I’ve heard it’s illegal to practise obeah here. Is that true? That seems to go against the Bill of Rights, which guarantee freedom of religion.


Auntie’s answer: Yes, it is true – it is against the law to practise obeah in the Cayman Islands. Just to be clear, Section 170(1) of the Penal Code (2013 Revision) says “a person practising ‘obeah’ or dealing in ‘obeah’ or ‘myalism’ means a person who, to effect any fraudulent 
or unlawful purpose, or for gain, or for the purpose of frightening any person, uses, or pretends to use, occult means, or pretends to possess any supernatural power or knowledge”.

Following on from that, Section 170(2) says a person who “(a) practises or deals in obeah or myalism; 
(b) for any fraudulent or unlawful purpose consults any person 
practising or reputed to be practising or who has been convicted
 of any offence under the law relating to obeah or myalism; or (c) for the purpose of effecting any object or of bringing about any event, by the use of occult means or any supernatural power or knowledge, consults any person practising or reputed to be practising obeah or myalism or any person who has been convicted of an offence relating to obeah or myalism, or any person pretending to possess supernatural powers and agrees to reward the person so consulted, commits an offence”.

I realise that is a lot to digest, but I wanted to be thorough. You are right, though, that the Bill of Rights of the Cayman Islands Constitution in Section 10, on conscience and religion, says, “(1) No person shall be hindered by government in the enjoyment of his or her freedom of conscience. (2) Freedom of conscience includes freedom of thought and of religion or religious denomination; freedom to change his or her religion, religious denomination or belief; and freedom, either alone or in community with others, both in public and in private, to manifest and propagate his or her religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice, observance and day of worship.”

To explain that apparent discrepancy between those legal documents, I asked for help from the Human Rights Commission (HRC). But as before when the HRC has provided guidance, a representative cautioned that their answer can only be given in general terms and they cannot offer any legal advice.

The official then explained that people in the Cayman Islands are indeed free to hold particular beliefs and practise the religion they choose but the right to conscience and religion is engrained in the Constitution as a qualified right, which “can only be restricted or taken away by the government in certain broadly defined circumstances. Such circumstances are those such as in the interests of defence, public safety, public order, public morality or public health; or for the purpose of protecting the rights and freedoms of other persons.”

In the case of obeah, it is possible that the government made practising it illegal under those “broadly defined circumstances”. I will stress here that the HRC cannot speak to what the government may or may not have considered in making that decision. However, in deciding on that interpretation, I believe it would have been expected that the government balanced freedom of religion as guaranteed in the Bill of Rights against those circumstances that would justify making obeah illegal.

Either way, the bottom line is that it is against the law to practice obeah in the Cayman Islands.

The documents mentioned in this column can be found on the CNS Library