Tristan : Constitutional Advisor Passes on
Submitted by Tristan Times (Juanita Brock) 07.03.2010 (Article Archived on 21.03.2010)

Michael Bradley, CMG, QC, former Cayman Islands Attorney General, passed away in the UK on Monday, 22 February, at the age of 76.

CONSTITUTIONAL ADVISOR PASSES ON

By J. Brock (FINN)

Michael Bradley, CMG, QC, former Cayman Islands Attorney General, passed away in the UK on Monday, 22 February, at the age of 76.

Spanning 46 years his legal career included significant public sector roles in the UK, Africa and the Caribbean. As Cayman’s Attorney General between 1982 and 1987, he led efforts to fine tune and to consolidate legislation that would advance Cayman’s financial industry by attracting new business, catering to market demands and adapting to changing trends.

Leaving an indelible mark as Cayman’s first Law Revision, Mr Bradley was Commissioner from 1994 until his retirement in October 2009. Considered “the natural choice” for the position, Mr Bradley had been identified by the UK in 1993 as the British Dependent Territories law reform and law revision consultant.

Prior to his Cayman years, Mr Bradley had acquired considerable legal expertise in several other jurisdictions. He was state counsel in Malawi; senior, and then chief parliamentary draftsman in Botswana, and UN legal adviser to Antigua’s government.

 
Additionally, as an officer of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), he served as regional legal draftsman to the governments of the Eastern Caribbean. Stints as attorney general followed, first in the British Virgin Islands, then the Turks and Caicos Islands and again in Montserrat, prior to his acceptance of the same position in Cayman.

 
Mr Bradley also served for six years as Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands. Also of note during his extended career, his role as the FCO’s Constitutional Adviser for the British Overseas Territories saw him play an integral part in UK-Cayman negotiations for developing the new Constitution that was adopted last year.

 
Between 2005 and 2009, Mr Bradley was also a member of the UK delegation that negotiated new constitutions for the Turks and Caicos Islands, Gibraltar, the British Virgin Islands, and the Falkland Islands, as well as St Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha. Montserrat’s is yet to be completed.

FINN has known Mr Bradley since 2002 when an interview was conducted for the Islander Newspaper.  Besides advising Ascension Island Mr Bradley has advised St Helena and Tristan da Cunha on constitutional matters, he came to the Falklands to finalise our new Constitution.

He will be sadly missed.