12 August 2009
As a result of a review carried out by the Comptroller and Auditor General last year, the Attorney General and Solicitor General have approved a reorganisation of the management structure of the Law Officers’ Department which has been developed by the Department’s Senior Management Team, in consultation with the staff of the Dept.
From 1st July, 2009, the Department will be organised in three divisions – a Civil Division, a Criminal Division and a Finance and Administration Division. The purpose of the new structure is to provide a more efficient delivery of the functions of the Department to provide clearer management reporting lines for both staff and clients.
The Civil Division will be organised into three groups. The Advice Group will provide a wide range of legal advice to the Crown, the States administration and the Parochial authorities. The Litigation Group will deal with civil litigation, including children’s matters. And the Property Group, will continue to provide the same services as the former Conveyancing Section. The Civil Division which will be headed by Mr. Richard Whitehead, Principal Legal Adviser. Richard joined the Law Officers’ Department in 1994 from the Law Draftsman’s Department, having previously been a Barrister in private practice in the UK, Senior Crown Counsel in British Overseas Territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands and Attorney General in the British Overseas Territory of Anguilla.
The Criminal Division will bring together the Department’s lawyers based at Police Headquarters, the prosecution lawyers at Morier House and those who deal with mutual legal assistance requests from other jurisdictions. The new arrangement will provide a more consistent route for the progress of criminal prosecutions from the police through to the Royal Court. The Division will be directed by Mr. John Edmonds, Principal Legal Adviser, who joined the Department in 2008 from the Crown Prosecution Service where he had worked for many years and latterly been head of the Bristol Crown Court Trial unit and a special casework lawyer.
The Finance and Administration Division will provide support to the other Divisions to enable them to carry out their work as efficiently and effectively as possible. Tim Allen, the current Chief Clerk, will manage the Division which will cover finance, IT, records management, human resources and other back office functions.
The three Directors will report to the Crown Officers who will have their own small secretarial and research group to support them.
An organisation chart showing the functions of the new Divisions is available by clicking on the image below.
gov.je