Appointment of Jersey Law Commissioners

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A decision made on 3 July 2019

Ministerial decision reference MD-C-2019-0074
Decision summary title Appointment of Jersey Law Commissioners
Decision summary author	Chief Minister’s Private Secretary	Is the decision summary public or exempt?	Public
Report title Jersey Law Commissioners- Biographies
Report author or name of person giving report	Chief Minister’s Private Secretary	Is the report public or exempt?	Public
Decision and reason for the decision In line with the procedure set out in P.205/2009, the Chief Minister has decided to appoint Dr Elina Steinerte, Timothy Hart, and Mark Dunlop as Law Commissioners, being satisfied that they had the necessary expertise to fulfil the role. The Jersey Law Commission is an independent body, set up by the States of Jersey in 1996. Its Commissioners are unpaid and seek to identify and examine aspects of law, with the view to develop and/or reform them. The Commission’s work is then considered by the Government of Jersey and the States Assembly. The biographies of the appointees are included as a Report attached to this MD.
Resource implications None as a consequence of this Ministerial Decision.
Action required The Chief Minister’s Private Secretary to inform the Greffier of the States of this decision.
Signature		Position Senator John Le Fondré Chief Minister
Date signed		Effective date of the decision

Appointment of Jersey Law Commissioners

Proposed Jersey Law Commissioners- Biographies

Dr Elina Steinerte has a Ph.D. from Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen and has taught public international and human rights law at numerous universities in Latvia, the United Kingdom and the Bailiwick of Jersey. The prime focus of her work and research has been the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Torture and its Optional Protocol (OPCAT). She has worked worldwide with respect to the implementation of the Convention including advising upon the calibration of domestic legislation and the designation and effectiveness of National Preventive Mechanisms. Additionally, she has provided expert advice on a variety of criminal justice reforms concerning pre-trial detention, overuse of imprisonment, overcrowding and independent oversight over the places of deprivation of liberty. Recently she has been working with the UNHCR on streamlining its methodology for monitoring immigration detention. On 1 November 2016 Elina was appointed member of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention by the Human Rights Council and was elected Vice Chair of this body in April 2017, and re-elected to the same position again in April 2018.

Timothy Hart was admitted as a solicitor of the Royal Court in 1996, having been called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2015, and since 2000 has been a partner of Appleby (formerly Bailhache Labesse). He is the head of Appleby’s property practice, specialising in Jersey-based commercial property work, including property development, commercial leases, acquisitions and disposals, secured lending and general property law advice. His practice also includes work in relation to residential property, wills and probate and local commercial transactions. In addition to his professional work, Timothy is a member of the Law Society of Jersey Conveyancing Sub-Committee, the Board of Examiners for the Advocates and Solicitors Qualifying Examination (currently being an examiner for immovable property, having previously been an examiner for wills and succession) and of the Royal Court Rules Committee.

Mark Dunlop qualified as an English solicitor in 1993. From 1993 to 1998, Mark worked as a solicitor in the Banking and International Finance Department of Cameron Markby Hewitt and (after its merger) at Cameron McKenna in the City of London. Mark acted on a range of asset finance and general banking transactions. From 1998 to 2005, Mark worked as a solicitor in the Banking and Projects Department of Theodore Goddard and (after its merger) at Addleshaw Goddard in the City of London. Mark became a partner of Theodore Goddard in 2001. Mark specialised in PFI/PPP transactions (acting either for the lenders or project sponsors) and real estate finance. Mark moved to Jersey in 2005 and joined Bedell Cristin. He was sworn in as an Advocate of the Royal Court in 2007. Mark became a partner of Bedell Cristin in 2007 and has acted on a range of finance and corporate transactions. Mark has published “Dunlop on Jersey Company Law” (which is the only comprehensive textbook on Jersey company law). Mark has been noted as a leading lawyer in legal directories (Legal 500 and Chambers). Mark was previously the Adjunct Professor at the Jersey Institute of Law on the company law course and is currently the principal lecturer at the Jersey Institute of Law on the security and bankruptcy law course. Mark is also a member of the Jersey Law Society Financial and Commercial Law Sub-committee. Mark has recently been appointed as the financial services law knowledge management partner at Bedell Cristin.