28 July, 2022

Mr. Master of Ceremonies , allow me first to thank you for the splendid job you have done so far in getting this Conference underway! This is not your first time emceeing the HOJs Conference, but it can hardly be said that your adroitness is due to practice because the only other occasion was in 2007, 15 years ago!

For me, it is all the more special sharing this stage with you, being very appreciative of our work together on the Legal Advisory Council, not only over the past 15 years since the HOJs Conference in 2007 but for fully another 15 years even before then. 

Thank you for your support for our Conference and indeed for your incomparable work as Director of our Law School.

The Protocol having been very ably established by our Master of Ceremonies, I may proceed immediately to also thank His Excellency, the Acting Governor, and the Honorable Premier for being here with us this morning and for their very insightful, relevant, and encouraging remarks.

Your very kind words about my stewardship as Chief Justice are very much appreciated, as are your expressions of support for the judiciary and administration of justice as a whole.

It must not go without being said that such successes as we have managed to achieve would not have been possible without your support and that of successive governments over the years.

Despite whatever challenges we have faced over the years, as I approach the end of my stewardship, it gives me great satisfaction to be able to say to the public we serve, in unison with your powerful comments this morning Premier, that the relationship between the judiciary and the other branches of Government–the Executive and the Parliament–rests upon a very solid foundation of mutual trust and respect. 

And the fact that you have both taken the time to deliver your very thoughtful and supportive words to this gathering is itself testament to that fact. We thank you and the Acting Governor very much for being here.

And it is, of course, my distinct honor and privilege to be able to welcome my fellow members of the Conference of Heads of Judiciaries and their spouses to Cayman for this year’s meeting. For some of them, this will not be the first visit to Cayman and, for CJ Archie, in particular I join with the Premier in saying that I trust that this is a bit of a homecoming for himself and Mrs Archie, remembering their time here when he served as one of our most distinguished Solicitors General. 

For those who are visiting for the first time, I hope that the experience lives up to expectations. As you will have seen from the Conference Agenda, busy as it is, we have managed to set aside some time for some sightseeing and outdoor activities. I very much look forward to our time together over the next few days.

It is, of course, important for the sake of public understanding that I take a moment to explain the reason for our meeting in fulfilment of the objectives of the Conference of Heads of Judiciary.

The rationale begins with the objectives of the Conference themselves. These are as set out in its Constitution and include the following:

(A) to provide a forum for the promotion of fellowship, understanding, and functional cooperation for the enhancement of the administration of justice within the jurisdiction of each [CARICOM] member and associate state.
..
(C) to examine judicial problems, whether of a national or regional nature and to arrive at better solutions to them.

(d) to encourage, foster, and promote the development of Caribbean jurisprudence…”

The Constitution of the Conference has established such objectives because we accept and understand that the administration of justice is a constant work in progress that will benefit from our ability regularly to consult together to address the problems which will arise and to share our collective experiences for the implementation of best practices. 

The theme for this year’s meeting, “Administering Justice by Use of Information Technology: Building on COVID-19 Experiences,” is illustrative of how we seek to achieve the objectives of the Conference, recognizing as it does, the need to respond to the challenges of the times, while improving our ability to provide timely and effective access to justice.

Indeed, the opportunity for advancements arising from our recent experiences has already been the subject of discussion at the 2021 HoJs meeting. That meeting, the first to be convened remotely as the result of Covid restrictions then still in place, was itself an illustration of the adaptive benefits of the technology. 

The various ways in which our jurisdictions responded to the need for remote hearings during the pandemic were the subject of discussions at that meeting.

At this meeting, it is expected that we will be able to refine our thinking on how we might make remote hearings a permanent part of our procedures, so for instance, as to allow parties to participate in court proceedings without having physically to attend court.

It will be obvious that, if we can develop procedures to allow this without compromising the court’s ability to control the proceedings and enforce its orders, this will be of great benefit to persons in terms of the time and costs which would otherwise be expended in order to have access to justice.

Both the Acting Governor and the Hon Premier made mention of the progress the Courts have made in Cayman with the use of technology. These are significant and there are many more improvements to come, But Cayman is by no means unique in our region in that regard, and another aim of this meeting is to allow the HoJs to share our experiences in this area, hopefully with the result that all our jurisdictions will be better placed to know what technologies to adopt and which ones to avoid.

Another important item on our agenda is the well-being of judicial and other court officers. While inordinate stress has always been an element of judicial life, the need to address it was also brought to the fore by the pandemic which has had a near-universal impact on the way people across the globe have been able to work and conduct their daily lives.

The impact on judges was the subject of a survey and study undertaken by the Caribbean Association of Judicial Officers (CAJO). In its report, CAJO identifies several variables that result in and impact the extraordinary pressures of judicial life. 

The report proceeds upon the assumption of what it describes as “one poignant truth”, which is that “judicial officers engage several roles which require public accountability and transparency for very disciplined thinking, reasoning, and behavior. Their public personas allow little room for indiscretion, indulgence, or hedonistic extravagance. In small Caribbean societies, even permissible professional error can be a cause of public ridicule or shame. What is therefore clear, is that the work of a judicial officer is immense, and expectations run incredibly deep.”

The report continues: “The ongoing global pandemic is [one of the variables that has increased the pressure of judicial life] for Caribbean heads of judiciaries and judicial officers who are already tight-rope walking above burnout, stress, and lack of resources. [T]his tsunami of uncertainty that is COVID-19 has complicated realities in unanticipated and perhaps unbearable ways. Forced to be immediately responsive to the changing face of the administration of justice, judicial officers have found themselves in unfamiliar [territory], often with little time and space or resources to sufficiently process, engage healthy distance, and attend to the numerous other requirements of human living.”

The introduction to the report concludes: “By recognizing that well-being is fundamentally connected to and connects all parts of our being, we not only ensure healthier judicial officers but also healthier systems that secure and promote equality, fairness and justice. 

From a utilitarian perspective, well-being is directly linked to performance. And, ethically, the wellbeing of judicial officers, of all judicial staff, is an imperative of judicial integrity–a core value that requires attention to the whole system.”

And so it is that we are required to turn attention to the subject of wellness as part of the Conference Agenda–perhaps, in the Cayman context, simply following the lead which has already been set by the Government for all other public servants by way of the Portfolio of the Civil Service’s 2022-2023 Wellness Committee Plan, initiated by none other than the Deputy Governor, the Acting Governor here with us this morning, in his capacity as Head of the Civil Service.

I will not take more of your valuable time this morning to explain the Agenda for our meeting. Suffice it for the moment to say that the Agenda along with a Report of the meeting will be published and the press will have the opportunity, on behalf of the wider public, to ask questions about any aspect of the report.

Our meeting must, of course, be conducted in closed sessions to allow for the kind of frank and open exchanges which will allow us to achieve meaningful outcomes, despite the short time available. This is all the more reason that the Constitution of the Conference requires that a press release on each meeting must be published in each of our member states.

In closing, allow me to thank you all for taking the time to attend this opening ceremony. We regard your presence as an affirmation of the importance of the Conference and of the matters to be addressed. 

Finally, please allow me to take a moment to thank our hardworking members of staff of the Judicial Administration and others, such as the staff of the GIS and here at the RITZ Carlton, who have supported them in the hard work needed for the preparations for this meeting. I especially thank our Court Administrator Mrs. Bothwell for her support and guidance given to the team and Ms. Pat EBANKS, our conference organizer extraordinaire, with whom I have had the pleasure of working, not only for this meeting of the Conference of HoJs but also for that which we hosted 15 years ago in 2007.

Thank you all once more for attending this morning.