Law Society Disciplinary Panel: Re-appointment of Lay Members

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A decision made on 2 November 2018

Ministerial decision reference MD-C-2018-0170

Decision summary title: Law Society Disciplinary Panel: Re-appointment of Lay Members

Decision summary author

Policy Officer, Strategic Policy, Performance and Population

Is the decision summary public or exempt?

Public

Report title The Law Society of Jersey Disciplinary Panel: Re-appointment of Lay Members

Report author or name of

person giving report

Policy Officer, Strategic Policy, Performance and Population

Is the report public or exempt?

Public

Decision and reason for the decision

The Chief Minister agreed to re-appoint the following individuals as lay members of the Law Society Disciplinary Panel:

Mr. Paul John Battrick, M.B.E.

Mr. Ian Berry

Mrs. Annette Cullen

Mr. (Patrick) David McGrath

Mrs. Deborah Ann Thompson.

As outlined in the attached report, the Chief Minister is required to provide the States Assembly with at least 2 weeks’ notice of his intention to make these re-appointments prior to them formally taking effect. It is intended that the re-appointments would be for a four year period, effective from 19th November 2018.

Resource implications

None as a consequence of this decision.

Action required

The Policy Officer will arrange for notice of the Chief Minister’s intention to be provided to the States Assembly.

Signature

Position

Connétable Chris Taylor

Assistant Chief Minister

Date signed

Effective date of the decision

Law Society Disciplinary Panel: Re-appointment of Lay Members

The Law Society of Jersey Disciplinary Panel: Re-appointment of Lay Members

Report for the Chief Minister

Background

The Law Society of Jersey Law 2005 (as amended) provides for the administration and disciplinary control of advocates and solicitors of the Royal Court.

Article 18 makes provision for the appointment of a Disciplinary Panel to consider and adjudicate upon complaints against members of the legal profession who are practitioners of the Royal Court.

Article 18(1) states:

There shall be a disciplinary panel consisting of –

(a) not less than 7 and not more than 15 fit and proper persons, as lay members of the panel; and

(b) not less than 7 and not more than 10 ordinary members of the Law Society

Article 18(3) states:

A person shall be eligible for appointment to the disciplinary panel as a lay member if, but only if, he or she –

(a) is not an advocate or solicitor; and

(b) is not admitted in any other jurisdiction as a legal practitioner.

Article 19 states that a member of the disciplinary panel shall hold office for a term of 5 years to be specified in the member’s appointment and the member shall be eligible for re-appointment.

Current lay membership of the Panel

The appointment of the following lay members of the Disciplinary Panel for a first term of office was approved by the States on 19th November 2013 under P.104/2013:

Mr. Paul John Battrick, M.B.E.

Mr. Ian Berry

Mrs. Annette Cullen

Mr. (Patrick) David McGrath

Professor Edward Sallis, O.B.E.*

Mrs. Deborah Ann Thompson.

*Please note that Professor Sallis has since resigned as a lay member of the Panel due to other honorary commitments.

Four lay members of the disciplinary panel retired in July 2017 (having completed two terms) and a further lay member retired in September 2018 having completed nine years’ service.

Accordingly, the current lay membership consists only of the members listed above (excluding Professor Sallis for the reason given), who are now being recommended for re-appointment. In order to maintain compliance with Article 18(1), further recruitment to the lay membership will be necessary, and the Law Society intend to appoint up to five further lay members in early 2019, subject to due process.

Appointments process

Previously, the States Assembly have approved appointments to the Disciplinary Panel. This arrangement was amended by the States of Jersey (Appointment Procedures) (Jersey) Law 2018 to the effect that such appointments are now made by the Chief Minister on the recommendation of the Jersey Appointments Commission, after consultation by the Commission with the Law Society. Article 2 of the 2018 Law requires the Chief Minister to provide at least 2 weeks’ notice to the States Assembly of his intention to make the re-appointments before they can be formally confirmed.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Law Society wrote to the Chief Minister’s Office on 19th August 2018 requesting that the lay members mentioned above be re-appointed for a further four year term, effective from 19th November 2018.

The CEO confirmed that the recommendation of these appointments followed discussions with the Chair of the Appointments Commission during which it had been agreed that lay members of the Panel can be appointed for a total period not exceeding nine years. This accords with the standard approach for public and quasi-public appointments that fall within the remit of the Commission.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Chief Minister agree to these re-appointments (for a four year term) and provide notice to the States Assembly of his intention to make the re-appointments. The re-appointments would be effective from 19th November 2018.

Policy Officer, Home Affairs and Justice Policy

Department for Strategic Policy, Performance and Population

26 October 2018