Ex Cayman prosecutor resigns from TCI top legal job
John Masters. Turks and Caicos Islands Director of Public Prosecutions
(CNS): The director of public prosecutions in the Turks and Caicos Islands has resigned in the wake of mounting controversies since he was appointed just over one year ago. John Masters, an Australian national, who was at one time a senior prosecutor in the Cayman Islands, has suddenly left both the top TCI post and the island in the wake of a decision by TCI Chief Justice Margaret Ramsey-Hale (formerly chief magistrate in Cayman) that Masters was wrong when he used a lawyer who was not called to the islands’ bar.
Masters had been accused of bringing in his friends as consultants and paying them hefty sums and was understood to be under investigation by the local Integrity Commission following complaints from staff in his office and others, according to the TCI media.
CJ Ramsay-Hale recently upheld a magistrate’s decision to refuse to hear one of the consultants to prosecute a summary court case as he was not admitted to the local Bar.
Masters challenged the magistrate’s decision in a judicial review but Ramsay-Hale said no one was allowed to practice law in TCI unless they were admitted to the Bar. “The learned magistrate was correct in refusing to hear (Stephen Hill) as he was not entitled to appear in criminal proceedings … had he been so permitted to appear, he would have been committing an offence under the LPO, aided and abetted by the learned magistrate,” she said.
Category: Caribbean, World News
CJ Hale is a Top Trump (and that is not a reference to a man further north)
Way to go CJ Ramsey – Hale. You should have still been here with us but our Governmrnt can only try to hold on to those old washout , wear out persons from across the pond whose main objective is to bring us down. CJ Ramsey-Hale is the bomb.
We need Ramsey back in Cayman.
Well. At least our courts are happy with large numbers of lawyers practicing Cayman law all around the world without being admitted. You just have to look on the firm websites to spot them.
Didn’t you know? Law firms do not have to comply with Cayman law. Hell, no one does.
Yawn. The mantra of the mediocre.
Yawn. The law of the Cayman Islands that your ilk have ignored for too long.
Learned behavior from the local community?
No. We in the community learned to ignore laws based on the example set by our lawyers.
Wonder if they gave him a years pay to leave like Baines?
Lol….he really thought he could have played the same game as he did here….you see the rules don’t apply to a lot of these over paid bullies that plant there family and friends in positions that warrants respect and top dollars. Way to go judge Ramsay. If only our politicians had your same cahaunas!! Nuff respect!
We train them here. Then we let them go because we wont give them recognition for their good work then they move on to TCI to clean up their mess – I talking about Ramsay Hale. She is the Boss! They should have never let her go! But then again, we prefer the deadbeats! Watch who else leaving Cayman heading to TCI! More to go
I’m not sure what is worse, his haircut or his suit…? All those in favour of haircut please give this comment a thumbs up. All in favour of suit, please click on the Lol button.
So they do this everywhere they go then? This we are better than you and can set the rules as we wish attitude?
Are you referring to Jamaicans?
He should get his money back from that tailor before he leaves.
We must be the garbage disposal for all countries. They send their unwanted “lawyers” “accountants” “top cops” to get them off their backs. We embrace the garbage, pay them hundreds of thousands and send them back home after their vacation…
Please don’t limit that statement to one colour or race, we can find the ‘bad ones’ here from all over.
You don’t get to be the 5th largest financial centre in the world with poor quality lawyers, auditors, accountants or insurance people. Maybe the domestic side needs a look but you also need a more balanced view
You do realize that Cayman is an imaginary financial center, and only a little money is actually located in Cayman, much less controlled here. You an tell by the small number of lawyers and accountants, a few thousand at best, most of whom are acting under orders from somewhere in the real world.
@1:18am – Your first statement is falacious. Without customers and clients, you won’t be anything. Besides, there are lots of poor quality foreign lawyers, accountants and insurance people here and that hasn’t caused business to run away either, has it?
As long as that idiot doesn’t come back here!
Yup. Cayman doesn’t need to recruit anymore defective “Elites” and/or so-called “Professionals”. These Islands already have enough [of them] residing here, that need to be transplanted elsewhere.
They take responsibility for nothing