Hon McKeeva Bush Leader of Government Business	Stuart Jack His Excellency the Governor
Ezzard Miller North Side MLA	Eliio Solomon George Town MLA

The government last week rejected a private member’s motion in the Legislative Assembly (LA) that asked the Cayman Islands government to consider taking legal action against the UK government, to recover almost $7 million in costs incurred in pursuing the various investigations and prosecutions into alleged corruption within the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS).

The private member’s motion in question was moved by North Side independent Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), Ezzard Miller, and seconded by Bodden Town opposition MLA and former Health Minister in the previous administration, Anthony Eden.

However, when the vote was taken, all members of the government and its backbench voted against the motion, with Mr Miller and the entire Opposition voting in favour. On a division, the motion failed by a vote of 10-5.

On Friday, the Minister for the Overseas Territories, Chris Bryant, issued a statement indicating his approval of the motion’s defeat in the LA.

“I firmly believe that this is the right outcome for all concerned. It is in no-one’s interests to pursue such a case,” he said.

“I absolutely reject any suggestion that the Governor has acted in any way other than in the best interests of the government and people of the Cayman Islands. I am satisfied that he has at all times acted in accordance with the Constitution. In order to address the allegations of corruption, it was right to undertake these investigations and it is important that they are seen through to a conclusion. I also reject the suggestion that the UK government should meet the costs of these investigations, which are entirely a matter for the Cayman Islands government,” Mr Bryant said.

The motion was initially moved by Mr Miller in Finance Committee some two weeks ago, but he was persuaded by the Leader of Government Business, Hon McKeeva Bush, to withdraw it and have it heard when the LA resumed.

Before the motion was formally moved by Mr Miller, Mr Bush made a statement saying: “The motion raises unprecedented issues of constitutional importance. It follows hard on the heels of public disquiet and displeasure on the cost, without any tangible benefits, to the Cayman Islands of Operations Tempura and Cealt.”

“ It is highly regrettable that a governor of these Islands, whether justified or not, should have conducted himself in such a way as to give rise to a debate in the Legislative Assembly on whether the government of the Cayman Islands should institute proceedings for the recovery of damages against him on the grounds of misfeasance of public office.”

Mr Bush went on to say that government had sought legal advice, which confirmed that an action could be successfully brought against the Governor for “misfeasance of public office” if “it can be proved that the Governor acted in the knowledge, or with reckless indifference, to the fact that his acts were beyond his powers, and to the fact that his acts would probably cause loss or damage to the government of the Cayman Islands.”

He concluded by saying: “The Legislative Assembly will have to give careful thought to the matters set out hereinbefore and will have in mind the requirement for the clearest and most persuasive evidence before any claim for damages for misfeasance of public office may be brought against H.E the Governor.”

In opening the debate on the motion, Mr Miller referred to the negative findings of the Auditor General in his recent report on the management and costs of Operations Tempura and Cealt. He suggested that the report provided ample evidence of misfeasance on the part of the governor. He also said he had sought and obtained legal advice to the effect that an action against the UK Government based on the Governor’s actions in the Tempura and Cealt cases was “winnable”.

He said that it was important that a stand was taken that Her Majesty’s representative in these Islands could not act unilaterally and disregard the interests of the territory without consequence.

Mr Miller was supported by all Opposition members that spoke.

Seconder of the motion, Anthony Eden, spoke of the way in which the views of elected members of Cabinet were disregarded by the Governor and stated that this had to change.

Cayman Brac opposition MLA, Moses Kirkconnell, said that immense damage had been done to the image and reputation of the Cayman Islands and asserted that it will be impossible ever to measure the extent of that damage.

Arden McLean, the opposition member from East End, went through the sequence of events leading up to the present state of affairs and referred to a degree of contempt with which the elected members of Cabinet had been treated when decisions were being taken in relation to the UK police investigations.

George Town opposition MLA, Alden McLaughlin placed the discussion in a constitutional context, speaking at length about the critical importance of the views of the elected members being taken in to account in every aspect of governance of the country. He referred to the advent of a National Security Council under the new Constitution, which will come into effect on 6 November, and said that this will give the elected arm of government, including the Opposition, a degree of involvement in national security matters which it currently does not have.

However, Mr McLaughlin bemoaned the fact that under the new constitution the Governor will continue to have sole responsibility and authority for the management of the police service. He urged all members to support the motion, which he pointed out only called for the government to “consider” taking legal action against the UK government, not for them to actually do so. He claimed that a powerful message would be sent to the Governor and the UK government if all the members of the House were united in their support of the motion.

Aside from Mr Bush, the only member of the government benches to speak on the motion was George Town MLA, Elio Solomon, who criticised Mr Miller for bringing the motion. He said this was not a battle Cayman should fight and that the only issue that really mattered was what he termed “economic independence”. He claimed that the constitutional issues wrapped up in the present controversy were insignificant in comparison.

Despite the statement that Mr Bush made just before the debate on the motion began, during which, among other things, he described the conduct of the Governor as “highly regrettable”, when he finally debated the motion, he said that his government had already considered the matter and had decided that it would not support the motion.

This latest action follows the government’s decision in Finance Committee earlier this month to continue funding the UK police investigations by approving another $365,000 to be spent on the probes during the present fiscal year.