My Lord Chief Justice, Hon. Judges of the Grand Court, Hon. Chief
Magistrate, Hon. Magistrates, Mr Attorney, Mr Director, my colleagues at the Bar, our Special and Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen

If it may please my Lord.

I am privileged to be able to associate myself with the motions to open the Grand Court for the year 2020 moved by the Attorney and seconded by the [President] of the Cayman Islands Legal Practitioners Association [on behalf of its President], and to provide my own brief remarks.

Today we mark the opening of the Grand Court for the New Year and a new decade. We are honoured by the presence of representatives of the legal profession, [His Excellency the Governor], [the Deputy Governor], [Members of Cabinet] and [the Legislative Assembly], and business and civic leaders. We take this opportunity to reflect on the previous year and look forward to the New Year.

In 2019 the Grand Court and our Court of Appeal delivered some [xx]
written rulings. In addition, the Privy Council delivered two written rulings on appeal from our Court of Appeal.

I am pleased to be able to report that volumes 1 and 2 of Cayman Islands Law Reports for 2018 have been published. The 2018 volumes will mark the first time that the Law Reports has needed to publish a third volume, and Volume 3 will be published within the next couple of weeks. Progress continues on publishing the judgments of 2019, and Volume 1 is expected to be published by the end of February.

The preparation of written judgments requires an enormous amount of time and effort outside the hours spent sitting in Court. I know that I speak for the whole of the profession when I say that we are particularly grateful to our judges for the provision of these detailed reasons and their work to ensure that the requirements for judicial diligence, including the delivery of judgments, are met.

The short time that usually elapses between the conclusion of a hearing and the appearance of the written reasons is commendable.

I wish to express our thanks to those local and overseas judges and
practitioners who have willingly given up their valuable time to sit as acting judges of the Grand Court, Coroner’s Court and Summary Court during 2019. In the Grand Court they were – Mr Justice Patrick Brooks, Mrs Marlene Carter, Mr Justice Roger Chapple, Dame Linda Dobbs, Mr Justice Stephen Hellman, Mrs Justice Marva McDonald-Bishop. In the Summary and Coroner’s Courts they comprised – [Ms Angelyn Hernandez, Mrs Philippa McFarlane-Ebanks, and Mr Adam Roberts]

I also wish to thank the Administrator, Clerk of the Courts, the Deputy
Clerks and all the administrative staff at the Court House who behind the scenes work hard and diligently to give the public and attorneys their valuable assistance and service.

It is an honour and a privilege to have been allowed to add these few
remarks. It now only remains for me to wish a prosperous, healthy and happy New Year to you and all the judges and magistrates of this Court, and to their administrative staff, and to all members of the profession, and to the people of the Cayman Islands.

I have the honour to support the Attorney’s motion this morning.

Colin McKie Q.C. 15 January 2020