No sign of ethics law for Anti-Corruption Day
(CNS): The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the Commission for Standards in Public Life (CSPL) both issued press releases on Friday to mark International Anti-Corruption Day and outline Cayman’s efforts to combat public corruption. But neither said much about the long-awaited implementation of the Standards in Public Life Law. The CSPL said Cayman was playing its part, while accepting there was more to be done. Though it failed to call for the law’s enactment, the commission pointed to other legislation that “if properly utilized” could help combat the problem.
“Although we continue to await the commencement of the Standards in Public Life Law, in the interim, the effectiveness, if properly utilized, of the Anti-corruption Law, the Ombudsman Law, Public Authorities Law, Whistleblower Protection Law and the Freedom of Information Law cannot be understated,” the CSPL said in the release.
The commission noted an increase in the number of fraud and corruption investigations, some of which have resulted in convictions, and the policies rolled out by Deputy Governor Franz Manderson to address corruption in the public sector.
Meanwhile, the ACC said that since the Anti-Corruption Law was implemented some ten years ago, there have been 174 reports or complaints of alleged corruption made to the Commission. Currently, its investigators are working on 13 cases of alleged corruption, most of which are protracted, complex and multi-faceted investigations.
Between the 1 July 2018 until the end of June 2019 the officers conducted 115 interviews with suspects and witnesses, arrested eight suspects, executed ten search warrants, and saw one person charged and six convicted in the Grand Court.
Since 1 July 2019 the commission has already received seven new complaints of alleged corruption, conducted almost 40 interviews with suspects and witnesses, arrested two more people and seen another six people charged and three convicted in the Grand Court.
Another 27 people remain on bail in various corruption related matters. This includes nine people awaiting sentencing in relation to the immigration case, where officials were convicted of taking bribes to help Spanish speakers applying for work permits pass a language test even though their English was not up to scratch.
There are also five people awaiting trial in the CIFA and hospital overtime cases, as well as nine people under ongoing investigations and four who are awaiting a decision of a charge ruling by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The ACC officials said that while the Cayman Islands has a strong legislative framework to assist in the investigations, it strongly encourages the government “to focus on putting in place the necessary safeguards aimed at preventing corruption, including stricter accountability and supervisory roles within the various government entities; and the commencement of the Standards in Public Life Law”.
In June the governor told CNS that he was very keen to see the ethics law implemented and that it was, at that time, undergoing a final review. He said letters had been sent to board members to find out if there were still issues that needed to be addressed before it was implemented. However, some seven months later there is still no sign of a commencement date.
Visit the ACC site here and the CSPL site here
For more information call 244-3687, or email info@anticorruptioncommission.ky or Deborah.bodden@gov.ky
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
Will the law allow for past instances of corruption to be investigated and prosecuted? I hope so.
Cayman and an ethics law is an oxymoron.
Aye up Chris! Tha bloody rait on that ‘un!
SIPL Law in Cayman, kind of an oxymoron?
It has been. They all agreed to the amendments, and then, intentionally didn’t enact it, presumably because some senior civil servants are so WAY offside that they can’t possibly explain their associations and payments without risk of criminal investigation. We won’t know how bad it actually is, until implementation and full audits.
This UNITY government led by Alden McLaughlin, Moses Kirkconnell, McKeeva Bush, Joey Hew, Roy McTaggart, Tara Rivers, Dwayne Seymour, Barbara Connolly, David Wight and Austin Harris are not interested in anything that holds them accountable.
They fear all the deeds being done in the dark coming to light. It is disgraceful that nobody in government has seen it fit to make these laws enforceable. They have the power to do so yet refuse to put substance behind the system of checks and balances.
Few in Opposition, or Judiciary want it either…it is universally radioactive, and you are free to infer why that would be. The irony is that our Financial Services sector, 75% of GDP, constantly at war to demonstrate transparency and good governance, is overseen by the Pirates of the Caribbean, waist deep in direct conflict or worse, and we’re quietly going to let them form their own militia, and open rep offices worldwide to sell some alternate reality. Sooner or later, the international headlines will start writing themselves.
I have been told point blank that not to worry about side deals as this is the way in cayman. Told to stop blocking what happens with silly regulations that don’t matter
The simple truth is that it is an inconvenient piece of legislation. I have seen at least two instances where high ranking Government officials have chosen to look the other way on questionable behaviour due to obligations imposed by the Lodge brotherhood.
At present, the most that will happen is that people will go to online blogs to criticize, and eventually, it will all blow over. A Standards in Public Life Law would actually bring real accountability and make the decision harder in terms of, do I betray my oath to the brotherhood, or do I go to prison?
Unfortunately, only the surface has been scratched. There are many misdeeds that are never brought up for various reasons. For justice to be served, ALL instances of corruption must be brought to light and the criminals should reap the consequences of their wrongdoing.
Justice will never be served as long as the foxes are guarding the hen house.
SPIL needs to be refined before enactment.
That excuse wore thin 5 years ago.
It was, and all agreed, then never enacted!
Didn’t you whisper the same in the Premier’s ear about the NCL?
We have our own corrupt Trumps here as well – too many of our own quid pro quo’s!
Smell the fear.
Caymanian Culture verses anti corruption day. Culture wins again.
Corruption is an integral part of Caymanian culture. Quid pro quo is rampant.
Hey, let’s face it: right from the very beginning, this Law was never intended to be enforced. It’s a joke, and the joke’s on us.
You’re out here signing your name to glib comments…why not cement a glorious legacy as the lead “rascal” and start the FCO petition for SIPL to bring about the meaningful voter-led change that has become the necessity of our time?! Someone’s gotta start it. It’s either you or Chris Johnson.
Ah, well, the problem is that anonymous supporters aren’t much use in petitions, and I’m sure Chris would agree with me on that. Also, there would need to be some identifiable bloodline Caymanians alongside. I don’t think anyone would dismiss Chris or me as “driftwood” these days, but you never know…