Tag: Office of the Ombudsman

Cop force ‘reasonable’ to stop man eating drugs

Cop force ‘reasonable’ to stop man eating drugs

| 27/07/2021 | 10 Comments

(CNS) The Office of the Ombudsman has found that the level of force used by police officers on a man who was taken to hospital following his arrest, during which he was grabbed by the throat, was not unreasonable. The suspect filed a complaint about the force officers used during his arrest but Ombudsman Sandy […]

Continue Reading

Police urged to stop being rude to public

Police urged to stop being rude to public

| 20/07/2021 | 108 Comments

(CNS): The Office of the Ombudsman has urged police officers to treat the public with more respect, because many of the complaints about the RCIPS it is handling are about officers who had been rude to the people they interacted with rather than because they were breaching the rules. In the office’s annual report for […]

Continue Reading

DoA ordered to stop taking personal info

DoA ordered to stop taking personal info

| 13/07/2021 | 26 Comments

(CNS): The Department of Agriculture (DoA) has found itself on the wrong side of the Data Protection Law and is now facing an order from the Office of the Ombudsman to stop taking the personal data it has been collecting from customers without a legal basis and to delete it. Following a complaint last year […]

Continue Reading

OfReg ordered to reveal names in gas station tests

OfReg ordered to reveal names in gas station tests

| 21/05/2021 | 124 Comments

(CNS) UPDATED FRIDAY 4:40pm: Efforts by OfReg to protect retail petrol stations that are found selling poor quality fuel have been thwarted by the ombudsman in a major breakthrough for consumers. A freedom of information request had been made for the names of stations selling deficient gas, which were exposed during the regulator’s periodic inspection. […]

Continue Reading

School violates staff member’s data rights

School violates staff member’s data rights

| 25/03/2021 | 31 Comments

(CNS): A private school has been ordered to destroy a recording taken unlawfully at a meeting between a member of staff and a line manager. St Ignatius Catholic School breached the Data Protection Law when it recording a meeting with the individual because consent was ambiguous, not given freely given and without sufficient explanation in […]

Continue Reading

Cabinet ordered to release Smith Cove minutes

Cabinet ordered to release Smith Cove minutes

| 09/02/2021 | 47 Comments

(CNS): Not everything that is documented in government’s Cabinet meetings can automatically be withheld from public scrutiny, Ombudsman Sandy Hermiston has found in her latest ruling. A freedom of information request made by Alric Lindsay for an extract of Cabinet minutes relating to the now cancelled Smith Barcadere project and the decision to waive planning […]

Continue Reading

Data protection keeps ombudsman busy

Data protection keeps ombudsman busy

| 27/01/2021 | 21 Comments

(CNS): Data protection issues, from raising awareness to dealing with complaints about potential breaches of the law, are now dominating the work of the Office of the Ombudsman. In a press release marking International Data Protection Day, Ombudsman Sandy Hermiston revealed that in the fifteen months since the law came into effect on 30 September […]

Continue Reading

Ombudsman seeks footage of police at killing

Ombudsman seeks footage of police at killing

| 04/01/2021 | 6 Comments

(CNS): The Office of the Ombudsman is asking for information to assist its independent investigation into allegations of a delayed response and lack of action by police at the scene of Michael Aaron Bush’s fatal stabbing on Christmas Eve. The office is asking anyone who was at the scene or who has footage of the […]

Continue Reading

Ombudsman mediated for refugees in need

Ombudsman mediated for refugees in need

| 14/10/2020 | 34 Comments

(CNS): When a group of Cubans, comprising some who have been granted asylum in the Cayman Islands as well as asylum-seekers, held a demonstration this summer at the Government Administration Building in George Town seeking financial help, the Office of the Ombudsman was able to negotiate a resolution without resorting to a full blown inquiry. […]

Continue Reading

Complaints about gov’t surge post lockdown

Complaints about gov’t surge post lockdown

| 09/10/2020 | 7 Comments

(CNS): The Office of the Ombudsman has reported a surge in complaints about government, including maladministration, as well as data protection complaints (which also covers the private sector) since the COVID-19 lockdown. Members of the public made 97 enquiries during July, August and September, 74 of which were placed under investigation. During this quarter the […]

Continue Reading

Key watchdog job in dispute

Key watchdog job in dispute

| 28/09/2020 | 104 Comments

(CNS): Ombudsman Sandy Hermiston has said that her office is in discussions with Sharon Roulstone after confirming that the former WORC director has not returned to her job there. Roulstone was seconded to WORC weeks after she was appointed as deputy ombudsman, but since the two-year transfer ended this summer, Roulstone has not been allowed […]

Continue Reading