GRAND COURT OF THE CAYMAN ISLANDS BANS COPYING OF COURT FILES

The Chief Justice of the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands has issued an order, prohibiting the public from making photocopies of court pleadings. You can just make out the notice, prominently posted on the door at the clerk's office, according to witnesses.  Of course, the public can review the court files, and take notes, but no method of copying or photographing shall be permitted hereafter.

One wonders whether the recent high-profile fraud cases, originating in the Cayman Islands, have directed more negative attention towards the offshore financial center than the government desires, hence the effort to keep the original court documents, some of which could be interpreted as a "head in the sand" approach, by local regulators and law enforcement, off the Internet.

In any event, reporting on major financial crime in the Cayman Islands, just became for difficult for the foreign press, who often rely upon court filings when covering the news of the Cayman Islands. Also, as the democracies of the Caribbean seem to be slipping further and further into authoritarianism, and rule by strong men, who seem more like banana republic despots, rather than the elected democratic leaders they are supposed to be, risk levels for foreign investment keep climbing upward.