Shortage of criminal defence lawyers still delaying justice
(CNS): While the state of the court buildings, inclement weather, and a shortage of rooms and judges are still impacting the court clearance rates, Chief Justice Margaret Ramsay-Hale said a paucity of defence attorneys slowed down the clear-up rate of cases in the criminal division of the Grand Court last year.
As she delivered her annual address at the opening of the Grand Court on Wednesday, the CJ spoke about some of the challenges this causes, as she explained how the criminal division was only able to clear 79% of the cases before it this year.
The chief justice said that the courts were facing challenges because there were so few criminal defence practitioners relative to the cases before the court. Illustrating this point, a record 513 applications were made to the courts last year for legal aid to finance defence attorneys, the vast majority relating to criminal cases.
There were 139 indictments filed with the Grand Court in 2024, ranging from a bank burglary to murder, including the Cayman Islands’ first people trafficking case.
The long-running case relating to an audacious break-in at the Royal Bank of Canada was also tried last year. The trial took up some three months of Grand Court time and diverted four defence lawyers — a significant number of the defence bar who do regular legal aid work and were unable to help other defendants, fuelling the delay of justice in other cases in both the summary and grand courts.
“The RBC robbery case was in the system for eight years,” the chief justice said. “It took eight years to come to trial and three and a half months to be disposed of. Four of our most senior criminal lawyers… appeared in that matter.
“And what that meant was that for three and a half months, those lawyers were unavailable to assist in any matter in the high court or any matter in the summary court. So instantly, you can see how a backlog or inability to deal with all the cases before the court can arise,” she added.
This has been a long-standing problem for the Cayman Islands. Although there are around 700 practising private attorneys in this jurisdiction, most work in the far more lucrative financial services sector or general civil work. Experienced criminal defence attorneys willing to do legal aid work remain thin on the ground even though the criminal courts are probably now the busiest of all the divisions.
The courts also saw a higher caseload last year than in previous years, which included 23 people who have all been charged individually in the same corruption case and have yet to go to trial. Without that case, the court would have cleared 93% of the indictments it tackled last year — even with the issues hampering the process of justice, such as a number of court closures because of weather warnings in relation to hurricanes that didn’t happen, and the problems with attorneys.
Alongside the insufficient number of defence attorneys, the chief justices spoke in detail about a number of other issues that the court has and will continue to contend with in 2025.
She spoke of the pressing need to provide access to all court facilities for people with disabilities and the plans to move the courts into the digital age. She also accepted and apologised for the mismanagement of the rollout of the new website for the courts, which has since been resolved.
Chief Justice Ramsey Hale also spoke about the need for couples seeking a divorce to utilize the arbitration service to reduce the conflict in these “wars of the roses” for the sake of the children involved. She raised concerns that too many parties are simply refusing to accept the rulings of the court and are seeking to litigate issues that have been resolved over and over again.
Another area of significant concern for the chief justice was that the courts had “no visibility” on how those suffering from mental health problems in the criminal justice system are to be treated. In the report from the chief magistrate, the senior summary court judge had said there was a “lack of long-term direction” regarding those who come into conflict with the law with mental illness.
She said it should be self-evident that these defendants should not be placed in prison. But as they will not be housed in the new mental health facility in East End and with no long-term care solution for them, the prison will be the only place of safety to remand people who should be treated and not punished.
As she wrapped up her address, CJ Ramsey-Hale explained why no progress had been made on her proposal last year to introduce district courts. She said that exploratory missions to the various districts revealed that there are not enough suitable public buildings that could be used as summary court sites.
She suggested to the politicians in attendance that, alongside a much-needed increase in the legal aid budget, they might want to look at acquiring more district buildings for public use.
See the full proceedings on CIGTV’s YouTube channel below:
- Fascinated
- Happy
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- Bored
- Afraid
I have a friend who is a criminal defense lawyer and he said getting paid is nearly impossible, if it is from the crown or the individual. Why would you want to do it. He is working on winding up and doing something else because of it. Your system sucks. Fix it.
The person posting below about the human rights argument for representation has stumbled across the root problem: there’s no incentive for any lawyers to do the job.
Expat criminal lawyers won’t find Cayman attractive because the criminal work is generally too low level to make a decent living.
Caymanian lawyers are far too interested in pursuing the big bucks at commercial law firms to lower themselves to criminal law.
And it hasn’t occurred to the government to impose a requirement to work in criminal law as a condition of university/law school sponsorship, so there’s no financial carrot for any Caymanian to do the work.
Unless the government imposes a requirement to work in criminal law for, e.g. 10 years, as suggested below, the money spent on paying for people’s qualifications only serves to help those sponsored themselves – it doesn’t help address the fact that victims are suffering due to delayed trials (I don’t care about the criminals themselves).
A task for the new government, perhaps?
Chief Justice Ramsay-Hale’s account of our chronic shortage of criminal defence lawyers vividly illustrates how a single major case—like the RBC robbery trial, which tied up four senior counsel for three months—can paralyse justice for dozens of other defendants – and, more importantly, victims of crime. This shortage is not new: around 700 attorneys work in Cayman, yet most choose more lucrative civil or financial services work, leaving criminal defence under-resourced.
The ECHR extends to the Cayman Islands via the UK’s treaty obligations, but is not directly enforceable here. Instead, Part I of the Cayman Islands Constitution Order 2009 (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2009/1379) gives effect to ECHR principles. Local courts interpret these provisions in line with European jurisprudence, but litigants invoke the Constitution rather than the Convention. Thus, the Bill of Rights mirrors ECHR standards within a distinct local legal framework. Article 7(2)(d) of the Bill of Rights, Freedoms and Responsibilities, in the Cayman Constitution largely mirrors Article 6(3)(c) of the ECHR. The former reads: “Everyone charged with a criminal offence has the following minimum rights […] to defend himself or herself in person or through legal assistance of his or her own choosing or, if he or she has not sufficient means to pay for legal assistance and the interests of justice so require, through a legal representative at public expense provided through an established public legal aid scheme as prescribed by law”.
European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) Guidance*
Under Quaranta v Switzerland (1991) and Benham v United Kingdom (1996), publicly funded counsel is required where imprisonment is possible and the “interests of justice” demand qualified advocacy. The lawyer’s assistance must be effective (Artico v Italy, 1980), not merely token, so governments cannot cut corners by appointing underqualified representatives for serious cases. Salduz v Turkey (2008) further underscores the need for counsel at crucial early stages, while Kamasinski v Austria (1989) clarifies that fairness requires meaningful—not illusory—defence rights.
An Affordable Public Defenders’ Office
The most cost-effective way to ensure genuine defence representation is to establish a dedicated Criminal Defence Service / Public Defenders’ Office, recruiting and training counsel whose workload is focused on legal aid cases. Such a scheme would guarantee an adequate number of competent lawyers, streamline case scheduling, and keep overall budgets in check.
Lessons from Singapore
A parallel approach exists in Singapore, which also struggles to attract enough lawyers into criminal and family practice. At the Singapore University of Social Sciences, there is a subsidised law degree specifically aimed at producing practitioners for under-served areas. As they explain:
“Singapore University of Social Sciences is the only university in Singapore dedicated to working adults, allowing them to pursue lifelong learning and higher education while balancing career, family and social responsibilities. The primary focus of the University School of Law is to train and produce lawyers for the practice of law in Singapore particularly in the areas of Criminal Law and Family Law. This is part of the national effort to meet the need for lawyers in the areas of Criminal Law and Family Law. Currently, there is a gap in the supply in terms of well-trained lawyers for these areas of law. Traditionally, lawyers tend to gravitate to the commercial areas of law thus leaving a gap in Criminal Law and Family Law areas. From the perspective of our society, this is a concern we need to address. Singapore University of Social Sciences School of Law seeks to address this shortfall.” https://www.suss.edu.sg/programmes/detail/bachelor-of-laws-lawllb
If Cayman is to develop dedicated criminal lawyers, we should do the following:
1. Establish a Criminal Defence Service / Public Defenders’ Office.
2. Create a subsidised qualification path akin to Singapore’s, whereby would-be lawyers benefit from funding in exchange for a commitment to practise in criminal defence. The catch is that Cayman already provides free tertiary education for Caymanians, removing the financial pressure that might otherwise encourage them to give back through, say, a 10-year post-qualification stint in publicly funded defence. Accordingly, any new subsidy scheme may have to replace the current free-education route for those who opt for legal training, ensuring that recipients are contractually bound to serve in the newly-established Criminal Defence Service / Public Defenders’ Office.
A structured, minimal-cost public defender model — staffed by a specifically trained cadre of local lawyers — would ensure that even major trials do not starve other defendants of prompt hearings, and victims of justice. It would uphold Cayman’s constitutional obligations, respect ECtHR jurisprudence, and ultimately deliver a far more efficient and equitable criminal justice system.
* Case law:
– Quaranta v Switzerland, 21 February 1991, Series A no. 205, (1991) 16 EHRR 485: The “interests of justice” require free legal assistance based on factors such as seriousness of the offence and complexity of the case.
– Benham v United Kingdom, 10 June 1996, Reports 1996-III, (1996) 22 EHRR 293: Emphasises that where a custodial sentence is possible, legal aid should be granted.
– Artico v Italy, 13 May 1980, Series A no. 37, (1981) 3 EHRR 1: Merely appointing counsel is insufficient; assistance must be effective, not just formal.
– Salduz v Turkey, 27 November 2008 (GC), (2009) 49 EHRR 19: Requires counsel from the initial stages of police interrogation where deprivation of liberty is possible.
– Kamasinski v Austria, 19 December 1989, Series A no. 168, (1991) 13 EHRR 36: Clarifies the obligation for meaningful, not merely nominal, defence.
Its easily solved. though not in isolation. There’s also a shortage of Court professionals and time – nothing to stop Criminal Cts going 24/7 btw if you staff them, RCIPS, etc. Increase the # of magistrates as they can try a lot of basic criminal offences.
So True, Judge.
Robbers are like the Grinch, and Child Rapists like Dennls the Menace are walking around and working in people homes unknowingly.
Why? Because they been out on bail so long, even for over a year.
Then they buy out or runoff and intimidate victims and witnesses!
No justice here for the innocent victims, who are daughters and sons of someone.
Sounds like the Cayman Islands’ court system is stuck in an eternal game of legal musical chairs; except no one’s getting up, and the chairs are all broken. Maybe adding a few more lawyers or some buildings could help, but hey, who needs progress when you’ve got a backlog this “efficient”?
Can we stop with the wigs already? They look goofy and should probably be deloused.
Agreed. It’s as if some attorneys have a weird sexual fetish – or, dare I suggest, they derive a sense of superiority by indulging in 18th Century Live Action Role Play.
(Said as a commercial attorney who thinks it’s absurd!)
Commercial ‘attorney’.
Fair! 😂
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Or, expressed the other way, the glut of local criminals needing legal council, has outstripped the talent available to defend them on a timely basis.
It’s pretty well defined in the post, just how a small number of counsel being held up has compounded the issue.
Or you could go out of your way to make the story match your bias.
The situation described in the Chief Justice’s address highlights a critical gap in the Cayman Islands’ criminal defence provision.
A potential solution worth considering is the model previously employed in Jersey, where all commercial law firms were required to undertake criminal defence work. This approach addressed resource shortages while ensuring legal representation for those in need.
Adopting a similar system in Cayman could:
– Bridge the defence gap: By distributing the workload, it would reduce delays and improve justice outcomes.
– Develop junior attorneys: Advocacy in criminal cases would provide invaluable courtroom experience to junior lawyers, enhancing their skillsets.
This would require careful planning, such as balancing workloads and respecting commercial firms’ commitments, but it could ensure better access to justice and strengthen the legal community. Such a move could turn a current challenge into an opportunity for systemic improvement.
When you pay KCs and senior defence lawyers in criminal cases less than half what paralegals get in civil cases what do you think is going to happen?
The government needs to fund legal aid properly.
For a long time the system operated on good will. Then it was ‘pay peanuts get monkeys’. Now you can’t even get the monkeys.
But as we know – there’s no votes in properly funding the criminal justice system…
People aren’t paid according to an objective audit of the skills required for the job, much less for the ‘moral value’ of the job. They’re paid as little as the market will bear. This is why attorneys in commercial law firms are paid high salaries: if you don’t pay them that, they will go to another firm (or to another jurisdiction) which will.
Legal aid lawyers are – with the greatest of respect – “social workers with a wig”. Legal aid is a form of redistribution FROM people who earned their money and have it seized in taxation TO people who commit crime. Vanishingly few defendants are innocent. A small fraction of society commits a significant share of recorded crimes. For example, the Philadelphia Birth Cohort study (Wolfgang, Figlio & Sellin, 1972) revealed that about 6% of all boys born in 1945 were responsible for over half of their cohort’s juvenile offences. Likewise, the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (Farrington) found that around 5–10% of participants accounted for most recorded convictions. Crucially, these figures refer to the entire population studied, not merely the pool of known offenders, which makes the truly “chronic” group even smaller. Official statistics from bodies such as the UK Home Office and the US Bureau of Justice Statistics confirm that most people never commit serious crime, highlighting that repeat offenders form a tiny subset but drive a large proportion of overall criminal activity.
The majority of taxpayers (and we *do* pay tax in Cayman, it’s just indirect) don’t want to subsidise criminals. People must live or die within their means. If you can’t afford it, you don’t deserve it. That includes accommodation, healthcare and legal representation. Long term, the future for unproductive, i.e. low income, defendants appears to be a state-funded centrally-run criminal defence service, like US public defenders.
I would argue for self-representation, except: (a) it’s potentially/probably more expensive, because dealing with litigants in person is excruciatingly painful and squanders court time; and (b) there is a dull but unavoidable ‘human rights’ argument for publicly-funded legal representation.
is there a difference between a shortage of defense lawyers and a surplus of alleged criminals?
Those names on the Court Lists could be dealt with according to the countries they are from, thereby freeing up space for the court to deal with local criminals.
our incompetent dpp has a lot to answer for with wasted court resources
100%!! They pursue cases where the defendant is clearly innocent, and they pursue cases where they should know they have insufficient evidence. The DPP is full of morons!! They waste so much time and resources on nonsense!
can we look at shutting down the DDP ? The Office of the Ombudsman is another entity we could get rid as the reports they make go ignored by government 95% of the time.
waffle and excuses…weather and shortage of accomodation???…nonsense.
just get on with your job
There are Caymanians graduating at the law school with all of the necessary academic qualifications but who are not offered articles of clerkship by a local firm. Without completing articles of clerkship, they will be unable to qualify as attorneys.
It would be great to see the courts put together a program for them to qualify as criminal defence attorneys. It would be a win-win for the graduates and for the country.
10:13 am It will not work for Caymanians. They are discriminated against in the workplace.
Evidence? Examples? Where are these legions of unemployed Caymanian attorneys?
Or…
Are you making it all up, and in fact every law firm in Cayman is gagging to employ Caymanians, as part of the ‘tax’ they pay to WORC to be allowed to operate here?
There are definitely unemployed Caymanian lawyers. I can think of two offhand.
Interesting. Why aren’t they working as criminal defence attorneys then, if there’s such a shortage?
Genuine question – I’m not being snarky!
No training or opportunity available. No one is enforcing the immigration law or the standards expected of any officer or the court to uphold and protect access to justice and the rule of law.
Wow, so possibly the bottom of the barrel candidates (someone has to score last…) are unemployed? And before you critique this fact – there are poor doctors, poor plumbers, poor accountants, etc. All who had to pass qualifications, but are still not very good. Lawyers need to be held to the same possibilities.
Examples are many and include some very (potentially) capable Caymanians. They include:
Theresa Pitcairn
Winston Conolly
Anna Goubault
Steve McField
Sandra Hill …
Interesting. Why aren’t they working as criminal defence lawyers?
Apparently, according to the article, the demand is there.
Quite an interesting article about how AI can affect the integrity of the legal field professionals.
South African court orders probe into law firm’s use of AI
A judge at the Pietermaritzburg High Court says a case cited by lawyers representing a local politician did not exist in the country’s legal records
https://www.rt.com/africa/610683-south-african-court-investigates-law-firm-ai-citation/
Hmmm… not sure I’d want a graduate of the Cayman Islands Law School defending me in a criminal case (in which I’d no doubt be “not guilty”) if there were other alternatives. I would imagine the big firms have the same apprehensions, and there is a matter of reputation at stake, which might address
your point about graduates of that law school not being offered articles as criminal defense lawyers. Plus, as others have pointed out, there’s so much more money to be made in other disciplines of the legal profession.
Ignorance, A degree from TBLS is the same as any QLD in the UK. It operates in conjunction with the University of Liverpool. Which is part of the Russel Group of universities which includes, you guessed it, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Imperial College London etc. So, to depreciate the quality of TBLS means you are disparaging all legal education in the Common Law realm. As a degree from TBLS is recognized as qualifying law degree by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority. Would you scrutinize the legal education and training of your “alternative” in the same way? Best you don’t commit a crime because you are obviously unaware of Judicial nuances and bias!
Que??!!
TBLS = Truman Bodden Law School, and QLD = Qualifying Law Degree.
If this chap is an unemployed attorney, his abysmal drafting skills are no doubt the reason why!
Assertion: “A degree from [Truman Bodden Law School] is the same as any [Qualifying Law Degree] in the UK”
Clients get to decide which lawyers they instruct. See https://caymannewsservice.com/2024/10/the-de-caymanization-of-cayman/comment-page-2/#comment-659978
Law degrees differ significantly in value, and that determines who law firms are willing to employ:
1. Reputation and ranking: Universities like Oxford, Cambridge and Hull have prestigious law faculties, known for producing top-tier legal professionals.* Their alumni networks and academic rigour enhance graduate employability.
2. Quality of teaching: Institutions vary in the calibre and expertise of their faculty. Top universities often employ leading academics and practitioners, providing a richer educational experience.
3. Curriculum and specialisations: Some universities offer unique modules or specialisations (e.g., in commercial or insolvency law), which can align better with specific career paths or industry demands, such as financial services in Cayman.
4. Industry connections: Established links with law firms, barristers’ chambers, and other legal sectors provide better internship and job opportunities. Universities with strong industry ties can significantly boost graduates’ career trajectory.
5. Location: Being in or near legal hubs like London offer major practical advantages, including access to more legal events, networking opportunities, and direct interaction with the profession.
6. Resources and facilities: Access to extensive libraries, legal databases, and support for mooting or pro bono work can enhance learning and practical skills.
7. Employment outcomes: Data on graduate destinations show stark contrasts; top-ranked universities typically have higher employment rates in prestigious firms or judicial roles.
8. Student quality. The calibre of law graduates inevitably mirrors the quality of the student intake. A law school in London benefits from a larger pool of top talent, while one on the tiny island of Benbecula would not, leading to the simple truth: garbage in = garbage out. The Benbecula Law School would be doomed.
Thus, the institution’s prestige, resources, connections, and specific educational offerings directly influence the value of its law degree.
* See also Blackadder, Season 4, Episode 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKuHYO9TM5A.
Getting legal jobs is extremely difficult, and applicant quality varies massively. The quality of the law degree is therefore an important factor in employment decisions. As a comment under this article: https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/poorer-junior-lawyers-being-forced-to-choose-city-says-top-labour-lawyer/5109936.article warned:
“This article doesn’t acknowledge just how hard it is to get a training contract at one of the magic circle firms or indeed anywhere that might provide help towards the cost of the time spent doing professional exams. Three friends of my early 20s daughter are aspiring solicitors with very good to excellent degrees from three different Russell Group universities. Each would interview well and each has funded a year’s conversion course. Despite many time-consuming applications, none have secured a vacation scheme place, let alone a training contract. One is now working as a paralegal and one in legal recruitment to earn money for the LPC.”
Another following comment noted:
“I was once the Training Principal at a City firm (not a household name) and there were about 100 applications for every single trainee place. Probably 80-90 of that 100 had ‘very good to excellent degrees from’ Russell Group unis. Of course all were applying elsewhere too, but the sheer volume meant the basic level of excellence you cite wasn’t enough on its own to lead to an interview. I’m sure it is the same at most magic circle firms, and at most (if not all) firms providing help towards the cost of qualification.”
See also the related discussion at Roll on Friday, here: https://www.rollonfriday.com/discussion/when-do-you-tell-aspiring-solicitors-pack-it
see these 2010 articles (including the comments), warning how brutally competitive it is: https://www.theguardian.com/law/2010/jul/13/legal-training-law-students and https://www.theguardian.com/law/2010/may/28/when-exploitation-acceptable
One of the comments under the last of those bears repetition:
“I wouldn’t bother wasting your time trying to become a solicitor, unless you have perfect grades and / or Oxbridge behind you, it’s just too hard to get in. Admittedly, I’m totally biased. I got decent A-levels, received a 2.1 from a red brick university, then went on to get the GDL and LPC. I had wrongly assumed passing these with a 2.1 equivalent would stand me in good stead. Hundreds of applications later, I’m stuck as a dead-end paralegal for a big firm. I intend to quit the legal profession and switch to a career where hard work is actually rewarded and there is a more settled career progression. Don’t think just because you’ve passed your law exams you’ll succeed. There are about 8000 LPC graduates, and only something like 2-3000 training contracts going around. The problem is compounded each year as more grads flood the market. For example, I recently applied to a high street firm in Brighton with a hand written letter, normally a bar to many applicants who can’t be arsed actually writing in ‘manuscript’. The firm received 150 applications for one job – and that was for a 16K job after a minimum of 4 years HE studying. The Law Society is a disgrace for allowing BPP and the College of Law to train up law grads, only to see their aspirations crushed along with crippling debts compounded on top of student debts when they can’t get a training contract.”
The Junior Lawyers’ Division surveyed failed LPC graduates in 2010, asking, “Would you have taken the LPC if you’d known how few training contracts there are?” Over 1,000 people responded, 72% of whom said “NO”. The 20+ pages of responses are a warning which should be read here:
https://web.archive.org/web/20120803042324/http://juniorlawyers.lawsociety.org.uk/node/1213/results
E.g.
“Nobody should assume that a qualification equals a job”
“I shudder as I read through these stories! The law is NOT a good career choice”
“Despite all the warnings and all the information available to students they just keep on coming and keep on paying the fees for the LPC – nothing has put them off.”
See also this 2011 article, and comments underneath:
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2011/jun/21/legal-profession-aptitude-test-surplus, such as:
“My degree was a 2:1 from Durham University and I got a distinction on the LPC in 2004. […] However, I have not got a training contract despite years of trying. I am still interested in law and I work for a law firm, but I am paid barely more than the minimum wage. […] the problem is actually that there are already too many people passing as compared with the training contracts available.”
So said from a possible TBLS ‘graduate’ that has the time to troll social media. Yup, you’re the lawyer for me (not).
Why is this happening?
Ordinarily, I would assume that if local firms are not offering clerkships, that’s because there’s demand for criminal defence attorneys. The article itself however says that there is such a demand.
What therefore is the commercial failure which is resulting in clerkships not being offered?
I second this question. It is particularly strange, because most criminal law firms appear to be owned by Caymanians, so presumably they would be the first to employ fellow Caymanians?
Why are people down voting this?
People granted status or people who had no option but to set up by themselves given the refusal of almost any law firm to meet its social and professional obligations
“…the refusal of almost any law firm to meet its social and professional obligations”
There are lots of Caymanians in law firms. Are you seriously suggesting that they should be obliged to hire anyone, regardless of quality?
You do realise that just getting a law degree isn’t enough? Perhaps you don’t appreciate that. The situation is the same in First World countries, too. See the examples that someone helpfully posted above from the UK, e.g.
“The Junior Lawyers’ Division surveyed failed LPC graduates in 2010, asking, “Would you have taken the LPC if you’d known how few training contracts there are?” Over 1,000 people responded, 72% of whom said “NO”. The 20+ pages of responses are a warning which should be read here:
https://web.archive.org/web/20120803042324/http://juniorlawyers.lawsociety.org.uk/node/1213/results
E.g.
“Nobody should assume that a qualification equals a job”
“I shudder as I read through these stories! The law is NOT a good career choice”
“Despite all the warnings and all the information available to students they just keep on coming and keep on paying the fees for the LPC – nothing has put them off.””
What obligations? To hire anyone and everyone, regardless of ability?
People aren’t guaranteed jobs. The sense of entitlement is remarkable. It’s not just Cayman, some idiots in the UK are just as bad: https://www.legalcheek.com/2025/01/law-graduate-rejected-for-a-paralegal-role-vents-frustration-on-linkedin/
Businesses are not welfare schemes for the unemployable (that’s what the World Class Civil Service™, AKA ‘alternative NAU’ is for).
Businesses WILL hire Caymanians who are suitably qualified and experienced, because they don’t need to pay for work permits. If a Caymanian is applying for a job and is not being hired, they lack the qualifications and/or experience. Businesses won’t pay work permit fees if they don’t have to. It may feel cathartic to contrive conspiracy theories, but it’s both nonsensical and counterproductive.
Once again the focus is on the consequences, not the causes of the high crime rates.
Everything is backwards in Cayman.
Having said that, does any public official in Cayman pay attention to what is happening in LA,CA? You Think that kind of scenario is impossible in Cayman? Think again. The Dump’s destructive, yet hidden power, can deliver just that. Google the dump explosion in Mexico or Lahaina Maui fire.
Cayman is 100% not ready for a major fire. No plans whatsoever where and how to evacuate people. I am not even talking about fighting a major fire- it is practically impossible.
Lastly, the latest sign of insanity is the proposal to build an apartment complex near the fuel depot. Any sane government would want to clear as much land as they can ( and possible) around that dangerous spot, not to build more literally hundreds feet away.
Has everyone forgotten July 2017 fire?
https://caymannewsservice.com/2017/07/dangerous-fuel-tank-fire-posed-major-challenge/
https://www.caymancompass.com/2017/07/24/firefighters-tackle-tank-blaze-at-fuel-terminal-for-eight-hours/
RE: CA fires. Yep, dry hydrants, underfunded training programs, and outdated equipment hampering firefighting efforts. Oh, and focus on DEI.
What are the factors that fuel high crime rates? Is it Socioeconomic factors? Social dynamics? Demographic issues? In other words: High poverty rates, unemployment, and lack of opportunities? Gang presence, social isolation, and lack of community cohesion?
Jamaicans.
>80% of the Cause Lists are local Caymanians doing wrong, and in fact most with the surnames we associate with ancestral Caymanians.
4:13pm. If the Cause List was used by Immigration/WORC the numbers could be reduced significantly. Any infraction by work permit holders, should deem them undesirables.
Not true.
Factors that fuel crime. Importing criminals from overseas and allowing them to drop anchor. They commit crimes and the system gives them free time to continue their criminal activities.
Permit holders should be dealt with expeditiously and sent to their homeland. Why allow them to stay and destroy our islands? Start the process of rescinding work permits for criminality.
Addiction.
6 key reasons why crime is increasing:
– Criminal justice policies. Criminals act based on the certainty and severity of punishment. In other words, they do what they can get away with. Rehabilitation is a fantasy. The root cause of crime is leniency. Western policies incentivise ever-rising crime.
– Redistribution doesn’t work. Within the rigid straitjacket of what is considered politically acceptable, all proposed solutions to crime amount to higher taxes on the law-abiding, to subsidise criminals. It doesn’t work because it’s not about money.
– Taking the UK as an example, there has been a 12-fold increase in crime since 1941 and an even greater increase in crimes of violence. This compares to a 10-fold reduction in the period 1500-1750. The changes directly reflect the criminal justice policies used during the respective periods.*
– Dysfunctional groups within society are growing. There is incontrovertible evidence that children in fractured family units tend to die earlier, suffer more ill health, do less well at school, be more likely to be unemployed, more prone to criminal behaviour, and to repeat as adults the same cycle of unstable parenting. Approximately 1% of men cause 60%+ of violent crime.
– Immigration controls. Economic migrants from failing countries bring dysfunctional cultures with them.
– Wishful thinking. Left-wing ideas sound far more attractive than right-wing ideas, and those espousing the former are rarely those suffering the consequences (e.g. rich journalists and politicians, in de facto gated communities), so the Overton window has moved far to the left. (This is true in almost all policy areas, not just crime.)
* See, inter alia:
“Men commit evil within the scope available to them. […] most evildoers merely make the most of their opportunities. They do what they can get away with. […] I have met at least 5,000 perpetrators […] violence [and] 5,000 victims of it: nearly 1 percent of the population of my city—or a higher percentage, if one considers the age-specificity of the behavior. And when you take the life histories of these people, as I have, you soon realize that their existence is as saturated with arbitrary violence as that of the inhabitants of many a dictatorship. Instead of one dictator, though, there are thousands, each the absolute ruler of his own little sphere, his power circumscribed by the proximity of another such as he.”
The Frivolity of Evil, Theodore Dalrymple, Autumn 2004, https://www.city-journal.org/html/frivolity-evil-12835.html
From 1500-1750, execution was used to remove violent men from the gene pool: “At the beginning of [1500]… the English homicide rate was about 20 to 40 per year per 100,000 people. At the end [1750], it was about 2 to 4 per 100,000, i.e., a 10-fold reduction (Eisner, 2001). …This leftward is partly explained by the high execution rate between 1500 and 1750, during which 0.5-1% of all men were removed from each generation through court-ordered executions and a comparable proportion through extrajudicial executions, i.e., offenders killed at the crime scenes or in prison while awaiting trial. The total execution rate was thus somewhere between 1-2%. These men were permanently removed from the population, as was the heritable component of their propensity for homicide.”
Frost, P.; Harpending, H. C. (2015). Western Europe, State Formation, and Genetic Pacification. Evolutionary Psychology, 13(1), 13/1/147470491501300114–. doi:10.1177/147470491501300114, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/147470491501300114
Criminals act based on the certainty and severity of punishment. That’s it. That’s what the well-meaning, soft-of-heart-and-soft-of-head refuse to admit, because it goes against all of their — there is no nice way to say this — deluded liberal fantasies that are utterly untethered from reality.
By contrast, Singapore’s crime rate is so low that many shops don’t even lock up.* How do they do it? Effective policing and pervasive CCTV to ensure certainty of arrest, and most importantly: corporal punishment for minor offences, and capital punishment for serious offences, to ensure severity of punishment.
As Thomas Sowell notes: “Whatever you may think about the death penalty, it has the lowest recidivism rate of any of the ways of fighting crime.” Thomas Sowell, Controversial Essays (Hoover Institution Press Publication).
We are told by our ‘betters’ in the UK, and those who support them in Cayman, however, that is apparently more “enlightened” to sacrifice vulnerable victims of crime to feral predators who in Singapore would simply be put down. I know which system I prefer.
* https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/16/singapores-crime-rate-is-so-low-that-many-shops-dont-even-lock-up.html
CNS: It doesn’t matter what you or I believe, the Cayman Islands would have to go independent to bring back capital punishment, which is not just about the prevailing principles in the UK, but the whole of Europe. In the meantime, comparing apples with apples…
Murder Rate of Death Penalty States Compared to Non-Death Penalty States
“The murder rate in non-death penalty states has remained consistently lower than the rate in states with the death penalty, and the gap has grown since 1990.”
And read this: What We Can Learn From Norway’s Prison System: Rehabilitation & Recidivism
Thanks for the rebuttal CNS.
CNS, you’re absolutely correct that neither corporal nor capital punishment is feasible in the Cayman Islands under current UK and European legal norms, including the constraints of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). However, the argument against the efficacy of capital punishment warrants scrutiny.
First, the oft-cited comparison of murder rates between death penalty and non-death penalty states in the US is misleading. Correlation does not equal causation; states without the death penalty usually have other systemic advantages, such as lower single parenthood rates or lower immigration from third world countries, which contribute to lower crime rates. This makes it simplistic to claim that abolishing the death penalty leads to lower murder rates.
Singapore’s success, as I highlighted, stems from certainty of punishment, not solely its severity. High conviction rates, pervasive surveillance, and minimal tolerance for disorder deter crime before it escalates. Norway, by contrast, excels in rehabilitation but operates in a completely different cultural and social framework. Neither model directly transfers to Cayman’s unique context.
Instead of debating extremes, we should focus on swift, certain, and proportional consequences for offenders—methods that are realistic, permissible, and effective within Cayman’s constraints.
Thanks for your unique insights, CNS.
Whilst I am against the death penalty (based on human rights) and, moreover, would need to double check to be sure, ultimately, (if I’m not mistaken) I believe that there might still (technically) be a residual ability allowing for the death penalty for both treason and espionage (although I’m not sure if that might have changed since I last looked into it and, even if that be the case, doubt that the death penalty would be used).
CNS: You’re right that capital punishment was technically legal in some territories for treason and piracy until quite recently, but it is now abolished for all crimes in all OTs. I think the last holdout was Turks and Caicos, which abolished the death penalty for these crimes in 2002. Treason has not been a capital offence in the UK since 1998 and espionage since 1981.
The last capital punishment actually carried out in any OT was in Bermuda in 1977, I believe.
It is perplexing why such a relatively small community experiences a disproportionately high crime rate, smaller population usually correlates with lower crime rates.
High crime rates can be associated with work permits.
Caymanians are more outnumbered now than we have ever been. As our population has skyrocketed, so has the amount of crime (violent or otherwise), motor vehicle accidents, drug-induced deaths, etc etc.
People like to pretend that pointing that out is xenophobic, but it is simply reality.
If we could only reduce crime, that would help somewhat!
Yes, I know it’s ridiculous, but it’s very sad to see the absolute state of some of the crimes people are accused of, from both foreign shores and plenty of imported scum.
Deportation processes need to be tightened up, wherever possible, but hell, do we need some better solutions than keystone cops rounding up suspects only to see it take months and years for cases to be dealt with.
Apologies…imported, should read local.
Can’t it be both?
There is no justice to be found in the so-called justice system. The system is not concerned with facts and what is right or wrong. Instead, the system simply has these outdated processes that it simply wants to complete without any regard to actual justice. The magistrates and judges do try to move things forward as quickly as possible, however, the system is build on inefficiency, delays and a lack of required focus and attention.
Who needs criminal defense attorneys when the judges sentence convicted felons to marshmallows and cookies?
This is a stupid, fatuous and factually incorrect statement.
Hey genius. It’s obviously light hearted commentary regarding the ridiculously lenient sentencing the judges practice. So lighten up Francis.
Unfair. Judges’ hands are tied by both the legislature here, and the UK/ECHR’s ideas about what constitutes effective deterrence and punishment.
If you want effectively sentencing, and resulting low crime, move to Singapore or Dubai.
Remember when our offenders were sent to Jamaica..?
They were all scared of being sentenced, Prison then was a real deterrent , now it’s almost an invitation.
I’m not sure who is downvoting this, and why?
I’m defending the judges: they simply haven’t been given the power to do more than they do. Whether you agree with Singapore or Dubai’s policies or not (I do, but recognise that views differ), it is unquestionable that they are effective.
I’m not even advocating that Cayman should adopt more brutal punishment. The narrow point of my comment was to defend the judges. It is most unfair to criticise judges, because (a) they are unable to defend themselves; and, most importantly (b) the criticism is factually incorrect.
Even the police agree that soft sentences spent in our “Prison” is no deterrent.
Just wait until govt has bankrupted the country with the new $200Million resort , criminals will be fighting to get in there.
Crime without painful consequences = recividism.
Well, that’s what you get when you don’t apply your own laws as to the training and development of talent and allow the dollar to determine right from wrong. Justice in Cayman is now only available on the same basis as a suite at the Ritz. Only $100K a week. It is unconscionable. Quick. Let’s import some more foreign lawyers to fill the void!
We need some more foreign cops, and administrators, and prosecutors too! And some more cabinet status grants – before someone alleges that our entire legal system has become dominated by foreigners who too often impose their standards (or lack of them) on us all.
That suite at the Ritz is nice though.
This is totally incorrect. There are plenty of newly qualified Caymanian lawyers and Caymanian lawyers being trained, but why would they choose a career in criminal defence for poorly paid legal aid rates, when they can work in a practice area that pays well? If you spent 7 years qualifying for a job and you were offered the two, what would you choose?
It is the same all over the world when legal aid rates do not keep up with the private sector, you get a drain of talent to where they can be better compensated for their skills.
Rubbish. Any Caymanian who has the aptitude and inclination is able to pursue a law degree. Law firms here then bend over backwards to employ them, to keep WORC happy.
The real problem is that criminal law is a grim practice area, almost entirely unconnected to financial services work which most lawyers here do.
BULLSHIT. Just ask the Caymanian Bar Association which was lobbying hard to address this situation. Oh but wait, you cannot. It was disbanded and replaced by CILPA which appears to have done NOTHING to promote the local bar or local practice.
Your use of capital letters does not constitute a robust, logical evidence-based argument. If you do have any actual arguments, please feel free to articulate them here.
Despite living here over a decade, I have yet to hear any credible arguments that Caymanian attorneys are discriminated against.
If you do attempt to argue otherwise, please remember the clients get to decide which lawyers they instruct. Before answering therefore please read: https://caymannewsservice.com/2024/10/the-de-caymanization-of-cayman/comment-page-2/#comment-659978
What exactly was the Caymanian Bar Association “lobbying hard to do”?
If there is a problem (which I doubt), and there are solutions to that “problem”, why hasn’t CIG implemented those so-called solutions?
Cayman is run by Caymanians:
– Caymanian voters;
– Caymanian MLAs;
– Caymanian WORC employees.
They decide who gets employed here.
Cayman is run by Jamaicans, funded by Canadians, and enabled by Brits.
Ha ha, perhaps true, but it still doesn’t explain what the conspiracy theorist above is whinging about!
We need to do exactly that, thanks to all the local criminals.
Yes – “locals”
Convictions this week – a Bellafonte (double murder), Davis (armed robbery), Sibron (armed robbery).
Our forefathers are turning in their graves.
How the hell does someone with the name Sibron end up being a “local”. And Bellafonte of course is a Jamaican name. Imported garbage somewhere along the line.
They are all imported. None of them are local. That is posters point.
What happened to the hit-and-run 2 years ago?
https://caymannewsservice.com/2023/06/fatal-crash-suspect-fails-in-bid-to-leave-cayman/