Her Excellency, the Governor, Mrs. Jane Owen, on the advice of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission, has appointed Mr. Ben Tonner KC as an Acting Judge of the Grand Court. Mr. Tonner will serve during the newly introduced Long Vacation from 5 August to 30 August 2024.
Mr. Tonner is a name partner and leading litigator at McGrath Tonner. He brings over 17 years of litigation experience spanning both criminal and civil cases, including fraud, money laundering, asset tracing, regulatory enforcement, insolvency and restructuring, and judicial review proceedings.
Mr. Tonner has frequently appeared as leading counsel in the Grand Court and the Court of Appeal of the Cayman Islands. He has also appeared before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the highest court of civil and criminal appeal for many of the jurisdictions in the Commonwealth.
Mr. Tonner was called to the Cayman Islands Bar in 2005 and to the Inner Bar of the Cayman Islands in 2017. He earned his LL.M. from the University of London (LSE) in 2013 and his LLB from the University of Warwick (Hons) in 1999. He completed his Bar Vocational Course in 2000 before being called to the Bar of England & Wales that same year.
Commenting on his appointment to the Grand Court, the Chief Justice noted that “the Bench is recruited from the best at the Bar” and that Mr. Tonner, “a highly experienced practitioner and the first criminal lawyer at the Cayman Bar to be appointed King’s Counsel, is well-qualified to sit as a Judge.”
Mr. Tonner is the current Chairman of the Human Rights Commission. Other appointments include membership on the Expungement Board, the Criminal Justice Law Reform Committee, the Legal Practitioners Association, and the Anti-Corruption Commission. He is a founding member of the Criminal Defence Bar Association.
