OT 349: E-mail from Jonathan Finney, Senior Parliamentary Officer, Stonewall, to Andrew Mackinlay: Cayman Islands Constitution

 

Further to our conversation this morning, some background as promised on the Cayman Islands constitution. I'm copying this email to the Chairman and Clerk of the Committee as suggested. Thank you for raising this issue with us.

 

Stonewall was contacted earlier in the year by residents of the Cayman Islands concerned that the draft constitution neglects to specifically mention sexual orientation and that as a consequence lesbian, gay or bisexual people could be subject to unfair treatment or have weaker protection from unlawful discrimination than other groups. Stonewall works nationally at GB level but given the status of the Cayman Islands as an overseas territory we raised these concerns with officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

 

FCO told us that they were aware that some people, including the Human Rights Committee of the Cayman Islands, felt that the text of the constitution should go further and provide for more rights through specific references, for example to sexual orientation, rather than the open-ended reference to 'other status' in the draft.

 

· FCO have sought to assure Stonewall and others that under the new constitution there will be an independent Human Rights Commission which will monitor human rights in a local context.

 

· In areas which the Bill of Rights does not explicitly cover it will be for the Legislative Assembly (the elected representatives of the people of the Cayman Islands) to decide whether and in what form the rights should be set out in law.

 

· All Overseas Territories (except the British Virgin Islands) now grant the right of individual petition under ECHR, so this is an avenue of 'last resort' in the event that the Cayman Islands should discriminate because of sexual orientation.

 

These assurances are welcome but Stonewall believes that an explicit reference to sexual orientation would allay the understandable concerns of those based in the Cayman Islands. Moves to specifically include sexual orientation in the constitution would be welcome.

 

Please don't hesitate to get in touch if we can be of any further assistance.

 

 

6 May 2009