Law Society Disciplinary Panel: appointment of lay members

STATES OF JERSEY

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LAW SOCIETY DISCIPLINARY PANEL: APPOINTMENT OF LAY MEMBERS

Presented to the States on 9th January 2020 by the Chief Minister

STATES GREFFE

2020  R.4

REPORT

Background

The Law Society of Jersey Law 2005 ("the 2005 Law") came into force on 1st January 2007, in order to provide for the administration and disciplinary control of advocates and solicitors of the Royal Court. It was amended with effect from 2nd August 2018 to provide for the recognition of legal services bodies, and to extend disciplinary control to legal services bodies.

One  of  the  principal  objectives  of  the  Society  is  to  promote  high  standards  of professional conduct among practitioners, and to this end, the Law makes provision for the appointment of a Disciplinary Panel to consider and adjudicate upon complaints against members of the legal profession and legal services bodies.

In accordance with Article 18(1) of the 2005 Law, the Disciplinary Panel shall consist of "not less than 7 and not more than 15 fit and proper persons as lay members". The Panel also includes "not less than 7 and not more than 10 ordinary members of the Law Society". Complaints against legal practitioners are submitted to the President of the Law Society and, in those cases where the President is satisfied that a complaint establishes a prima facie case of misconduct, the matter will be referred to a disciplinary committee.

The Disciplinary Panel is currently comprised of only 5 lay members, all of whom are serving a second term of office. It is therefore necessary to appoint additional lay members to ensure that at least the minimum complement of lay members is maintained. A complement of 8 lay members is currently considered sufficient to cope with demand on the services of members of the Disciplinary Panel.

The details of the current membership are set out below.

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

Mrs. Annette Cullen

Mr. (Patrick) David McGrath Mrs. Deborah Ann Thompson.

The above lay members were appointed by the States for a 5 year term of office on 19th November 2013 under P.104/2013, and re-appointed for a second term of office of 4 years on 19th November 2018 under R.143/2018.

Appointments process

The  recruitment  process  and  composition  of  the  appointments  panel  for  new  lay members was approved by the Jersey Appointments Commission. It was determined that the Appointments Commission did not need to participate in the recruitment process itself, provided that the agreed process was followed.

The positions were advertised in the Jersey Evening Post on 2 occasions, on 10th and 12th September 2019, with a closing date for applications of 30th September 2019. Ten expressions of interest and requests for the comprehensive information pack were received. One potential applicant was disqualified from applying as a consequence of

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them being a qualified lawyer in another jurisdiction. Formal applications were received from 6 individuals, all of whom were subsequently interviewed by the appointments panel on 4th and 6th November 2019.

The members of the appointments panel were Mr. Douglas Melville (Channel Islands Financial Ombudsman), Advocate  Elaine   Millar (Viscount of the  Royal Court  of Jersey), Mr. David Rosser (Former Chair of the Law Society of Jersey Disciplinary Panel) and Mr. Neville Benbow (Chief Executive Officer, The Law Society of Jersey).

Appointment of lay members to the Disciplinary Panel

The appointments panel recommends that the following individuals be appointed as lay members of the Law Society of Jersey Disciplinary Panel –

Mr. Nick Cameron Mrs. Mary Curtis Ms. Sara Gascoigne.

Recommendation

The Chief Minister is pleased to accept the recommendation of the appointments panel, and is grateful that these individuals, with their blend of skills and experience, are committed to undertaking this time-consuming and complex work in an honorary capacity.

In accordance with Article 18(3A) of the 2005 Law, the Chief Minister hereby provides notice to the States Assembly of his intention to make these appointments. Subject to the confirmation of these appointments, the lay members will serve for a period of 5 years. A further Ministerial Decision will be made to confirm the commencement date of these appointments.

Biographies for the candidates are provided in the attached Appendix. Financial and manpower implications

Administrative support to the Disciplinary Panel is provided by The Law Society of Jersey. The lay members work in an honorary capacity and, therefore, there are no financial or manpower implications for the Government of Jersey.

R.4/2020

APPENDIX

Mr. Nick Cameron

Mr. Nick Cameron is Governor and Head of the States of Jersey Prison Service. Before moving to Jersey in 2018, Mr. Cameron held a number of senior leadership roles in both the public and private sector in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, following a successful military career.

Mrs. Mary Curtis

Mrs.  Mary   Curtis  is  Director  of  Calmera  Business  Consultancy,  which  provides business  advisory  services  to  public,  private  and  not-for-profit  organisations. Mrs. Curtis has 30 years' of experience in senior leadership roles, focused mainly on human resource management and people development and training. She is a Chartered Director and Fellow of the Institute of Directors and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. She is a Trustee of Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and, until recently, a Non-Executive Director of Jersey Water. Mrs. Curtis was a member of the Jersey Employment and Discrimination Tribunal from 2005–2015.

Ms. Sara Gascoigne

Ms.  Sara  Gascoigne  is  Director  of  Meraki  Business  Consulting  Limited,  having previously served as Executive Director and Head of Business Management at the Royal Bank of Canada and in a number of strategic consultancy and change management roles in Jersey and the UK. Ms. Gascoigne is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Certified Accountants of England and Wales.