Freedom of Information requests filed by a prisoner have raised questions about the use of Cayman’s open records law and how formal queries seeking information should be handled.
According to emails obtained by the Caymanian Compass, an open records request made earlier this year sought several documents and other information related to the arrest and handling of a police prisoner. The prisoner’s identity is being withheld by the Caymanian Compass since the FOI Law does not require an information applicant’s name to be released.
The request, which was sent to the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, was said “not to meet the criteria of the FOI Law” because other laws took precedence. The police advised the prisoner to make the request through their attorney to the legal department.
The prisoner then responded by adding to their request for information and sending it back to the police.
The police representative responded that an employee of the information commissioner’s office had “improperly advised or encouraged” the prisoner to make the second request and that the RCIPS had already advised where the applicant should direct their query.
“You or anybody else cannot use the FOI Law to obtain evidential records in relation to matters before the courts for trial,” the RCIPS representative wrote. “The spirit of the law was not intended for that purpose.
“You must apply, through your attorney and the courts, to the director of public prosecutions to obtain the records. [The information commissioner’s office employee] has improperly advised you of your right to an internal review.”
A police department spokesperson who was asked about the issue by the Caymanian Compass sent the following reply: “We can confirm that we received two separate requests from an applicant … for evidential records which related to a sub judice matter [a matter that is before the court]. As is normal practice in such circumstances, the information manager advised the applicant to re-direct his request to the legal department.”
Information Commissioner Jennifer Dilbert, in a statement sent to the Compass last week, generally clarified the police department’s comments.
“The fact that an inmate uses the FOI Law to obtain information is immaterial,” Mrs. Dilbert said. “However, all applicants need to be reminded that the FOI Law is not meant to circumvent systems that are already in place to access records.”
Typically, if an open records request is made to the wrong agency it is the information manager’s responsibility to ensure the application is passed along to the appropriate place, the information commissioner’s office noted. Also, all open records requests should be carried out according to the process set out in the FOI Law, the commissioner’s office noted – information managers are generally not given the choice to outright decide whether a request “meets the criteria of the FOI Law”.
Managers can choose not to handle requests under the FOI Law if they simply wish to release the information within a short period of time [usually 10 days], the commissioner’s office has advised.
“The FOI Law provides that every person shall have a right to obtain access to records other than exempt records,” Mrs. Dilbert said.
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