The Editor Speaks: Is there really Freedom of Information in Cayman Islands?
Finally lawyer Peter Polack got a reply to his FOI Requests* Please see Editor’s Note
The following are Freedom of Information Requests to the Royal Cayman Islands Police Force showing the number of days old the requests are. This was sent to me s few days ago by Mr. Polack and therefore the actual days are even later.
No.1 – 115 days old
FOI request:
Number of persons employed by Cayman Islands Government convicted of driving while intoxicated while operating government vehicles 2011, 2012,2013.
Number of persons employed by Cayman Islands Government convicted of other traffic offences while operating government vehicles 2011, 2012,2013.
Number of persons employed by Cayman Islands Government convicted of driving while intoxicated 2011, 2012,2013.
Number of Cayman Islands Government vehicles involved in road accidents 2011,2012,2013
No.2 – 104 days old
FOI request including spent convictions:
Number of persons in the Cayman Islands with a criminal conviction.
Number of persons in the Cayman Islands with a traffic conviction if not considered a criminal conviction.
Number of persons in the Cayman Islands with a criminal conviction for murder, manslaughter, firearm, robbery and grievous bodily harm.
Number of persons in the Cayman Islands with a criminal conviction excluding murder, manslaughter, firearm, robbery and grievous bodily harm.
Number of persons convicted of drug offences.
Number of RCIPS officers with a criminal conviction.
Number of RCIPS officers with a traffic conviction.
No.3 – 28 days old
FOI Request:
1.Number of persons on police bail from 2009 until present.
2.Number of persons on police bail from 2010 until present.
3.Number of persons on police bail from 2011 until present.
4.Number of persons on police bail from 2012 until present.
5.Number of persons on police bail from 2013 until present.
6.Number of persons on police bail on September 2014.
7.Number of persons on police bail at September 2014 who have been on bail:
-over three months
-over six months
– over twelve months
– over eighteen months
– over twenty four months
– over thirty months
– over thirty six months
No.4 – 25 days old
FOI Request:
- Number and rank of Caymanian RCIPS personnel who have left the service in 2012, 2013 and January-September 2014.
- Number and rank of Non-Caymanian RCIPS personnel who have left the service in 2012, 2013 and January-September 2014.
- Number and rank of Caymanian RCIPS personnel who have given notice to leave the service January-September 2014.
- Number and rank of Non- Caymanian RCIPS personnel who have given notice to leave the service January-September 2014.
- Number of Caymanian and Non-Caymanian with rank in the RCIPS at September 2014.
No.5 –7 days old
FOI request in regard to RCIPS parade excluding band members on Remembrance Day 9 November 2014:
– Number of members of RCIPS in marching unit of parade excluding band
– Number of Caymanian members of RCIPS in in marching unit of parade excluding band
– Number of UK members of RCIPS in parade in marching unit of parade excluding band
– Number of Jamaican members of RCIPS in parade in marching unit of parade excluding band
– Citizenship of other members of RCIPS in parade in marching unit of parade excluding band
END
After weeks of waiting finally there came a reply but it was only to Polack’s request for [police] court bail that was only 28 days old and 2 days within the 30 day time period. Except the first reply he got did not contain the attachment with the information he had requested.
And the following is the reply: (do you hear the rolling of the drums?) – but it was not from the RCIPS
From Office of The Director of Public Prosecutions
17th November 2014
Mr. Peter Polack
By e-mail:
FOI: 64970/14
{please refer when replying)
Dear Mr. Polack,
RE: Freedom of Information Request- Dated 20th October 2014
Reference is made to the matter at caption wherein you requested disclosure of the following:
“1.Number of persons on court bail from 2009 until present.
2.Number of persons on court bail from 2010 until present.
3.Number of persons on court bail from 2011 until present.
4.Number of persons on court bail from 2012 until present.
S.Number of persons on court bail from 2013 until present.
S.Number of persons on court bail at September 2014.
6.Number of persons on court bail at September 2014 who have been on bail:
-over three months
-over six months
– over twelve months
-over eighteen months
– over twenty four months
-over thirty months
-over thirty six months”
Please be advised that in order to provide the records which you seek the Records Officer would be required to manually search the Summary Court, Grand Court and Court of Appeal records spanning this period. In light of this, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has deemed this as an unreasonable diversion of resources pursuant to section 9(c) of the Freedom of Information Law, 2007.
Please be advised that you have a right to request an Internal Review of the decision under section 33 of the Freedom of Information Law, in circumstances where the decision maker:
(a) refused to grant access;
(b) granted partial access to the record(s) specified in your application; (c) deferred the grant of access to the document;
(d) refused to amend or annotate an official document containing personal information; or
(e) charged a fee for action taken or as to the amount of the fee charged;
where the decision was taken by a person other than the responsible Minister, Chief Officer or
Principal Officer of the public authority.
You have 30 days from the date of receipt of this Notice to request an Internal Review by writing to the Public Authority in question and including:
(a) your name, address and telephone number;
(b) a copy of your Application and/or the Reference Number assigned to your Application;
(c) a copy of this letter; and
(d) if so inclined, the basis on which you are requesting a Review of the decision indicated.
If upon Internal Review, the decision is still not favourable to you, you have the right under section 42 of the FOI Law to appeal to the Information Commissioner within 30 days of: (a) the date of notification of the decision taken at Intemal Review;
(b) a decision taken by a responsible Minister, Chief Officer or Principal Officer of the public authority; or
(c) the date on which you should have been notified of the decision(s) referred to above but of which you received no notification.
Contact Details for the Information Commissioner’s Office: Mr. Jan Liebaers
P.O. Box 375 Telephone: 345-747-5402
Email: [email protected] and/or [email protected]
If you have any queries about this letter, please contact the undersigned. Please remember to quote your reference number above in any future correspondence.
Signed
Information Manager The Director of Public Prosecutions
END
It is ‘interesting’ Polack has still not received a reply from the RCIPS who in September 2011 they lauded their new statistics computer and software that at a press of a button could tell you how many suspects drank tea and how many drank coffee when being interviewed.
What is woeful is the way the very government authorities – police and prosecutions – are so opaque when it comes to delivering information the public should know. To give an excuse that they deem it as an unreasonable diversion of resources means they can quote this ad nauseam to any such request made upon them.
All of it being to delay and pass it on to someone else for them to make a ruling for them to ask for a tribunal and so on.
With the governor’s office using another judicial review to fight the FOI Commissioner’s ruling over Operation Tempura the precedent is now set for every statutory body to ignore anything he rules on.
It all makes nonsense of any so called “Freedom of Information”. You can even use as an excuse for refusing information because of the Cayman Islands press as well, as we are unruly and unregulated.
We did get an apology but it came third hand!
I am of the opinion there is no Freedom of Information here in the Cayman Islands. We must all be good little boys and girls and swallow our medicine. Doctor’s orders.
If you don’t like it…… tough.
*EDITOR”S NOTE: Since this Editorial was written and first posted lawyer Peter Polack has now received a reply back from the RCIPS with information. I will share this with you tomorrow.
It would belike writing to a newspaper and asking – can you please look through your old issues and see how many times the name Peter Polak comes up? At some point in time you reasonably need to be able to say that the request is unreasonable. Unless you’d like to pay to have someone page through years of old documents?