An evening of in-depth insight into the criminal justice system in the Cayman Islands
For approximately three hours on 29 March 2025, the group of thirty participants who comprise the Leadership Cayman Class of 2025 gathered at the Law Courts in Courts 1, 2 and 3 for presentations from, and interactive sessions with, their lecturers for the evening , Mr. Simon Davis, Director of Public Prosecutions, Her Honour Mrs. Kirsty-Ann Gunn, Magistrate of the Summary Court, and Mr. Kurt Walton, Commissioner of the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service.
At 6 p.m., the start of the evening, Chief Justice Margaret Ramsay-Hale, opened proceedings by welcoming the group, providing a historical overview of the Law Courts, and touching on a wide range of topics such as the building, in the early 1970s, of the current campus’ main Court building in which Courts 1, 2 and 3 are located; the types of cases heard by the Grand Court; the advent of Judge Alone trials and their effectiveness for the trial and case-disposal process; a description of the Coroner’s Court; the Court’s duty to dispense justice fairly for victims and also for defendants; the rules of sentencing and how diagnosed mental illnesses affect the sentencing process; as well as other factors which Judges and Magistrates address in the Courts, daily.
The Chief Justice said she was pleased that the Law Courts could provide this group of young Caymanians, who are part of the sixteen-year-old intensive learning Leadership Cayman programme, and who are focused on contributing to the socio-economic fabric of the Cayman Islands, with a most suitable location for their lectures – the hallowed halls in which justice has been dispensed for decades, with excellence, in the Cayman Islands. The Chief Justice added that the lecturers for the evening will, no doubt, provide the broadest range of information available on crime and criminal offences, the prosecution process, as well as court proceedings falling in the family, civil and other divisions of the Courts.
Photo Caption:
At the end of approximately three hours of presentations and interactive sessions, Leadership Cayman 2025 participants marked the occasion of their visit to the Law Courts on 19 March 2025 by gathering on the Bench in Court 1 with their lecturers for the evening – Mr. Simon Davis, Director of Public Prosecutions, Her. Hon. Mrs. Gunn, Magistrate Summary Court, and Mr. Kurt Walton, Commissioner of the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (Front row, 1st, 4th and 6th from left).