The Cayman Islands government will not propose any sanction for Tourism Minister Charles Clifford, nor will it pursue legal action to review the Commission of Enquiry findings that stated the minister had wrongly removed government files in 2004.
Leader of Government Business Kurt Tibbetts said Thursday that the issue is closed, as far as he’s concerned.
‘Whatever the Commission of Enquiry found, we respect that decision; the matter is over,’ Mr. Tibbetts said.
The commission, headed by a former English High Court justice, found that Mr. Clifford had no right to remove copies of government documents from his former permanent secretary office in the Ministry of Tourism upon his resignation from that ministry.
Commissioner Sir Richard Tucker also found that Mr. Clifford was in ‘prima facie’ or self-evident breach of General Orders by releasing some of those documents to a local newspaper in the months following his resignation.
Mr. Clifford has denied that finding, stating he was no longer a civil servant when he presented the documents to the newspaper. He also argued many of the matters revealed in those documents were already in the public domain.
The commission disagreed entirely with the first argument and agreed, in part, with the second. It said civil servants were still bound by confidentially agreements even after leaving the public service, but that many of the issues reported by the newspaper following Mr. Clifford’s release of the files were indeed already available for public viewing and consumption.
Mr. Tucker and Cayman Islands Governor Stuart Jack agreed that no disciplinary action would be taken against Minister Clifford for several reasons. (See Caymanian Compass, 31 March)
‘As far as we are concerned, Minister Clifford is an integral part of the Cabinet team,’ Mr. Tibbetts said. ‘He is doing this country a great service and we are totally supportive of his role as a minister in the Cabinet.’
Ministers also explained Thursday during a press briefing that Mr. Clifford had not been found ‘guilty’ and that the Commission of Enquiry’s findings should not be considered the same as those of a court of law.
‘The finding was that Mr. Clifford was wrong in disclosing the information,’ Education Minister Alden McLaughlin said.
Mr. Tibbetts and Mr. McLaughlin had previously made veiled threats that legal action could follow if government disagreed with the commissioner’s conclusions.
The commission noted in its report that Mr. Tibbetts made a written submission on 18 January, which opined that the enquiry was unconstitutional. However, no application was made for judicial review of the commission.
Mr. Tucker stated the commission proceeded ‘on the footing’ that it was valid and effective.
‘No one appeared before the commission to support these assertions (that it was unconstitutional),’ he wrote in his final report.
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