The Cayman Islands Constitution Order 2009

Protection of persons detained under emergency laws

22.—(1) When a person is detained by virtue of any law in relation to a period of public emergency the following provisions shall apply—

(a) notification shall, not more than ten days after the commencement of his or her detention, be published in a public place (and thereafter as soon as possible in a Government Notice) stating that he or she has been detained and giving particulars of the provision of law by virtue of which his or her detention is authorised;

(b) he or she shall (if not sooner released), as soon as reasonably practicable and in any case not more than four days after the commencement of his or her detention, be informed, in a language that he or she understands, of the grounds on which he or she is detained and furnished with a written statement;

(c) his or her case shall, not more than 30 days after the commencement of his or her detention and thereafter during the detention at intervals of not more than three months, be reviewed by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law and presided over by a person appointed by the Chief Justice;

(d) he or she shall be afforded reasonable opportunity to consult a legal practitioner of his or her own choice and to hold private communication with him or her; and

(e) he or she shall, at the hearing of his or her case by the tribunal appointed for its review, be permitted to appear in person or by a legal practitioner of his or her own choice.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1)(d) and (e), if the detained person is unable to retain a legal practitioner of his or her own choice, the tribunal may approve such person as it deems fit to make representations to it; but nothing in subsection (1)(d) or (e) shall be construed as entitling a detained person to legal representation at public expense.

(3) On any review by a tribunal of the case of a detained person under this section, the tribunal may make recommendations concerning the necessity or expediency of continuing his or her detention to the authority by which it was ordered but, unless it is otherwise provided by law, that authority shall not be obliged to act in accordance with any such recommendations.