A lawyer has lost his bid to win Court of Appeal approval to argue against an earlier decision to refuse leave to apply for a judicial review.
The Court of Appeal rejected a plea by Bilika Harry Simamba for a judicial review of the dismissal of a complaint against then-Grand Court Justice Ian Kawaley by the Judicial and Legal Services Commission.
Simamba had alleged misconduct by Kawaley in a 2014 Grand Court case where the applicant had unsuccessfully claimed damages from the Health Services Authority for what was said to be two incidents of medical negligence.
The written judgment by Sir Nicholas Underhill, a former English lord justice of appeal, said, “I wish to say in conclusion that, although the applicant appears sincerely to believe that his allegations against Kawaley J are well-founded and that the decision to dismiss the complaint was not only irrational but taken in bad faith, there is no objective basis for that belief or therefore his belief that the repeated rejection of those allegations shows that the entire judicial establishment of the Cayman Islands is prejudiced against him.”
Simamba’s application for leave to appeal named Chief Justice Margaret Ramsay-Hale, a member of Judicial and Legal Services Commission, six other commission members, and Attorney General Samuel Bulgin as respondents.
‘Obsessive’ pursuit
The judgment, backed by fellow English justices Sir Stephen Irwin and Sir Patrick Elias, added, “Litigation arising from these beliefs has already occupied the time of the courts for far too long and its obsessive pursuit cannot be good for the applicant either.
“He has now had the benefit of a two-day hearing before a court whose members have no connection with this jurisdiction and a judgment which seeks to address all of the principal points which he has raised.
“It may be too much to hope that he will now accept that his beliefs are ill-founded but I do venture to hope that he will at least accept that he has come to the end of the road.”
Underhill earlier told Simamba, who appeared at the hearing by video link, that the three-strong panel had rejected his bid.
Irwin said, “I don’t think there is anything you can, or need, to say at this stage. If you want to persuade me any differently, you have two minutes in which to do it.”
Simamba vows to appeal again
Simamba, a former Cayman resident who now lives in Canada, told the judges, “I have nothing to say at the moment, other than to acknowledge the judgment. Obviously, I disagree with it very strongly.”
He added that he intended to file a fresh appeal against the latest judgment against him “within the next two days”.
Simamba had asked the court for permission to appeal against the “summary dismissal of a complaint against Kawaley J in respect of his conduct as a Justice of the Grand Court in a matter in which the applicant was plaintiff” by the Judicial and Legal Services Commission.
Underhill said that because of the respondents, it was decided to hear the application before justices of appeal that “otherwise had no connection” with the Cayman judicial system.
Simamba, a retired legal draughtsman with the Cayman Islands government, had issued two medical negligence claims against the Health Services Authority in 2014.
The judgement said, “The complaint relates to things said by Kawaley J in a judgment given in these proceedings on 17 June 2019.”
Simamba’s complaints ‘groundless’
Kawaley’s Grand Court ruling said that the claims were bound to fail unless supported by further expert evidence and adjourned the case to October that year to allow Simamba more time.
Despite an extended deadline, no further evidence was submitted and the claim was struck out in September 2020.
Simamba had later claimed that two passages in Kawaley’s June ruling contained “deliberate untruths”.
Underhill’s judgment said Simamba’s had sought unsuccessfully to challenge Kawaley’s decision “in various sets of proceedings”.
He highlighted that Justice of Appeal John Martin had in December 2021 refused to allow Simamba to appeal against the striking-out orders.
The judgment said, “His decision reviewed in some detail the applicant’s case that Kawaley J had lied in the June judgment and found in trenchant terms that is groundless.”
Three judges in a full Court of Appeal later upheld Martin’s decision and also dismissed a separate appeal against a two-year restraint order.
The Privy Council, Cayman’s final appeal court, in May 2023 refused Simamba’s request to appeal the full court’s decisions.
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