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Cayman Islands - Government

The territory is governed as a parliamentary democracy, with judicial, executive, and legislative branches. The territory has more than 165 years of representative government.

The present constitution, the fourth issued by the British Crown since 1959, came into effect on 6 November 2009; it provides for the governing of the Cayman Islands as a British Overseas Territory. The Governor, who represents the Queen of the United Kingdom, heads the territorial Government and presides over the Cabinet.

The Cabinet (6 members selected from the Legislative Assembly and appointed by the governor on the advice of the premier). The monarchy is hereditary; governor appointed by the monarch; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition appointed premier by the governor.

The unicameral Legislative Assembly (21 seats; 19 members directly elected by majority vote and 2 ex officio members - the deputy governor and attorney general - appointed by the governor; members serve 4-year terms) Elections were last held on 24 May 2017 (next to be held in 2021).

Court of Appeal and Grand Court judges are appointed by the governor on the advice of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission, an 8-member independent body consisting of governor appointees, Court of Appeal president, and attorneys; Court of Appeal judges' tenure based on their individual instruments of appointment; Grand Court judges normally appointed until retirement at age 65 but can be extended until age 70.

There is no second tier of local government. A district commissioner represents the Governor on Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. The Cayman Islands is divided into six districts. Five are on Grand Cayman: East End, North Side, Bodden Town, George Town, and West Bay. The sixth district, Sister Islands, is comprised of Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. The districts of East End and North Side, both with about 700 voters apiece, are significantly smaller than 1,186 average voters in the remainder of Grand Cayman’s other 15 voting districts.

The Cayman Islands elections “amply met the international standard” for democratic and transparent elections, according to a group of six Commonwealth observers who have been reviewing the voting process in May 2017. "The results truly do reflect the will of the people,” said Steve Rodan, the head of mission for the Commonwealth observers. “Cayman can feel confident in its processes … whether or not they are pleased with the results." The six observers spent the week in Cayman checking everything from elections advertising, to news coverage, to ballot counting and voter registration.

There were a few governance-related issues raised by the elections observers in their preliminary report on the Cayman Islands’ elections. These included unfair requirements for voters and candidates’ residence in the Cayman Islands prior to an election being held, and some concern about the state of campaign finance reporting prior to elections.