Legal aid attracts top defenders, says appeal court

(CNS): The president of the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal has said that the limited legal aid rate has not deterred leading overseas attorneys from coming to Cayman to defend people accused of various crimes. President John Chadwick said the idea that people can’t be properly represented on legal aid was not true as some of the best Queen’s Counsel from the UK had appeared in the Grand Court in all sorts of cases, even murder.

Cayman Islands Courts, George Town

The appeal court boss was defending the system during a short hearing on Friday in which a woman accused of stealing over $2 million from an elderly man was attempting to challenge a court order freezing her assets, as she claimed it was preventing her from accessing legal representation and undermining her human right to a fair trial.

However, the court heard that Michelle Bouchard had not yet attempted to secure legal aid for her defence and the lawyer acting pro bono in the case before the appeal court withdrew his application in order for her to pursue the legal aid route. Bouchard, who is a Canadian national, was charged in 2013 with nine counts of theft amounting to $2.1 million, including expensive jewellery, forgery, obtaining property by deception and transferring criminal property.

Having denied the allegations, Bouchard had applied to the appeal court to overturn an order by Justice Charles Quin under the proceeds of crime law, freezing all of her assets. Bouchard is due to stand trial this summer but has been unable to pay her legal bills and her current attorney has said he will not work for legal aid.

The appeal court questioned why she had not sought legal aid and learned that Bouchard was under the impression that she was not eligible. However, the lawyer agreed that she ought to try first and withdrew his application to challenge the freeze order.

All lawyers from both Cayman and overseas who undertake legal aid work are limited to an hourly rate of $135 regardless of their skill and experience, including Queen’s Counsel. But the appeal court pointed out that this has not deterred some of the best QC’s from representing defendants. Chadwick pointed out that people charged with murder are rarely in a position to pay for their lawyers but they have still had excellent representation on the public dollar.

Despite the relatively low rate and more modest accommodation offered for overseas attorney’s – usually from the UK – it is not hard to find leading barristers to take up even some of the most difficult and challenging cases.

Chadwick said that the Bill of Rights ensures fair representation but it does not guarantee that a defendant can have a specific lawyer of their choice if they won’t work for the legal aid rate. However, he said there were plenty of others that would, as the higher court advised Bouchard to pursue a legal aid application.

The issue of frozen assets preventing defendants accessing legal representation arose in the case of Hassan Syed, who is accused of stealing around half a million dollars from the UCCI when he was president of the local college. He too was the subject of a restraint order freezing his assets and preventing him from paying legal bills.

He was initially refused legal aid after his assets were frozen but a second application was successful. Syed is due to face trial in September after his problems securing legal aid and attorneys willing to take his case forced the court to cancel a trial that had been set for March this year.