Departments of the
Judiciary and the Legislature (Jersey) Law 1965[1]
A LAW to revise and consolidate the
laws relating to the Departments of the Bailiff, the Law Officers of the Crown,
the Viscount and the Judicial Greffier[2]
Commencement
[see endnotes]
1 Departments to which Law applies and constitution thereof
(1) This
Law makes provision with regard to the following
Departments, namely –
(a) the
Bailiff’s Department, that is to say, the Bailiff and the Deputy Bailiff;
(b) the Law
Officers’ Department, that is to say, the Attorney General and the Solicitor General;
(c) the
Viscount’s Department, that is to say, the Viscount and the Deputy Viscount;
(d) the
Judicial Greffe, that is to say, the Judicial Greffier
and the Deputy Judicial Greffier;
together with other
officers who shall be persons who are States’ employees within the
meaning of the Employment
of States of Jersey Employees (Jersey) Law 2005 of whom a sufficient number
shall be appointed to ensure the service of the said Departments.[3]
(2) An
officer shall not be appointed under paragraph (1) to the Bailiff’s
Department, the Law Officers’ Department, the Viscount’s Department
or the Judicial Greffe, except with the consent of the Bailiff, the Attorney
General, the Viscount or the Judicial Greffier,
respectively.[4]
(2A) An
officer who is appointed under paragraph (1) to the Bailiff’s
Department, the Law Officers’ Department, the Viscount’s Department
or the Judicial Greffe –
(a) shall
not have that appointment suspended or terminated; and
(b) while
so appointed shall not have his or her employment by the States Employment
Board suspended or terminated,
except with the consent of
the Bailiff, the Attorney General, the Viscount or the Judicial Greffier, respectively.[5]
(2B) An
officer who is appointed under paragraph (1) to the Bailiff’s
Department, the Law Officers’ Department, the Viscount’s Department
or the Judicial Greffe shall not be directed or supervised in the discharge of
his or her duties as such an officer by the Chief Executive Officer, the States
Employment Board, a Minister or a person acting on
behalf of such a person.[6]
(3) Nothing
in this Law shall derogate in any way from the authority of the Bailiff to
appoint Lieutenant Bailiffs nor from the power of the Royal Court to appoint an
advocate to discharge the functions of Attorney General.
2 Appointment of principal officers
(1) The
Bailiff, the Deputy Bailiff, the Attorney General and the Solicitor General are
appointed by His Majesty.[7]
(2) The
Judicial Greffier is appointed by the Bailiff, and
the Deputy Judicial Greffier is appointed by the
Judicial Greffier with the consent of the Bailiff.
(3) [8]
(4) The
Viscount is appointed by the Bailiff and the Deputy Viscount is appointed by
the Viscount with the consent of the Bailiff.[9]
(5) It
is an essential qualification for the appointment of a person to the office of
Attorney General or Solicitor General that the person be an advocate or a
solicitor.[10]
3 Suspensions and dismissals
(1) The
Judicial Greffier may be suspended from office by the
Superior Number of the Royal Court and may be dismissed from office by His
Majesty in Council on a petition from the Superior Number of the Royal Court.[11]
(2) The
Viscount may be suspended from office by the Bailiff who shall refer the matter
to the States at their next sitting and may be dismissed from office by the
States.[12]
(3) The
Deputy Viscount may be suspended or dismissed from office by the Viscount with
the consent of the Bailiff.
(4) The
Deputy Judicial Greffier may be suspended or
dismissed from office by the Judicial Greffier with
the consent of the Bailiff.
(5) [13]
(6) [14]
4 Discussion in camera
Any discussion by the
Royal Court or the States with regard to the
appointment, suspension or dismissal of any officer under this Law shall take
place in camera.
5 Discharge of functions in event of absence or incapacity of
principal officers
(1) In
the event of the absence or incapacity of the Bailiff, the Attorney General,
the Viscount or the Judicial Greffier, the functions
of their office shall be discharged by the Deputy Bailiff, the Solicitor
General, the Deputy Viscount or the Deputy Judicial Greffier
respectively.[15]
(2) In
the event of the absence or incapacity of both the Attorney General and the
Solicitor General the functions of the Attorney General may be discharged by an
advocate or solicitor who is an officer in the Law Officers’ Department
and is appointed by the Bailiff for that purpose for such period, not exceeding
7 days, as may be specified in the appointment.[16]
(3) In
the event of the absence or incapacity of both the Viscount and the Deputy
Viscount or the Judicial Greffier and the Deputy Judicial
Greffier, the functions of their office shall be
discharged by an officer of their respective departments appointed by the
Bailiff for that purpose.[17]
6 Designation of substitute principal officers
The Viscount and the
Judicial Greffier, with the consent of the Bailiff,
may designate one or more officers of their respective Departments to discharge
functions attributed under this Law to sworn members of those Departments, and
the officers so designated shall be known as “Viscount Substitute”
and “Greffier Substitute” respectively.
7 Oath of office
(1) The
officers referred to in Article 1(1)(a) to (d), a Lieutenant-Bailiff, any
advocate appointed by the Royal Court to discharge the functions of the
Attorney General, the persons appointed under Article 5 of this Law to
discharge the functions of Attorney General, Viscount or Judicial Greffier, the officers designated under Article 6 and
the persons who are authorized and approved under Article 9(5A) shall, on
assuming office, take oath in the appropriate form set out in the Schedule to
this Law.[18]
(2) The
said oaths shall be administered in the Royal Court, except in the case of the
persons appointed under Article 5(2) or (3) who shall take oath before the
Bailiff.[19]
8 Remuneration and terms of appointment of principal officers
(1) The
officers referred to in Article 1(1)(a) to (d) shall receive such salaries
and allowances and shall be entitled to such pensions or gratuities (if any) as
may be determined by the States Employment Board after negotiation with the
officers concerned.[20]
(2) The
officers referred to in Article 1(1)(a) to (d) shall not, within or
without Jersey, occupy any other paid employment, or any public or parochial
office.[21]
(3) Nothing
in this Article shall prohibit the Attorney General or, in the Attorney
General’s absence, the Solicitor General, where the Attorney General
considers it in the public interest so to do, from advising or acting in any
private cause or matter, and in such case the Attorney General’s fees
shall be paid to the States.[22]
9 Delegation of functions
(1) Notwithstanding
anything in any enactment, the Deputy Bailiff, on the authority of the Bailiff,
may discharge any function appertaining to the office of Bailiff.
(2) The
Deputy Bailiff, in the discharge of any function which the Deputy Bailiff is
authorized by or under this Law to discharge, shall have the same precedence
and prerogatives and shall be subject to the same duties and obligations as the
Bailiff would have or be subject to if the Bailiff were discharging that
function.
(3) Notwithstanding
anything in any enactment, the Solicitor General, on the authority of the
Attorney General, may discharge any function appertaining to the office of
Attorney General.
(4) The
Solicitor General, in the discharge of any function which the Solicitor General
is authorized by or under this Law to discharge, shall have the same precedence
and prerogatives and shall be subject to the same duties and obligations as the
Attorney General would have or be subject to if the Attorney General were
discharging that function.
(5) Notwithstanding
anything in any enactment, the Deputy Viscount and any
sworn member of the Viscount’s Department, on the authority of the
Viscount, may discharge any function appertaining to the office of Viscount.[23]
(5A) Notwithstanding
anything in any enactment, the Viscount may authorize the Deputy Viscount, and
any other person (whether or not the person is an
officer of the Viscount’s Department) who is approved by the Bailiff, to
discharge the Viscount’s function of conducting a particular inquest or
inquests generally.[24]
(5B) A
person authorized by the Viscount and approved by the Bailiff under paragraph (5A)
shall be known as “Viscount Substitute”.[25]
(6) Notwithstanding
anything in any enactment, the Deputy Judicial Greffier
and any sworn member of the Judicial Greffe, on the authority of the Judicial Greffier, may discharge any function appertaining to the
office of Judicial Greffier.
(7) [26]
10 Provisions relating to functions of Viscount
(1) The
Viscount shall not be required to exercise any executive function except on
instructions given to the Viscount in writing.
(2) Any
record given by the Viscount, the Deputy Viscount or a
Viscount Substitute to the effect that the person has performed any particular
function shall be received in evidence without further proof of the function or
of the authority to perform it.
11 Provisions relating to functions of Judicial Greffier
(1) The
Judicial Greffier, the Deputy Judicial Greffier or a Greffier Substitute
shall attend at all sittings of the courts and judicial tribunals to record the
acts and decisions of those courts and tribunals, to take down where necessary
the depositions of witnesses and generally to carry out all the duties of
clerk.
(2) All
acts and decisions so recorded shall be authenticated by the signature or
initials of the Judicial Greffier, the Deputy
Judicial Greffier or the Greffier
Substitute, as the case may be, and shall be entered
in the appropriate register.
12 Citation
This Law may be cited as
the Departments of the Judiciary and the Legislature (Jersey) Law 1965.