Court Case Comes To An Abrupt End As The New Cabinet Revokes New Members Appointed To The National Conservation Council Just Before Elections

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By Alric Lindsay

The case of The King (Otao Stuart Mailer & Patricia Bradley) versus The Cabinet of the Cayman Islands & et al came to an abrupt end this afternoon, May 15, 2025. This is because the new Cabinet revoked the appointment of new members put in place just before the general elections, leaving the application for judicial review argument an academic one.

Explaining what occurred today, lawyers said they were made aware of a positive development: the new Cabinet changed the composition of the National Conservation Council. Accordingly, the parties agreed to a draft order to discontinue proceedings.

Before reading out the draft order, Justice Carter said:

I’m quite pleased that the parties have been able to come to a resolution.

It is obviously a matter of some national interest and I think the optics are always better when they’re can be agreement.

Justice Carter then read the draft order as follows:

Upon the respondent having taken a decision on the 15th of May, 2025 to revoke the appointment of certain members of the NCC and to appoint certain new members, upon the applicants and the respondents having agreed terms for the settlement of the application, it is hereby ordered that:

1.The application is withdrawn.

2. The respondents shall pay the applicant’s costs of the proceedings from Monday the 12th of May, 2025 to be assessed if not agreed.

3. The remainder of the cost of the proceedings are reserved.

4. The applicants and the respondents shall, by the 5th of June 2025, seek to agree direction to the resolution of the outstanding cost issues, failing which they shall file and serve by e-mail submissions on directions by the 12th of June, 2025.

Commenting upon the outcome, attorney Kate McClymont said:

The Cabinet revoked the appointments of the new members.

[While] they did not reinstate the applicants, they appointed new people who we consider fulfilled the requirements who our clients are happy with.