Connétables
(Jersey) Law 2008
A LAW to make provision as to the
terms of office of the Connétables of the 12 Parishes of Jersey and
arrangements for their election, and for connected purposes
Commencement [see endnotes]
1 Term of office of Connétables
(1) The term of office of a
Connétable begins with the day on which the person elected as
Connétable takes the oath of that office.[1]
(2) A Connétable
shall retire on his or her place being filled by an ordinary election.[2]
(3) A
Connétable may, at any time before retiring
under paragraph (2), resign by giving written notice to that effect to the
Bailiff.[3]
(3A) On receipt of a notice of
resignation under paragraph (3), the Bailiff must notify the Attorney
General of the resignation.[4]
(3B) On receipt of a notice under
paragraph (3A), the Attorney General must –
(a) notify
the Royal Court of the Connétable’s resignation; and
(b) give
written confirmation to the Connétable that
the Royal Court has been notified under sub-paragraph (a).[5]
(3C) The Connétable ceases to hold
office upon the Attorney General notifying the Royal Court of the resignation.[6]
(4) The place of a
Connétable is filled upon the person elected to fill the place taking
the oath of the office.
(5) Article 4C makes
provision about disqualification from office and Article 4CA makes
provision about a Royal Court direction to resign.[7]
2 Ordinary
elections for Connétables[8]
(1) An
ordinary election for Connétables
is to be held on 22nd June 2022.
(2) A
subsequent ordinary election for Connétables is to be held in the fourth
calendar year (an “election year”) following that in which the
previous ordinary election was held.
(3) The
States may by Act appoint the date in an election year on which the ordinary
election is to be held.
2A [9]
3 Casual
vacancy in office of Connétable
(1) This Article applies
where a casual vacancy occurs in the office of Connétable, being a
vacancy occurring otherwise than upon retirement of the officeholder under
Article 1.
(2) Subject to paragraph (3),
the Royal Court shall, on being informed of the vacancy, make an order under
the Elections (Jersey)
Law 2002 for an election to fill the vacancy to be held as soon as is
convenient.[10]
(3) Where the vacancy
occurs less than 2 months before an ordinary election for
Connétables –
(a) the
Royal Court shall not order an election to fill the vacancy; and
(b) the
vacancy shall be filled by that ordinary election.[11]
(4) The States may by
Regulations amend the period in paragraph (3).[12]
4 Term
of office of person filling casual vacancy
A person elected to fill a casual vacancy in the office of
Connétable shall hold office until the day on which the person in whose
place he or she is elected would have retired under Article 1, and shall
then retire.[13]
4A Declaration to be made when nominated[14]
(1) Subject to paragraph (1A),
a person seeking election as a Connétable shall, at the time of his or
her nomination (see Article 17D of the Elections (Jersey)
Law 2002), be required to make a declaration, in writing –
(a) that
he or she is qualified for election by virtue of this Law or any other
enactment;
(b) of
his or her convictions, whether in Jersey or elsewhere, which are not spent
convictions;
(c) notwithstanding
the Rehabilitation of Offenders
(Jersey) Law 2001, of his or her spent convictions, whether in Jersey or elsewhere,
for any of the following offences –
(i) treason,
(ii) murder,
(iii) manslaughter,
(iv) any
offence that is a relevant offence within the meaning of the Sex Offenders (Jersey)
Law 2010,
(v)
(vi)
(vii) any offence
committed when the person seeking election was of full age, against another
person who was not, at the time of the offence, of full age,
(viii) fraud or any like
offence,
(ix) obtaining
property by false pretences,
(x) theft,
(xi) perjury,
(xii) perverting
the course of justice,
(xiii) an offence
mentioned in the definition “drug trafficking” in Article 1(1)
of the Misuse of Drugs (Jersey) Law
1978,
(xiv) an offence of
attempt to commit any of the offences in clauses (i) to (xiii),
(xv) an offence
of conspiracy or incitement to commit any of the offences in clauses (i)
to (xiii),
(xvi) an offence of
aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring any of the offences in
clauses (i) to (xv).[15]
(1A) A person is not required to make a
declaration of a conviction for an act which would not, by reference to
Article 12 of the Sexual Offences (Jersey) Law 2007, result in a
conviction if it had been committed in Jersey on or after 12th January 2007.[16]
(2) [17]
(3) A person who knowingly
makes a false declaration under paragraph (1) shall be guilty of an
offence and liable to a fine of level 3 on the standard scale.[18]
(4) The States may by
Regulations amend paragraph (1)(c) so as to vary, add or omit any
description of offence for which a spent conviction must be disclosed.
(5) [19]
(6) In this Article
“spent conviction” has the same meaning as in the Rehabilitation of Offenders
(Jersey) Law 2001.
4B Qualification for
election as Connétable[20]
(1) A person shall, unless
disqualified by paragraph (2), Article 4C or any other enactment, be
qualified for election as a Connétable if he or she –
(a) is of
full age; and
(b) is a
British citizen who has been ordinarily resident in Jersey –
(i) for a period of
at least 2 years up to and including the day of the election, or
(ii) for
a period of at least 6 months up to and including the day of the election,
as well as having been so resident at any time for an additional period of (or
additional periods totalling) at least 5 years.
(2) A person shall be
disqualified for election if he or she is a paid officer in the service of the
States or any administration of the States, unless he or she is permitted, by
or under the Employment of States of
Jersey Employees (Jersey) Law 2005, to stand for election as a Connétable.
(3) A retiring
Connétable who is not disqualified by this Law or any other enactment
shall be eligible for re-election.
4C Disqualification[21]
(1) A disqualified person
may not be elected as, or take the oath of the office of, Connétable.
(2) A person who is an
elected Connétable ceases to hold office upon –
(a) becoming
a disqualified person;
(b) ceasing
to be a British citizen;
(c) the
expiry of a period of 6 months during which the person has not been
resident in Jersey,
(and accordingly the office becomes vacant for the purposes of
Article 3).
(3) A “disqualified
person” is a person who –
(a) holds
any paid office or other place of profit under the Crown;
(b) is a
member of the States of Jersey Police Force;
(c) is
detained in an approved establishment or is subject to guardianship under the Mental Health (Jersey)
Law 2016;
(d) is a person in respect of whom a delegate has been appointed under
Part 4 of the Capacity and Self-Determination (Jersey) Law 2016;
(e) has an attorney without whom he or she may
not act in matters movable or immovable;
(f) has become bankrupt or made a
composition or arrangement with his or her creditors (subject to
paragraphs (4) and (5));
(g) has been convicted
of an offence under the Corruption (Jersey)
Law 2006 by virtue of being, within the meaning of that Law, a public
official or a member, officer or employee of a public body; or
(h) has
been convicted, whether in Jersey or elsewhere, of any offence and ordered to
be imprisoned for a period of not less than 3 months, without the option
of a fine (subject to paragraph (7)).
(4) A person who has become
bankrupt ceases to be a “disqualified person” by reason of paragraph (3)(f) –
(a) if
the person pays his or her debts in full on or before the day on which the
bankruptcy proceedings conclude, on the day the proceedings are concluded; or
(b) in
any other case, on the expiry of the period of 5 years beginning with the
day on which the bankruptcy proceedings are concluded.
(5) A person who has made a
composition or arrangement with his or her creditors ceases to be a
“disqualified person” by reason of
paragraph (3)(f) –
(a) if
the person pays his or her debts in full, on the day on which the final payment
is made;
(b) in
any other case, on the expiry of the period of 5 years beginning with the
day on which the terms of the composition or arrangement are fulfilled.
(6) Paragraph (7)
applies to a person who has been convicted of an offence by reference to which
paragraph (3)(h) applies (the “disqualification offence”).
(7) The
person ceases to be a “disqualified person”
by reason of paragraph (3)(h) on the expiry of the period of 7 years
beginning with the day of the person’s conviction for the
disqualification offence.
(8) Article 18(2) of
the Public Elections
(Expenditure and Donations) (Jersey) Law 2014 makes further provision
about disqualification following conviction for an offence under that Law.
4CA Effect of direction to resign[22]
(1) This Article applies if
the Royal Court directs a Connétable to
resign.
(2) If the Connétable appeals against the Court’s
decision to direct resignation, the Connétable ceases to hold office
upon either –
(a) the
dismissal of the appeal; or
(b) the
abandonment of the appeal.
(3) If the Connétable does not appeal against the
Court’s decision within the appeal period, the
Connétable ceases to hold office on the expiry
of that period.
(4) But if, before ceasing
to hold office in accordance with paragraph (2) or (3), the Connétable
resigns in accordance with Article 1(3), the Connétable ceases to
hold office in accordance with Article 1(3C).
(5) For the purposes of
paragraph (3), the “appeal period” means the period within
which a notice of appeal must be served in accordance with rules made under
Article 19 of the Court of Appeal (Jersey)
Law 1961.
4D Supervisory
jurisdiction of the Royal Court[23]
Nothing in Article 4B, 4C or 4CA shall be taken to derogate in any way from the
supervisory jurisdiction of the Royal Court in relation to the office of Connétable.
5 [24]
6 Citation
This Law may be cited as the Connétables (Jersey)
Law 2008.