Judge directed to release memo over letters scandal

(CNS): The information commissioner has ordered the content of a memo sent by the chief justice to the police regarding letters to the press he believed were scandalizing the judiciary to be released. Although the judicial administration had at first denied having the record, after it was discovered the public authority denied the request because it said that the investigation was not complete.  Commissioner Jennifer Dilbert said she remained unconvinced that the investigation was on-going as no evidence was produced to support the claim and ordered Judicial Administration to release the record, which relates to letters sent to Cayman Net News that a former grand court judge was accused of writing.

The latest decision by the information commissioner centres on a missing document following a request made earlier this year by an applicant who was given access to a number of personal records related to a public tribunal but who was not satisfied that every document that had been requested had been disclosed. With the assistance of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) the missing document was eventually found, but when it was, the Judicial Administration said the FOI law did not apply to it as it related to judicial functions.

Having been given access to the record, the ICO concluded that the document was administrative in nature and not related to judicial functions so it was subject to the freedom of information law. As a result, the courts then denied access on the basis that it was part of a continuing investigation.

Dilbert was also not persuaded by the public authority’s arguments during the hearing that the investigation was continuing, especially given the time that had elapsed in connection with the tribunal in question that the memo related to, and that no evidence was submitted to support the claim.

“The FOI Law places the burden of proof on the public authority to prove that it has acted in accordance with its obligations under the Law,” Dilbert said.  “While there are certainly situations where records relating to law enforcement need to be protected, the law requires that there is a real and substantial ground for the expectation that harm could occur for this exemption to apply. Judicial Administration has not presented me with these grounds.” 

In her decision she noted that the document in question was not a record relating to law enforcement and much of what it contained is information that is already in the public domain, since the tribunal was held in public. With the exception of the last paragraph of the record, which contained personal information of a third party unrelated to the issues, Dilbert gave the judicial department 45 calendar days to appeal the decision.

According to Dilbert’s decision, the document in question is a memo written by the chief justice referring an issue to the police for investigation. Although the tribunal is not mentioned by name in Dilbert’s ruling, the memo relates to letters that were written to Cayman Net News that the courts believed were an attempt to scandalize and effectively undermine public confidence in the local judiciary.

The issue became a key element in the tribunal of the former Grand Court judge, Priya Levers, who was removed from the bench for misbehaviour.  Although the tribunal had concluded that she was not the author of the letters, a point she had always vehemently maintained, it was revealed during the judge’s case that the islands' top judge had referred the matter of the letters to the police in an effort to discover the author, who wrote the letters under a number of pseudonyms.

See the Information commissioner’s full decision below.