Upholding high ethical standards plays a critical role in ensuring that the conduct of public officials in the Cayman Islands meets the expectations of the people in the Cayman Islands, as well as complies with and balances our constitutional rights such as non-discrimination, freedom of conscience and religion, and freedom of expression. Such public officials include, at the highest level, Members of Parliament, amongst others.
Implementing policy documents, like parliamentary codes of conduct, can help ensure that persons holding positions of power in our Islands have transparent checks and balances and that they remain accountable in their behaviours. It is against this background that the Human Rights Commission has undertaken research on parliamentary codes of conduct and related documents within the Caribbean and non-regional Commonwealth jurisdictions.
The chart developed summarises this research and illustrates Cayman’s status in a comparative manner in order to demonstrate what areas need to still be developed. Maintaining a robust set of policies to manage the conduct of public officials formalises and professionalises integrity expectations set by the public and is essential to maintaining public confidence. Furthermore, implementing such policies provides an opportunity to ensure officials are acting in the public interest and creates an avenue for upholding individuals’ rights at a parliamentary level.
Following the undertaking of the research the Commission issued correspondence to the Honourable Members of the Legislative Assembly recommending the establishment of a parliamentary code of conduct. This letter, along with the chart developed during the undertaking of research, can be found on the Commission’s website http://www.humanrightscommission.ky/parliamentarycodesofconduct
Kattina Anglin
17 Nov, 2020The only issues the HRC seems to be championing are those that have the potential to affect the LGBT.
When last did the HRC champion rights and resources for the disabled, proper home health care for indigents (another human right) or visit HMP prisons to receive complaints directly from persons constitutionally recognized as "vulnerable" and assess their conditions at facilities that have been described by the UK as deplorable..family members hear complaints every day what inmates go through.
The HRC has not published a report since 2017, statistics since 2016, a response since 2017 but yet it has spoken on every LGBT issue in this country; now it wants to control free speech in the "Hallowed Halls".
I agree that we should all be mindful of what we say and how it can affect others, but the HRC needs to stop acting like the law enforcement branch of the LGBT even to the extent that it wants to tell parliamentarians what to say during debates, infringe free speech and conscience.