heftiest debt of all, however, is some $12 million owed to government for overseas medical expenses. The open records request made by a CNS reader shows that during November the Treasury recovered just over $94,000 and then in December just under $83,000. However, more new debts were added worth $109,745 in November and a further $79,800 in December.

(CNS): The governor of the Cayman Islands begins his bid this week to fight an order from the Information Commissioner that his office reveal a document relating to a controversial corruption investigation into the RCIPS under the freedom of information law. Lord Justice Moses from the UK appeals court will be sitting administratively in the first hearing on Friday regarding the first ever judicial review of a decision by Jennifer Dilbert, the information commissioner. Ironically, the first challenge to an order by the commissioner after some 28 decisions has come from the UK, which has pressed for more government accountability, via Duncan Taylor’s office and not from a political ministry.

CNS): Although the information commissioner has upheld a decision by the Public Service Pensions Board to withhold some records from an applicant following a freedom of information request the commissioner has once again pointed to procedural failures by a public authority. In this case the board did not give any reasons for its decision to exempt certain documents in contravention of the law. The PSPB also missed deadlines among other issues leading to another long and protracted FOI battle for the applicant. In her 27the decision under the Freedom of Information Law issued on Monday, Jennifer Dilbert confirmed the decision of the board to withhold records from legal professionals to their clients but she ordered the disclosure of others.

(CNS): Updated 3:45pm  --Over the last twelve months that McKeeva Bush held office as premier of the Cayman Islands he spent more than $350,000 travelling overseas and, combined with information from previous years, Bush spent almost $1 million on overseas travel while in office. Despite originally refusing part of a records request made by CNS regarding the former premier’s travel expenses because of the on-going police investigation, an internal review has successfully resulted in the costs being released. In a letter to CNS the chief officer in the ministry said he had reconsidered the situation and, taking into account the fact that the documents would have been released were it not for the police investigation, the ministry forwarded the documents to CNS Monday.

(CNS): A shortage of resources, a failure of legislators to update the law, authorities taking too long to answer requests and direct contraventions of the law are some of the issues plaguing the country’s Freedom of Information (FOI) regime. Despite the best efforts by the Information Commissioner (IC), her very small staff and the public’s growing use of the freedom of information law, many public authorities are still struggling to meet the law’s requirements. In her latest quarterly report Jennifer Dilbert reveals that between 1 July and 30 September last year there was an 18% increase in requests made to public authorities.

(CNS): Close to a half million dollars was given to churches from the controversial Nation Building Fund created by the former premier and administered by his ministry, during the 2011/12 financial year. According to a document released under a freedom of information request submitted by the independent member for North Side, Ezzard Miller, 11 churches received $420,548 from the public purse for a variety of reasons. A further $1.5 million was randomly given to people and causes connected to the arts, sports and community activities across a diverse spectrum. Almost $8000 was also used for the proposed Christian heritage monument in George Town.

(CNS): In an ironic twist, the Governor’s Office has become the first public authority to turn to the courts in an effort to overturn a decision by the Cayman Islands Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and prevent the release of documents into the public domain. Governor Duncan Taylor has filed an appeal for judicial review to reverse a decision by the commisssioner, Jennifer Dilbert, that his office should release a report regarding a complaint made by the former UK cop who headed up the controversial police corruption investigation, Operation Tempura. Dilbert has completed 26 hearings since the law came into force some three years ago but no one has previously challenged any of her decisions in the courts.