An applicant under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act sought records relating to the expenditure of legal aid funds, partly in connection with a specific court case. The applicant sought four different categories of information concerning funds allocated, paid or agreed to be paid to a local law firm for legal services.
The Judicial Administration, the supervising authority for the Legal Aid Office, initially refused the applicant’s access to the records on the grounds of legal professional privilege (section 17(1)(a) of the FOI Act), but later relied upon the exemption for commercial value and interest exemptions (sections 21(1)(a) and (b)) of the FOI Act.
In her hearing decision on the request, the Ombudsman, Ms. Sharon Roulstone, stated that the Judicial Administration’s shifting position on which exemptions to apply became a procedural issue that led to delays in the process.
“The Ombudsman’s investigation was significantly and unnecessarily delayed due to repeated failures by the Public Authority (Judicial Administration) to respond within deadlines, a pattern of non-responsiveness that required escalation and multiple extensions,” the hearing decision stated. “Despite the Public Authority’s legal obligation to cooperate under the FOI Act, records required for the Ombudsman’s review under section 45 (of the Act) were unnecessarily withheld for extended periods.”
Ms. Roulstone ultimately found that it was not reasonably likely that the commercial interests of either the local law firm or the Cayman Islands Government would be harmed by disclosure of the information sought. The Ombudsman found that the Judicial Administration had not identified any trade secrets or information that possessed commercial value as defined under section 21(1)(a) of the FOI Act.
The Ombudsman did find that certain sections of the records sought should be withheld from disclosure, as they could relate to an actionable breach of confidence involving legal advice privilege.
The Judicial Administration was required by order dated 10 April 2026 to disclose the records to the applicant, in part, within 20 days from the date of the Ombudsman’s decision.
The full text of the decision may be found here: https://ombudsman.ky/images/pdf/decisions/FOI_Decisions/Hearing%20108-202500461.pdf