My Lord Chief
Justice, Honourable Judges of the Grand Court, Honourable Chief
Magistrate, other Honourable Magistrates, President of the Justices
of the Peace Association, Honourable Attorney-General, Madam
Solicitor-General, President of the Cayman Islands Legal
Practitioners Association, President of A.L.P.A., distinguished
colleagues at the Bar, distinguished Special Guests, Ladies and
Gentlemen.

I
rise to second the Attorney-General’s motion for the Opening of the
Grand Court. I am grateful to my Lord Chief Justice for the
opportunity to make a few remarks on behalf of our office as I do so.

It
was with great sadness that we bid farewell, in the summer of 2019,
to Justice Charles Quin. May I simply echo the sentiments expressed
by the Honourable Attorney General as to the loss of Quin, J, and
indeed Justice Mangatal, from the bench of the Cayman Islands.

On
a happier note, we at the Office of the D.P.P. are very pleased to
see the return to the Cayman Islands of the Honourable Justice
Margaret Ramsay-Hale, and we look forward to appearing before her as
and when the opportunity presents itself.

Last
year saw the implementation of new Criminal Procedure Rules, which
were issued in November. Active case management is a key theme
underpinning these Rules.

Close
adherence to the rules, by all stakeholders, should result in more
effective use of court time and less delay within the system. The
enforcement of these rules will ensure that the wheels of justice
turn at a pace set by the Court.

The
caseload of the criminal courts has not abated in the last 12 months.
In 2019 the Court of Appeal dealt with several important cases,
including one in which multiple challenges were brought to the
minimum prison terms to be served by those serving life sentences.

In
each case the Crown argued that the minimum terms were appropriate.
The Court of Appeal agreed, and upheld minimum terms for those 5
offenders with a combined total of over 160 years. The judgment
sends an extremely strong message.

It
was not the only deterrent message sent out by the Court of Appeal
last year. In 2 further appeals against sentence, in cases involving
firearms, custodial sentences well into double figures were upheld on
appeal.

The
Grand Court has also had a high volume of criminal work. 110 new
indictments were
filed in 2019, and
our records indicate that 111 were disposed of. This represents an
increase of over 20% on case disposals from the previous year.

It
should be remembered, however, that just one complex trial can take
up a far greater amount of court time than 5 or 6 more
straightforward cases. With an increasing number of such complex
trials, the Grand Court’s criminal workload may become busier than
ever before.

The
work of the Summary Court has remained somewhat more constant.
Constantly busy. Our records indicate that over 2000 live criminal
charges were before the Summary Court in 2019 (not including traffic
cases).

It
is a credit to the Honourable Chief Magistrate and her team of able
Magistrates, as well as the Judicial Administration team, that this
workload is being properly managed.

I
would like to take the opportunity to recognize the work of my Lord
Chief Justice in bringing about further improvements to our systems.
A criminal trials workshop, led by Justice Dame Dobbs, took place in
July 2019. It was well received - and well attended - by
practitioners from both sides of the Criminal Bar.

Following
the publication of a report into the efficiency of the Summary Court,
a further project was undertaken late in 2019, to examine ways in
which improvements can be made to our criminal justice system.
Expert consultants, engaged by the judiciary, conducted a thorough
review of processes, in conjunction with various stakeholders, and we
look forward to their recommendations in due course.

Other,
less visible, work continues to be conducted by the Office of the
D.P.P. Our international team provides as much assistance as
possible to other countries requesting our help in their fights
against crime. As with other other aspects of our work, this takes
place outside the public eye.

During
2019 we dealt with 39 requests for international legal assistance,
emanating from 14 different countries. Requests for evidence, court
order, and sometimes extradition, which can be complicated and time
consuming work. That is the highest amount of international requests
that we have received since we began keeping records. In one complex
case, we were pleased to receive a note of personal thanks from the
Director of the United Kingdom Serious Fraud Office.

The
C.F.A.T.F.’s Mutual Evaluation Report of the Cayman Islands was
published in February 2019, and not all of it made for for good
reading. Before the report was published, work was beginning across
government to address the deficiencies it highlighted. That work has
continued throughout 2019 and into 2020.

All
supervisors, regulators and law enforcement agencies are working
tirelessly to enhance our ability to combat illicit flows of money
potentially associated with international financial crime. Later
this year we will find out whether those efforts have been
successful, or whether further improvements will be required to meet
the evolving standards set down by the international community.

Much
of the work to address the report has been led by Senior Crown
Counsel Elisabeth Lees, who was seconded from the Office of the
D.P.P. for most of 2019, to be the National Co-Ordinator of the
government-wide efforts to address the report.

Since
the report was published, the Office of the D.P.P. has significantly
enhanced its own abilities to prosecute money laundering and other
forms of financial offending, with the addition of 2 full time
positions for counsel specialising solely in financial crime.

Such
cases can be extremely complex, and require a particular skillset.
We have also rolled out an extensive program of financial crime
training to all of our team, in order to ensure that everyone can
play their part when called upon. We are determined to do so. Much
good work has been done, and much remains to do.

Finally,
may I take the opportunity to thank the former Director of Public
Prosecutions, Mme Cheryl Richards, (now Mme Justice Richards), for
her steady stewardship of the Office of the D.P.P. for almost a
decade, and for her wise counsel over the years.

Patrick
Moran

Director
of Public Prosecutions