Dear Sir,

I am writing to highlight a deeply unjust practice quietly occurring within Bermuda’s employment vetting processes: the doctrine of "guilt by association". Individuals with entirely flawless records are failing secondary security or background checks simply because of a historical connection to a relative, friend, or associate who committed an infraction, even decades ago.

This archaic practice completely contradicts the European Convention on Human Rights framework, which serves as the baseline for our own constitutional protections. The European model strictly upholds the principle of individual liability. Landmark European rulings state that security vetting must be proportionate, foreseeable, and based on individual actions, rather than sweeping, collective assumptions about a person's family or social network.

Furthermore, the general United Kingdom response to this issue has been clear. Definitive rulings of the UK Supreme Court have established that blocking an innocent person's livelihood based on a relative's or friend's record, without giving the applicant a fair chance to respond, violates the right to private and family life.

The UK courts have explicitly stepped back from criminal and administrative "guilt by association", recognising that it causes innocent parties to suffer far more than the original offenders.

Bermudians currently cannot strategically leverage the Personal Information Protection Act because secondary security checks in Bermuda are conducted under strict confidentiality. To counter this, job application forms should include an explicit clause informing applicants of their legal recourse if they are blacklisted based on guilt by association.

When a Bermudian applicant poses zero personal risk, denying them employment based on historical family and social ties is an arbitrary abuse of power. Bermuda must align its vetting policies with modern human rights standards, ensuring that corporate goodwill and individual fairness prevail over outdated prejudices.

EDWARD BALL Jr

Hamilton Parish