Legal aid to be reviewed in Cayman
As far as lawmakers have concerns the country’s spending on legal aid, Chief Justice Anthony Smellie has made a promise to review the system providing attorneys for poor defendants. Mr. Smellie is going to look at the whole question of legal aid spending from all the perspectives.
The courts staff will complete the review and its results will be processed to the Law Reform Commission, which, in its turn, will make recommendations on what should be changed. Approximately 2-3 months is a period expected to be spent for the court review.
The concerns began when several Members of the Legislative Assembly inquired why the costs spent to provide lawyers in criminal and civil cases haveincreased more than twice this decade in Cayman Islands.
In accordance with figures Mr. Smellie provided, within the past 10 years, legal aid costs have actually tripled. Cayman’s budget for legal aid was $556 818 In 1999, while this year it is expected to be about $1.8 million, including supplemental spending. However, Mr. Smellie said that the number of criminal charges coming before the courts during the same period has risen 77%. Cayman Islands courts had 4 929 criminal charges In 1999, while last year they saw 8 729 charges.
According to Chief Justice, more than 90% of all defendants in criminal charges qualify for legal aid as many either come from poor backgrounds or have been imprisoned before and had no job afterwards.