A senior British judge has urged Cayman’s courts to strengthen their commitment to open justice, warning that transparency is essential for the jurisdiction’s reputation.
Sir Nicholas Mostyn, a recently retired judge of the High Court of England and Wales, was speaking at the Cayman Islands judiciary’s Distinguished Guest Lecture 2025 on the theme ‘Open Justice in the Modern Age.’
Mostyn, who worked in Cayman many times as a barrister and specialised in high profile divorce cases in the UK, representing Princess Diana and Paul McCartney, said the concept of open justice was changing with the times.
He said that while Cayman had long prided itself on an open court system, modern justice required more than open doors.
Courts, he said, must also ensure that their proceedings and documents are accessible and understandable to the press and public.
“It is a completely symbolic right to attend an open court,” he said, “if you don’t have access to the papers.”
He explained that modern hearings are dominated by written material – “bundles left, bundles right, thousands of documents” – and without access to those, “a member of the public will not have any understanding of what is going on at all.”
He noted that UK courts are starting to adapt, saying that the Supreme Court is now moving to publish the printed cases of the parties online 10 days before the start of the hearing and that the Court of Appeal has piloted making skeleton arguments publicly available alongside livestreams of hearings.
“For the first time since cases became dominated by paper,” he said, “people are able to watch these cases in a way in which they are comprehensible.”
Mostyn argued that ‘open justice’ did not just mean allowing the doors of the court to be open but ensuring people could understand and follow proceedings.
Open doors are not enough, he said.
‘Access to documents is fundamental’
Speaking generally, Mostyn said access to court documents was fundamental to open justice.
“Unless there is access to documents by observers, there is no chance of open justice being given meaningful effect,” he said.
He cited reforms in the UK, Australia and the US to make pleadings and other materials routinely accessible, saying Cayman should follow suit.
“The best way,” he said, “for promoting the virtue of lawful confidentiality is to guarantee that anyone who seeks to take advantage of it in an unlawful or corrupt manner risks having their conduct exposed in the full glare of a public trial.”
He warned that for Cayman, secrecy would be self-defeating.
“The protection of open justice is essential to the good name of the jurisdiction.”
During questions following the lecture, Mostyn said he supports going further – including the introduction of cameras in courtrooms.
“I am certainly in favour of civil trials being televised,” he said. “I’m very much in favour of appellate proceedings being televised providing that documents are made available as well.”
He dismissed fears that televising trials would distort justice, adding that in Australia, “all those spectres people were worried about – none of it has come to pass.”
Related Videos
