Topic: Ombudsman Sandy Hermiston

Sandy Hermiston, who has been the Ombudsman in the Cayman Islands since 2017, has accepted a post as Ombudsman of Prince Edward Island in Canada.

Cayman’s data protection legislation forms a key part of efforts to ward off cyber criminals seeking to misuse personal information or exfiltrate data gathered through legitimate business practices.

As Cayman’s Freedom of Information Act marked its 10th anniversary in 2020, the jurisdiction also hit a significant milestone, that of the lowest number of requests since the legislation’s implementation.

Ombudsman Sandy Hermiston has issued a statement reminding owners and operators of gyms and other fitness centres that the handling of information about their clients' COVID vaccination and test results must meet data-protection requirements.

The Finance Ministry has been ordered to release documents detailing concessions granted by government for major development projects dating back from 2017.

In its latest quarterly report, the Office of the Ombudsman said there had been an uptick in the number of complaints it has received since lockdown ended.

Ombudsman Sandy Hermiston has ordered Cayman’s Labour Tribunal to release the records of unfair dismissal decisions it has made over the last five years, following a Freedom of Information appeal.

Among the more than 100 complaints made against police were those regarding a heavily pregnant woman arrested after failing to pay a $50 fine; a driver tasered in the back while fleeing from a DUI test; a police officer given special treatment by his colleagues over alleged domestic abuse; and a theft suspect who left the island even though CCTV caught his crime on camera.

A complaint filed by a Cayman resident who waited more than six months to have his employer’s appeal heard before the Labour Appeals Tribunal has led to the discovery of nearly a dozen such appeal cases that have been delayed outside statutory timelines, according to Ombudsman Sandy Hermiston.

Commissioner of Police Derek Byrne said a "discipline investigation" would be carried out into the actions of one of his officers during the arrest of a dirt-biker in April.

The Ombudsman has recommended that Commissioner of Police Derek Byrne consider disciplining one of his officers for using a baton to strike a dirt biker who had led police on a 72-minute chase in the early days of the COVID-19 lockdown.

The Department of Labour and Pensions broke the National Archive and Public Records Law by failing to keep proper records on internal discussions about proposed amendments to a pension plan trust deed, according to Ombudsman Sandy Hermiston.

An appeal on a public records request for data on how many taxi drivers work for government has been denied by Ombudsman Sandy Hermiston, who ruled on Friday that having the Public Transportation Unit retrieve such information would be an unreasonable diversion of its resources.

Nearly four years after former Complaints Commissioner Nicola Williams decried a culture of fear within the Cayman Islands government service, the British territory’s first law solely aimed at protecting whistleblowers – those who report wrongdoing within organizations – takes effect.

The former head of the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service’s Professional Standards Unit has been hired as the senior investigator for the ombudsman’s office tasked with fielding public complaints about police misconduct.