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The Cayman Islands has three
resident judges, three magistrates
and over 80 justices of the peace,
some of whom serve as lay
magistrates. The governor appoints
magistrates on the advice of the
chief justice. Judges of the Grand
Court and the Court of Appeal are
appointed in accordance with
instructions from the secretary of
state of the United Kingdom on
behalf of Her Majesty the Queen. The
governor, on the advice of the
secretary of state, appoints one of
the judges to be the chief justice.
Justice in the Cayman Islands is
administered at three levels - in
the Summary Court (including the
Youth Court), the Grand Court and
the Court of Appeal. The Youth Court
has general jurisdiction to try all
summary offences committed by
juveniles less than 17 years of age.
The Court is presided over by a
magistrate sitting alone or with two
justices of the peace, at least one
of whom must be of the opposite
gender to the magistrate, or by
three justices of the peace, at
least one of whom must be a woman.
The Summary Court has a civil and
criminal jurisdiction. One or two
magistrates normally exercise
jurisdiction, although provision is
made for two lay justices of the
peace to preside. Coroner's inquests
are held in Summary Court where a
magistrate sits with a jury as
coroner for the Islands. Appeals
from the Summary Court lie to the
Grand Court. The Grand Court is a
superior court of record and
administers the common law and the
law of equity of England, as well as
locally enacted laws and applied
laws. Appeals from the Grand Court
lie to the Cayman Islands Court of
Appeal composed of a president and
not less than two judges of appeal.
A judge of the Grand Court may
exercise any of the powers of a
single judge of the Court of Appeal.
Further appeal lies, in certain
circumstances, to the Judicial
Committee of the Privy Council in
London.
The Cayman Islands is a
parliamentary democracy with
judicial, executive and legislative
branches. The present constitution,
which came into effect on 22 August
1972, provides for the government of
the Cayman Islands as a British
Dependent Overseas Territory. It is
the third written constitution
issued for the Islands by the
British Crown since 1959, though
there is a history of over 160 years
of representative government. The
Islands' constitution has evolved as
the population and economy has
grown; however, Cayman has not moved
to the stage where there is a chief
minister. The Islands pride
themselves on having an independent
judiciary, emphasizing that the
Grand Court was established by the
Constitution. In many forms of
parliamentary government, executive
and legislative branches are not
totally separate. In the Cayman
Islands, the people elect the
members of the legislature, and the
legislature elects the majority of
the Cabinet. There is no second tier
of local government. A district
commissioner represents the governor
in Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. In
May 2001 the Governor appointed a
Constitutional Modernization Review
Commission that made recommendations
on further changes in the Islands'
political process and governmental
structure. As a result, the
Executive Council became Cabinet,
both a Leader of Government Business
and a Leader of the Opposition were
officially appointed, and an
Electoral Boundary Commission was
appointed and made recommendations
to turn Cayman’s districts into
one-person, one-vote constituencies.
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