Nov 2015
CAYMAN ISLANDS
GRAND COURT
APPARENT BIAS – JUDGES SITTING IN MULTIPLE JURISDICTIONS
This Appeal considered two important questions. First, when sitting in Jurisdiction A in a case concerning parties who are domiciled in Jurisdiction B, should a judge disclose their connection with Jurisdiction B or even recuse himself? Second, does it make a difference that the party domiciled in Jurisdiction B is closely connected with the government in Jurisdiction B or that the Judge’s status as a judge in Jurisdiction B may depend on the power of the government in that jurisdiction to terminate that status?
Justice Sir Peter Cresswell, a judge of the Financial Services Division of the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands, heard the petition for the winding up of the Respondent, made a winding up order and appointed the Respondent’s liquidators. Cresswell J was also unknown to BTU Power Company’s (“BTU”) sole director and chief executive officer Mr. Wael Almazeedi (the “Appellant”), a supplementary judge of the Qatar International Court.