The dual role of the Bailiff – who serves as both the Island’s chief judge and the President, or ‘Speaker’, of the Assembly – has been criticised for many years because it means that he acts in both the law-making States and law-interpreting courts.
The Carswell Report, which was commissioned by the States and produced by leading UK judge Lord Carswell in 2010, recommended that the Bailiff should no longer preside over the States and that inaction could harm Jersey’s reputation.
This week, Privileges and Procedures Committee chairman Constable Len Norman confirmed that States Members would be consulted over the matter ‘in the next two to three months’ following a request from Chief Minister Ian Gorst, and action may be taken to reform the Bailiff’s role off the back of those discussions.
