Speaker: MPs code of conduct needs ‘force of law’

Speaker of the House Sir Alden McLaughlin has called for a renewed push to get a proposed code of conduct put in place for parliamentarians, which should have the force of law behind it.

McLaughlin, addressing lawmakers at Wednesday’s sitting of the House, said he was concerned that Members of Parliament had not yet agreed to a code of conduct, and called for this to be rectified by the next meeting of the House, which is expected in September.

“I believe it is important, if and when, prayerfully, a code of conduct is agreed that it is given the force of law,” McLaughlin said, adding that a voluntary document that members can just subscribe to would not be enough.

Long road

There has been a previous attempt to introduce Cayman’s first code of conduct for parliamentarians, but the document did not get the full support of all MPs.

The “immediate” implementation of a code of conduct for parliamentarians was part of a deal agreed between former Premier Wayne Panton and McKeeva Bush, who was appointed as Speaker of the House in Panton’s PACT administration, following the April 2021 general elections. This followed Bush’s conviction of common assault on a female bar manager in December 2020.

As a condition of taking the role of Speaker, which helped enable Panton to form a government, Bush agreed to the implementation of a code “where any infractions would lead to immediate dismissal from their position”, he stated at the time.

Last year, Panton announced that all elected government and official Members of Parliament had signed a code of conduct, which had been circulated to all MPs in March 2022. Two versions of Cayman’s parliamentary code of conduct were presented to the House by Bush, who was still Speaker at that time.

One version was drafted by Panton, the other by Bush.

The Panton version was signed by government MPs, as well as Attorney General Samuel Bulgin and Deputy Governor Franz Manderson.

The opposition, at the time however, opted not to sign the draft code, saying it had “significant failures” and was “invalid procedurally”. Opposition Leader Roy McTaggart also pointed out that the signed code of conduct has not been sanctioned by the council of the Parliament Management Commission.

At Wednesday’s meeting in the House, Bush questioned why a new push was being made for a code of conduct when one was already in place and signed by government members last year.

Who deals with complaints about conduct?

McLaughlin, who was on the opposition bench last year, said the main issue that kept the code from being agreed to by all MPs was the question of who should deal with complaints and adjudicate them.

However, he said, he has spoken with Premier Juliana O’Connor-Connolly and McTaggart on how to move the code forward and address these issues.

“We are close to agreeing to a code which all members will be prepared to subscribe to. I really believe it would be an important legacy of this term of this Parliament for us to leave behind a code of conduct,” he said.

He said the Attorney General’s Office has indicated that the Standards in Public Life Commission has agreed to “accept” the responsibility to adjudicate complaints filed under the code.

“If that does transpire,” McLaughlin said, “I think that should allay any concerns that members may have about the majority using the code of conduct to beat the minority, because everyone should be then satisfied that there will be an independent body that looks at complaints that are received.”

Bush said that he has not seen any paperwork on any code.

“I’m hoping that it is not just going to be decided between the leader of the opposition and premier. I would suspect that we would sit and go through it to make sure that it’s something that we can all live with,” Bush said.

McLaughlin indicated that this will be done and once the “hurdle” of who will have responsibility for complaints is overcome, a draft will be sent for members to consider.

New Standing Orders nearing finish line

McLaughlin also said the exercise to modernise Parliament’s Standing Orders is nearing completion.

The Standing Orders working group, he said, is coming to the end of its consideration and drafting of the new orders, having reached Standing Order 82 of 91.

“I am very hopeful that, by the time this House next meets, and I’m assuming that’s going to be September, we should be in a position where the House can decide what the new Standing Orders will look like,” he said.

The Standing Orders, which were penned in 1976, govern how Parliament operates.

Since taking office last year, McLaughlin has been pressing forward with updating the Standing Orders, which he has previously described as “archaic”.