CCPR/C/58/Add.6 page 102
Article 1
8. Elections are held every four years, at which any candidate may propose changes to the relationship with the United Kingdom as part of his manifesto. Additionally, anyone may advocate such changes through the media or any other forum, and this includes elected Members in the Legislative Assembly. The last election (in November 1988) revealed no evidence of any wish for change among the electorate, nor did any candidate suggest such changes.
H.M. Government has undertaken and will continue to respect and follow the views of the people, should these at any time change.
9. The next census will be held in October 1989. As in 1979, however, it will not inquire into the racial origin of the population. This is by the express decision of the Executive Council, based on its assessment of community tradition and opinion. At the end of 1988, the resident population was estimated at 25,900. This was based on a demographic survey carried out by the Statistics Office of the Cayman Islands Government. A copy of the survey has been submitted with this report (see appendix).
10.
Local legislation can be challenged in the courts as being either procedurally or substantively ultra vires the 1972 Constitution Order or (in the case of regulations or orders) the enabling law. Additionally, any law may be disallowed by Her Majesty acting by a Secretary of State if it is, inter alia, inconsistent with any treaty obligation.
Article 2
11. Cayman continues to be a racially harmonious and fully integrated society. Section 72 of the Labour Law 1987 outlaws discrimination in employment on the grounds of race, colour, creed, sex, age or political beliefs. Breach of this section would give opportunity for both civil and criminal redress through the courts. The Director of Labour has to date not received any complaint on the ground of racial or sexual discrimination in employment. (N.B. The Caymanian Protection Law 1984 discriminates in favour of Caymanians and those with Caymanian status in employment, but this is based on nationality, not on race.)
Article 3
12.
Men and women enjoy equal rights in the Islands. In particular, there is no discrimination against women in immigration or in citizenship rights. Only one distinction is made between men and women in the Caymanian Protection Law 1984. One of the matters that the Caymanian Protection Board must take into account when deciding to grant status is that the applicant would live in the Islands. The law expressly provides, however, that that should not disqualify women who live apart from their husbands and whose domicile is, by reason of their marital status, outside the Board's control.
Article 4
13. The Emergency Powers Law (Revised) 1978 empowers the Governor by proclamation to declare a state of emergency arising from natural causes such as a hurricane or an outbreak of infectious disease which is "of such a nature and on so extensive a scale as to be likely to endanger the public safety and to deprive the community or any substantial portion of the community of