Cayman ISLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Sam Dawson, Peter Sherwood and Denis Olarou, Carey Olsen
A party to proceedings may apply to the court for an order that any document or part thereof filed with the court should be sealed from the pub- lic. Such sealing orders are not made lightly and require proper justification. However, in appro- priate circumstances, the court can and does seal sensitive documents, and the court is highly experienced in dealing with sealing applications. Insolvency Proceedings In respect of documents filed with the court in insolvency proceedings, the default position is that, in addition to the company’s liquidator, the entire court file may be inspected by: • any former liquidator or controller of the company; • any person who was a director or profes- sional service provider of the company immediately before the commencement of liquidation; • any person claiming in writing to be a creditor or contributory of the company; and • in cases of regulated businesses, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority. Any other person may inspect the court file by special leave of the court. The court may, having regard to the overriding principle that justice should be done, order the sealing of a document on the court file of an insolvency proceeding for a specific period of time or until the happening of a specified event (usually the final dissolution of the company). However, it must be shown that the information in question is confidential and will not enter the public domain unless the document is filed with the court and the publication of this information will harm the economic interests of the creditors or contributories of the company. Any document sealed on this basis may be unsealed on the
application of the liquidator, creditor, or contribu- tory. Trials and winding-up petitions are generally heard in open court, unless the court directs, for some special reason, that they should be heard in chambers. Interlocutory summonses, both in insolvency proceedings and in general litigation, are usually heard in chambers, unless the court directs a hearing in open court. Proceedings in chambers are generally considered private, although the judge may allow members of the public to attend. The courts are guided by the principle of open justice but are also prepared to conduct hear- ings (or parts of hearings) in private where this is properly justified. 1.4 Legal Representation in Court Natural persons may represent themselves and conduct court proceedings as litigants in per- son. However, save in exceptional circumstanc- es, companies must always be represented by an attorney-at-law. Only persons admitted to practice as attorneys- at-law in the Cayman Islands have unrestricted rights of audience before the courts. The legal profession in the Cayman Islands is not divided between solicitors and barristers in terms of rights of audience, as is the case in England. All local attorneys have equal rights of audience. Foreign Lawyers Foreign lawyers have no rights of audience and cannot conduct cases before the Cayman Islands courts. To the extent that foreign lawyers are engaged to act in connection with Cayman Islands proceedings, their fees will not generally be recoverable from the losing party as disburse- ments (save where they are engaged to give an
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