BackThe Supreme Court upheld the Ombudsman for Bermuda’s Certificate of Contempt of Court and held the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of the City of Hamilton to be guilty of contempt.
The Supreme Court held that, in the absence of a lawful excuse, the failure of the Corporation’s two most senior executives to comply with the Ombudsman’s Summonses constituted a contempt of Court: “The contempt occurred because the Respondents, who had been doing their best to cooperate with an investigation they did not truly welcome, most likely because they were heavily committed to matters which they considered to be far more important, allowed their personal irritation to get the better of their judgement. In the result they have effectively compelled the Ombudsman to issue the present proceedings to prove an ultimately obvious legal point.”
Arlene Brock, Ombudsman for Bermuda, stated: “I am delighted that the Supreme Court has upheld my certification of Contempt of Court for failure to comply with a Summons to attend. This is a precedent setting case for the entire Commonwealth.”
Please find the full press release as well as the judgment of the Supreme Court of Bermuda below.
Source: Office of the Ombudsman, Bermuda
