Legislation aimed at legalising closed-door trials allowing government to present secret evidence in the absence of the public, media and the complainant in a given case, heads to Parliament this week.
The proposed law, Civil Proceedings (Closed Material Procedure) Bill, was initially set to be debated in the House last November, but was pulled to allow for further consultation.
The legislation proposed a framework for civil trials to be held in secret if the evidence is deemed to impact national security, which follows on from a landmark ruling from the Privy Council in the case of two Cayman Islands prisoners seeking to contest their transfer to maximum-security facilities in the UK on human rights grounds.
In that case, a panel of the most senior judges for the overseas territories ruled that Closed Material Procedures – where the evidence is seen by the judge but not by the public, the applicant or their lawyer – could not be used in Cayman under current law.
Now the Cayman Islands government is seeking to formalise a structure for such cases.
Attorney General Samuel Bulgin is set to pilot the bill in the House for debate.
The bill is one of four pieces of law expected to be laid in the Parliament, the others include an updated Merchant Shipping Act which will repeal and replace the current law, an amendment to the Companies Act and an amendment to the Local Companies Act.
The Opposition has filed at least 21 questions seeking answers from ministers on a range of issues from the minimum wage to ReGen, and planned upgrades at the Owen Roberts International Airport.
Two government motions are also expected to be debated this week.
The first is a motion to establish a fuel-price-review select committee submitted by Planning and Infrastructure Minister Jay Ebanks.
If passed, this motion would be only the second joint select committee in recent Parliamentary history.
A joint select committee consists of all members of the House.
The only other joint select committee had been convened to review the Gambling (Amendment) Bill, 2022.
That legislation is still before the committee.
Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan is also set to bring a government motion under the Public Management and Finance Act (2020 Revision) seeking an issuance of a ‘Deed of Indemnity’ to the board of directors of Cayman Airways.
Several reports are also expected to be tabled in Parliament, which is set to commence at 10am on Monday.
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