Mr Bailhache urged a Scrutiny panel not to publish evidence from a world-renowned expert in human rights legislation which suggested that the role of both Centeniers and the Magistrate in Jersey contravened human rights. In a letter to former Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny panel chairman Bob Hill, Mr Bailhache warned that the view of Jonathan Cooper – which argues that Jersey’s courts are denying people the right to a fair trial, in contravention of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights – could cause chaos for the honorary system. A spokesman for Mr Bailhache yesterday said that he was out of the Island, but had left instructions to give no comment to any media inquiries on the subject. But in his letter dated 17 May Mr Bailhache urged the panel to ‘consider whether publication is in the public interest’ in the light of the effect Mr Cooper’s evidence could have on Jersey’s legal system. ‘I urge the panel to consider most carefully whether it would be appropriate to publish the Cooper opinion,’ he wrote.
