About the States Assembly

The States Assembly is Jersey’s elected parliament.

As a Crown Dependency, Jersey is self-governing in all local matters and, increasingly, in many international matters.

The States Assembly is made up of 49 elected Members, plus six individual roles which are not elected by Islanders.

States Members are elected every four years and the next election will take place in 2026.

Elected States Members

The 49 elected States Members comprise:

37 Deputies who represent one of nine electoral constituencies. Deputies are elected to represent the interests of their constituency in the States Assembly as well as engaging in wider issues affecting the whole Island.

12 Connétables (also known as Constables) who represent each of the Island’s Parishes. They have a dual role as both head of the Parish and as a States Member.

All elected Members are responsible for:

Debating matters of public importance
Making new laws and regulations
Approving the amount of public money to be spent by the Government every year
Approving the amount of tax to be raised
Appointing the Government and holding Ministers to account

In addition, most Members take on specific roles and responsibilities, including:

Chief Minister, Minister, Assistant Minister; all these roles are within the Government of Jersey
Chair or Member of a Scrutiny Panel; responsible for holding Government Ministers to account
Chair or Member of Committees other bodies such as:
- The Privileges and Procedures Committee, which oversees the work of the States Assembly
- The Public Accounts Committee, which monitors public spending
- The Planning Committee, which determines planning applications.

Members will individually pursue political matters in which they have a particular interest, such as the environment, tourism, agriculture. They may attempt to influence policy on these issues by holding meetings with members of the public or interest groups, by talking to local media, or by lodging a proposition for debate.

The Assembly debates a wide variety of policy matters which can be brought forward for debate by any Member. Members can also ask questions to find out information and to hold Ministers to account.

Members of the public will often contact States Members for help with particular matters and Members will spend time dealing with such constituency enquiries.

Tune in to the States Assembly Podcast to find out more about Ministerial appointments

Political Parties

Most Members of the States Assembly are 'independents' and therefore not attached to any formal political party.

Currently, two registered political parties are represented in the Assembly:

Reform Jersey has ten members
Jersey Liberal Conservatives has two members.

If you and other prospective, or existing, candidates would like to join together because you have common policy views, you can set up a political party.

To create your own party, you will need to apply to the Royal Court and the Attorney General via the Judicial Greffe (note: not the States Greffe). The Judicial Greffe doesn't have any decision-making role in approving the application, but you can contact them for further information about the application process and the necessary forms.

The guidelines around setting up your party are governed by the Political Parties (Registration) (Jersey) Law which details how to set up a political party and also its ongoing administration.

Non-elected Members

A non-elected member of the States Assembly is someone who holds a position without being chosen through a popular vote. These positions include the Bailiff, the Lieutenant-Governor, the Dean, the Attorney-General and the Solicitor General. The holders of these positions can all attend States Meetings and have the right to speak; but none of them have the right to vote.

The Bailiff of Jersey is appointed by the Crown after consultation with the Island and, as President of the States, is responsible for the orderly conduct of the States Assembly. During States Meetings, as Presiding Officer of the States Assembly, the Bailiff is responsible for ruling on the admissibility of questions and propositions and for applying the rules governing proceedings (the Standing Orders). The Deputy Bailiff acts as President and Presiding Officer in the Bailiff’s absence and, in the absence of the Deputy Bailiff, the Greffier of Deputy Greffier fulfils this role during States Meetings. The Bailiff has other important roles outside the States Assembly: as President of the Royal Court and as civic head of the Island. To emphasise the Bailiff’s precedence in the States Assembly, Royal Court and in matters concerning the governance of the Island, the Bailiff’s seat in the States Chamber is 7 inches higher than the Lieutenant-Governor’s. The current Bailiff, Sir Timothy Le Cocq, was appointed to the position on 17 October 2019.
His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor is the representative in Jersey of the His Majesty The King. Although they have the right to speak during States Meetings, by convention they only do so twice: at the beginning of their five-year term and at the end of their term. The Lieutenant-Governor also has a roll in in ensuring the passage of official correspondence between Jersey and the UK; for instance, when Laws adopted by the States Assembly are sent to His Majesty in Council for Royal Assent.
The Dean of Jersey is the head of the Anglican Church in Jersey and chaplain to the States Assembly. By convention they generally only speak during debates on matters that directly affect the Church, or on moral issues.
HM Attorney General and HM Solicitor General (‘the Law Officers’) are appointed by the Crown and act as legal advisers to the States Assembly. They do not generally speak during debates unless asked for advice by elected Members or where they have a direct official interest such as the prosecution service (of which which the Attorney General is the head). Any States Member may request a Law Officer to give legal advice on a matter before the Assembly.

Officers

The Greffier is clerk to the States Assembly and the Deputy Greffier is clerk-assistant. In Law, the Viscount is the executive officer of the Assembly.

The Greffier of the States is clerk of the States Assembly and is appointed by the Bailiff with the agreement of the Assembly. The Greffier provides advice and support to States Members and departments relating to the business and procedures of the States Assembly. During States Meetings, the Greffier calls the roll at the beginning of each meeting, reads out the propositions at the start of each debate and is responsible for the electronic voting system. The Greffier has a legal responsibility to act as keeper of the official records of the States Assembly and publisher of official publications. The Greffier occasionally presides during States Meetings if the Bailiff and Deputy Bailiff are unavailable. The FGreffier leads the States Greffe, the department responsible for supporting the work of the States Assembly, its Committees and Panels, and States Members.
The Deputy Greffier of the States is appointed by the Greffier with the consent of the Bailiff. The Deputy Greffier is clerk-assistant to the Assembly and assists the Greffier in supporting the work of the Assembly, its Committees and Panels and elected States Members.
The Viscount is the executive officer of the States Assembly. During States Meetings, the Viscount (or their Deputy) carries the Royal Mace before the Bailiff and assists with counting the votes in any ballots cast during appointments. If there is a need to exclude someone from the Public Gallery during a States Meeting, the Viscount acts under the orders of the Bailiff. Away from the States Assembly, the Viscount leads the department which is responsible for executing orders made by the Royal Court.

Frequency of States Meetings

Schedule of meetings

Every year the Privileges and Procedures Committee must fix the proposed schedule of dates for States meetings for the following year. Standing Orders, the Assembly's rules, give certain guidance on the periods when the States can meet. The year is divided into two sessions:

the first session begins each year in mid January and continues until mid to late July
the second session starts in mid September and continues until December

The States normally meet on Tuesdays and the usual annual schedule works on the basis of a meeting every three weeks during the two sessions with a break during the first session for Easter.

Meetings traditionally begin on Tuesdays, although the Assembly can agree to start on a different day; and each meeting also has continuation days, which are usually fixed for the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday after the Tuesday start.

Extra meetings

It is possible for an extra States meeting to be arranged if at least seven elected members sign a requisition for a meeting and deliver that to the Greffier of the States. The requisition must state the nature of the business to be discussed at the extra meeting and the meeting can only be used for purpose of discussing the business set out in the requisition. In practice it is rare for a meeting to be requisitioned and requisitioned meetings have only normally taken place outside the normal sessions, for example if some urgent business has arisen during the summer recess. As President of the States, the Bailiff is also able to convene a special meeting of the Assembly, although this happens rarely; for instance, upon the death of the Monarch.

The States Assembly is not allowed to meet during the period of 21 days before the single election day for Connétables and Deputies so that the election campaign can proceed without being interrupted by States meetings.

Structure of States Meetings

Members of the States Assembly gather in the States Chamber to make appointments, ask and answer questions, and debate and vote on propositions.

At the start of each States Meeting, the Bailiff enters the Chamber after the Royal Mace. The Greffier calls the roll of Members in order of seniority, and they respond in French.

The Dean then leads the prayers, which are said in French.

A second roll call then takes place, during which a Member may be declared:
- 'malade’ if ill
- ‘absent de l’Île’ if out of the Island on States business
- absent for ‘parental responsbilities’
- ‘excused’ if they have another valid reason for absence (such as a hospital appointment)
- ‘en défaut’ (in default) if they are not present and do not have a valid reason for being absent.
If a Member ‘en défaut’ arrives in the Chamber later the same day, they cannot join in a debate or register their vote until another Member requests that the Assembly agree to ‘raise the défaut’. At least half of the Members must be present in the Chamber for the Assembly to be able to conduct its business. If less than half are present the Bailiff will declare that the States have become ‘inquorate’ and no business can be conducted until enough Members return to their seats.
The Bailiff will inform States Members of any important matters, such as upcoming Royal visits. He will acknowledge the presence of any special visitors in the Gallery and will ask Members to welcome His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, if in attendance, by foot stamping in the ‘customary manner’.
At this point the States Assembly deals with any changes of Committee and Panel membership and Ministerial responsibilities.
On the first day of every scheduled States Meeting, Members have several opportunities to question Ministers, Scrutiny Panel Chairs and other Members with official responsibilities.

Written questions
Members may submit written questions every week from mid-January to mid-July and mid-September to mid-December. Each question has a limit of 200 words and must be in accordance with the Standing Orders of the States of Jersey, which govern the way in which States Meetings are conducted. Written answers are circulated to Members one week after the questions have been received. The Order Paper for each meeting shows the written questions answered since the previous meeting.

Oral questions with notice
Members can ask Ministers up to two oral questions, with notice, at each meeting. These must be a maximum of 70 words long and be approved as being in accordance with Standing Orders. Members can then ask ‘supplementary questions’ without prior notice. This question period lasts for a maximum of two hours and 20 minutes and lots are drawn before the meeting to determine the order in which questions will be answered.

Oral questions without notice (QWON)
Up to 45 minutes is allocated to questions without notice. This is divided into three 15 minute question periods.
- Two Ministers answer questions without notice for up to 15 minutes each. Each Minister is required to answer questions in this way two or three times a year, in accordance with a rota drawn up in advance. Ministers can be asked questions about any matter that relates to their ministerial responsibilities
- At every States Meeting, the Chief Minister answers questions without notice for 15 minutes, plus any unused time alloted to Ministers during the earlier part of QWON. The Chief Minister can be asked questions about any matter relating to the Government of Jersey.
Find out more about States Questions.
Personal Statements
With the leave of the Bailiff, a Member may make a personal statement but no debate or discussion may take place.

Statements on matters of official responsibility
These are statements made by Members, usually Ministers, on a matter for which they have official responsibility. A period of up to 15 minutes is allowed after the statement is made for Members to ask questions relating to its content. The period of questioning can be extended by a further 15 minutes.
This is when propositions (or ‘projets’) are debated and decisions made. All propositions are framed so as to ask a specific question of the States, so that when the matter has been debated, a decision can be made. Most propositions begin ‘The States are asked to decide whether they are of opinion to…’ and the action to be taken is specified, whether that be to approve, authorise, undertake and so on.

The Bailiff asks the Greffier of the States to read out the proposition, which has to be proposed and seconded. Members may only speak once on each proposition for a maximum of 15 minutes, except for the proposer who can speak again without a time limit to sum up the debate before the vote is taken, and a Member identified as the ‘main respondent’ to the debate.

Members must remain silent when another Member is speaking. When the Bailiff addresses the Assembly, all Members must sit down and remain silent.

Following the proposer’s first speech, any Member who wishes to participate in the debate has to wait to be called by the Bailiff. Members must stand and address their speeches to the Presiding Officer (‘through the Chair’). Connétables are referred to by their Parish - such as the Connétable of St Mary - and Deputies are addressed by their name.

Once the proposer has summed up, Members may vote either by standing vote, when Members must stand to signify their support or opposition to the proposition, or by an electronic vote known as an ‘appel nominal’.

Before an electronic vote the Bailiff calls all Members to return to their seats and then asks the Greffier of the States to open the electronic voting system. Members can then choose to press ‘P’ (or ‘pour’) in favour of the matter, ‘C’ (or ‘contre’) against the proposition or ‘A’ (or ‘abstain’) to record their abstention.

The Bailiff then asks the Greffier to close the vote and announces the result. Any elected Member may ask the Greffier to read out the names of Members who have voted pour and contre, and those who have abstained.
The Assembly then discusses upcoming public business and the propositions to be debated at future meetings, estimating how long it will take to consider them. It is also possible for Members to ask for a proposition they have lodged to be taken in a specific order in relation to other items for debate.

Procedural Explanations

The below explanations outline the steps involved in specific processes within Jersey's political system which take place less frequently. If there's a procedure not covered here that you would like to know more about, please email statesgreffe@gov.je.

The Chief Minister and Council of Ministers are chosen by the States Assembly.

The Chief Minister

The Chief Minister is the head of the Government of Jersey and leads the Council of Ministers. The States Assembly chooses the Chief Minister from its elected Members at the first States Meeting following an election. Before this Meeting, elected Members nominate who they think should be Chief Minister. At least six Members must sign the nomination paper. The nominated Member must write a statement to explain their strategic vision for Jersey and how they would act as Chief Minister.

At the Meeting, nominations are read out. Each candidate makes a statement of up to 10 minutes and faces up to 1 hour of questions from other Members – even if there is only one candidate.

If there is only one candidate, that person becomes Chief Minister designate. If there is more than one candidate, the Assembly chooses. Members choose by recorded vote so it is possible to see who has voted for each candidate. The successful candidate becomes Chief Minister designate.

The Council of Ministers

At the second Meeting after an election, the Chief Minister designate puts forward the elected Members they would like to be Ministers. For each Ministerial position, other Members can also make nominations. In every case, each candidate makes a statement of up to 10 minutes and faces questions for up to 20 minutes.

If there is only one candidate, they are declared the Minister. If there is more than one candidate, there is a vote and elected Members choose who they want to be Ministers.

Once all the Ministers have been chosen, the Council of Ministers is formed. At this point, the chosen Chief Minister officially takes up the position.

The Deputy Chief Minister

Once the Assembly has chosen the Council of Ministers, the Chief Minister must choose one Minister to be Deputy Chief Minister and notify the Assembly of their choice. The Deputy Chief Minister acts as Chief Minister when the Chief Minister is absent or incapacitated.
Following a resignation or a vacancy arising in the office of Minister, the Chief Minister must nominate an elected Member to fill this vacancy before the end of the States Meeting after the one in which the vacancy was announced. This appointment can take place during a scheduled meeting or, if needed, at one specifically called for this purpose.

The Chief Minister is required to send a declaration to the Greffier stating;
1. the names of the elected members they wish to nominate
2. the proposed Ministerial office in each case, as well as the order in which the States will vote on them.
This must be sent by 9.30am on the day before the meeting, e.g. for a States Meeting starting on a Tuesday, it must be declared by 9.30am on the Monday. The Greffier then circulates this information to all States Members and publishes it on the States Assembly website.
The voting process for the selection of Ministers

At the Meeting to select the Ministers, the Chief Minister will nominate the chosen States Members as candidates to a Ministerial office and state the order in which they wish the Assembly to vote on them.

For each vacancy, the Bailiff will invite Members to nominate other candidates. Members cannot nominate themselves, and all nominations must be seconded by another Member. Each candidate will make a 10-minute speech and face 20 minutes of questions from the Assembly.

Where the only candidate put forward is the Chief Minister’s nomination, they assume the Ministerial position and office with immediate effect. If there is more than one nominee, the other candidates must withdraw from the Chamber whilst the other candidates are speaking.

An open vote will decide which candidate becomes the appointed Minister. The candidate receiving more than half the votes cast assumes the position. Where none of the candidates put forward achieve this, the candidate receiving the lowest number of votes withdraws and a vote is taken on those remaining.

Where two or more candidates receive the same number of votes, but fewer than all the other candidates, a vote is taken to choose which one will remain in the contest, with the lowest scoring candidate withdrawing each time until only one candidate remains.

Abstentions

Abstentions do not count as votes cast during this process, although Members retain the right to abstain, should they so wish. A candidate can withdraw at any time during this process.

In a situation where there is more than one Ministerial vacancy and the Assembly chooses a candidate other than the Chief Minister’s preferred choice for the first vacancy, the Bailiff will ask the Chief Minister if they wish to maintain their chosen candidate for the subsequent vacancy. If not, the Chief Minister can make new nominations and the same process follows.

The successful candidate will take up the position of Minister and assumes responsibility for that office with immediate effect. They may also then appoint Assistant Minister(s) with the consent of the Chief Minister. The ‘Executive’, which is made up of all Ministers and Assistant Ministers, cannot exceed 21 of the 49 elected Members.

Ministers and Assistant Ministers are unable to hold positions on Scrutiny Panels or the Public Accounts Committee and therefore leave any such roles upon commencing Ministerial responsibilities, triggering further appointment processes in the Assembly.

Ministers are in office until the next appointment to their role, or until they resign or are dismissed by the Chief Minister.
An In-Committee debate may occur to consider reports or draft proposals, when recommendations are made by Panels or if an online petition has reached 5,000 signatures.
The Presiding Officer, acting as Chair of the meeting, invites States Members to speak during the debate and any Member may speak as many times as they like during the In-Committee debate. There is no set time limit to speeches; however, the Chair can ask a Member to finish their speech if it has deviated from their point.

The Chair also decides when sufficient time has been allowed for the discussion on the matter and when the debate shall end. The debate is not voted on at the end of all speeches. The outcome of discussions may be noted and presented as a report for Members to review at a later time.
A Vote of Censure is an expression of extreme disapproval of a person or body by the entire Assembly. A Vote of Censure can be lodged by any States Member.

A proposition to censure a person or body must be lodged with at least three States Members and the proposer having signed it. As with a Vote of No Confidence, a Vote of Censure can be debated after being lodged for two weeks. It is debated as the first item of public business at the next available meeting.

During the debate, the Member who is the subject of the Censure has the opportunity to speak before the proposer replies at the end of the debate in addition to their right to speak during the debate. There is no time limit for the either speech given by the subject of the Censure.
A VONC in a Minister, Panel or Committee Chair, or a Panel or Committee as a whole can be lodged by another States Member.

The standard process is that States Members will debate and vote on the VONC in two weeks (the standard lodging period), although it is possible for the Assembly to agree for this debate to take place sooner.

As part of the debate, the individual or chair of the body in question has the opportunity to speak a second time before the proposer sums up. If the majority of States Members vote against the VONC, the individual or body remains in post.

If a VONC in the leader of a body, such as the Chief Minister or the Chair of a Panel or Committee is adopted, that individual and body will cease to hold office when new Members have been appointed to fill those roles.

In the case of a successful VONC in the Chief Minister, the Assembly must appoint a new Council of Ministers as well as a new Chief Minister, and the previous Council ceases to hold office.

Languages spoken during States Meetings

States Members are allowed to speak any of three languages during States meetings: English, French or Jèrriais (Jersey French).

Whilst most of the States Assembly's business is now conducted in English, this wasn't always the case. The original language of Jersey's parliament was French, and there are several times in States meetings where French is still traditionally used, for example during prayers and roll call.

To find out more about the history behind the evolution of the languages of Jersey politics, the practicalities of when Members choose to speak in French or Jèrriais, and to learn about moments where the rules are broken and things veer into unparliamentary language, tune into this episode of the States Assembly Podcast.

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