Legislators have had a busy last sitting of the year in Parliament, passing 12 bills and deferring one more.
A number of the bills led to hours of debate, especially the Gambling (Amendment) Bill which aimed to hugely increase the outdated penalties for illegal gambling, which was eventually not voted on, but instead referred to a select committee of Parliament for further discussion.
Another bill that had MPs on their feet during its debate was the Cayman Islands Identification Card Bill, which was ultimately passed without any no votes from the Opposition. The House also passed the Identification Register Bill, to set up a voluntary registry for residents of the Cayman Islands.
A bill that was warmly welcomed by Opposition MP Alden McLaughlin was the Music and Dancing (Control) (Amendment) Bill, which will allow live music and dancing at local standalone bars throughout the Cayman Islands on Sunday. He had brought a motion asking for such a change to the legislation earlier in the year.
MPs also passed a Customs and Border Control (Amendment) Bill to make it more difficult for asylum seekers, whose applications for refugee status is ultimately turned down, to spend months in Cayman.
The House approved the National Roads Authority (Amendment) Bill also, which allows Cabinet to transfer up to $14 million from the Road Fund to the National Roads Authority. The funds would be used for the “construction, upgrading, rehabilitation and maintenance of public roads”.
The Utility Regulation and Competition (Amendment) Bill was passed as well. This bill amended the Utility Regulation and Competition Act (2021 Revision) to change the structure and constitution of the board “in order to improve the governance of the office”. It also amended the constitution of the nominating committee; and amended the indemnification provision so that only claims caused by bad faith will not be indemnified by the government.
Two supplementary appropriation bills were passed, for 2020 and 2021.
Four bills relating to criminal matters were presented and passed. These include the Criminal Justice (Offenders Assisting Investigations and Prosecutions) Bill, which allows for a reduction in sentences or immunity from prosecution for defendants or suspects who testify against other criminals; and the Contempt of Court Bill and related Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, which deal with a range of offences for interfering with judicial proceeding, including efforts to influence witnesses.
Finally, an Anti-Corruption (Amendment) Bill was passed, which designates the Anti-Corruption Commission as a law enforcement agency in the Cayman Islands and confers additional powers on its investigating officers. It also clarifies the circumstances under which the commission can investigate reports.
- Editor’s note: The copies of the bills included in this article are the introduced bills. Some were subject to amendments during the committee stage and the finalised versions are not yet available.
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