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Law Revision Board: appointment of member

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STATES OF JERSEY

LAW REVISION BOARD: APPOINTMENT OF MEMBER

Lodged au Greffe on 20th January 2015 by the Chief Minister

STATES GREFFE

2015   Price code: A  P.8

PROPOSITION

THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion

to appoint, in accordance with the provisions of Article 2(1)(a) of the Law Revision (Jersey) Law 2003, the Deputy of St. Mary as a member of the Law Revision Board.

CHIEF MINISTER

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REPORT

The Law Revision (Jersey) Law 2003 was approved by the States in July 2003, and gives a statutory framework to allow Revised Editions of the Laws of Jersey to be prepared and given official status as the "sole authentic edition of the laws of Jersey, in respect of the law contained in it and in force on the revision date" (Article 9).

The first Revised Edition was produced in 2005 and published in hard copy and on the Jersey Law website  www.jerseylaw.je. The Revised Edition makes it possible for users  of  the  Laws  to  find  an  accurate  and  up-to-date  version  of  each  piece  of legislation with, for example, all amendments incorporated, repealed Articles omitted and references updated. The Revised Edition has been updated annually since it was first produced, with these updates being published by April each year.

The Law Revision (Jersey) Law 2003 establishes a Law Revision Board, comprising 2 members of the States, H.M. Attorney General, the Greffier of the States and the Law Draftsman, who are authorised by the Law to bring into force each Revised Edition. Former Deputy G.C.L. Baudains of St. Clement was appointed by the States in 2012 to sit on the Board alongside Deputy M. Tadier of St. Brelade , who has been a Member since 2009.

With the departure from the States of Deputy Baudains, it is necessary to appoint a replacement Member to join Deputy Tadier . The role of the 2 States members on the Board  is  principally  to  be  satisfied,  at  a  political  level,  that  the  annual  updates prepared by the Law Draftsman's Office are ready to be brought into force although, in practice, they will need to rely largely on the legally qualified Members of the Board to give the necessary assurance about the contents of the updates. The Board does not now need to meet frequently, and in recent years has only held one or 2 meetings a year to approve the annual update and there are, in addition, law revision issues that are occasionally circulated for consideration to Board Members by the Law Draftsman.

All  States  members  were  recently  invited  to  indicate  whether  they  wished  to  be considered to fill the vacancy on the Board, and Deputy D. Johnson of St. Mary was the only member to express an interest. I am delighted to nominate him for this position, as he qualified as an English solicitor in 1970 and practised law for some 41 years. I therefore consider that he is eminently suitable to join the Law Revision Board, and I understand that before expressing his interest he took the trouble to discuss the work involved with the Law Draftsman and the Greffier of the States.

I am extremely grateful to Deputy Baudains for his work over the last 3 years as a Member of the Board, and I have no hesitation in recommending the Deputy of St. Mary as a new Board Member.

Financial and manpower implications

There are no additional financial or manpower implications for the States arising from this proposition.

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