Human rights laws need to be established

Hon Alden McLaughlin,
Minister of Education and
Human Rights Committee
Chairman

Wednesday,  February 1, 2006

According to Hon Alden McLaughlin, Minister of Education and Chairman of the newly formed Human Rights Committee, there is a lack of the requisite legislation regarding Human Rights in this country.

Mr McLaughlin said that at present Cayman has no legislation to guarantee Human Rights protection and it has “only a provision in law against discrimination.”

However Mr McLaughlin revealed that he is addressing the problem.

“Cabinet members advised H.E The Governor Stuart Jack, to invite the United Kingdom (UK) to extend The Right of the Individual Petition UK on a permanent basis to Cayman.”

He said that once the Right to Petition UK is in place then action can be taken on Human Rights issues.

He explained the Right to Petition had previously existed here but it “fell away in the 1980’s when the last five-year term of the Right had expired.”
Speaking at the Media Briefing by Cabinet Members of 27 January, he assured the Media that he was confident that the request would “find real favour with the UK” because the UK was beginning to question the Islands’ position in relation to this Right as “anomalous” as Cayman was “one out of possibly only two overseas territories to which the right was not now extended.”

Mr McLaughlin revealed that the Human Rights Committee had met recently for the second time. He said the Committee had adopted a formal terms of reference and had set up a committee to carry out Education programmes. Another was established to vet complaints – in order to ascertain, “that there is a real issue before the matter comes to the Committee,” he said.

The Minister also revealed that the Convention on Human Rights Discrimination had been extended to Cayman but “Cayman has no local legislative framework” for it.

“The UK has invited us to create the necessary legislative framework. When we get our own Bill of Rights that would be included,” he said.

He added that the UK had also invited Cayman to have the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women extended to the Islands, but there is no legislative framework here in Cayman for this.

“The UK has been urging that the necessary framework be put in place,” said Mr McLaughlin.

In spite of these facts Mr McLaughlin felt progress was being made on the Human Rights front. 

“We have also discussed measures to strengthen the role of the Human Rights Committee to ensure legislation gets proper scrutiny,” he said.

He added that the possibility of amending the Law Reform Commission legislation to ensure that someone with Human Rights experience is a member of the committee was being examined.

One member of the legal fraternity here said, “The legal framework in other overseas territories that would accommodate participation in Conventions similar to those to which Mr McLaughlin referred would normally be enshrined in their Constitutions.”

The Government is scheduled to have talks on Cayman’s Constitution with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office later this year.

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