States of Jersey Complaints Panel: appointment of members.

STATES OF JERSEY

STATES OF JERSEY COMPLAINTS PANEL: APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS

Lodged au Greffe on 2nd June 2009

by the Privileges and Procedures Committee

STATES GREFFE

2009   Price code: B  P.92

PROPOSITION

THE STATES are asked to decide whether they are of opinion

in  accordance  with  Article 5(2)  of  the  Administrative  Decisions  (Review) (Jersey) Law 1982, to appoint the following persons as members of the States of Jersey Complaints Panel, from whom members of Complaints Boards, for a period of 3 years –

Chairman

Mrs. Carol Elizabeth Canavan Deputy Chairmen

Mr. Nigel Peter Edgar Le Gresley Advocate Richard John Renouf

Members

Mr. John Geoffrey Davies Mrs. Mary Le Gresley

Mr. Thomas Siouville Perchard Miss Christine Vibert

Mr. David James Watkins.

PRIVILEGES AND PROCEDURES COMMITTEE

REPORT

The Administrative Decisions (Review) (Jersey) Law 1982 provides that any person aggrieved by a decision made by any Minister or Department of the States, or any person acting on behalf of any such Minister or Department, may apply to the Greffier of the States to have the matter reviewed by a Complaints Board (sometimes known as a Review Board'). A Board to deal with each individual complaint is comprised of 3 persons selected from the States of Jersey Complaints Panel, one of whom must be the Chairman or one of the Deputy Chairmen.

Article 5(2) of the Law states that –

(2)  The States may from time to time by Act –

1. from among persons suitably qualified by profession or experience appoint a Chairman and 2 suitably qualified Deputy Chairmen of the Panel; and
2. appoint a sufficient number of persons to constitute the Panel,

to hold office during such period and on such terms and conditions as the States may so direct, and any person so appointed shall be eligible for re- appointment on the expiry of the person's term of office.

This proposition is the first part of the appointment process for the renewal of the Complaints Panel membership. The term of office of the current members of the Panel expired in late May 2009 and the Privilege and Procedures Committee initiated the process  for  the  appointment  of  new  members,  with  the  involvement  of  the Appointments Commission as required, some weeks ago.

An  advertisement  was  placed  in  the  Jersey  Evening  Post  seeking  expressions  of interest in the position and the Committee was pleased with the response received. Nevertheless, the necessary process to assess the expressions of interest, create a shortlist and hold interviews with the shortlisted candidates in compliance with the Appointments Commission codes, has taken slightly longer than expected, and the Committee has been informed that there are several complaints that are waiting to be considered  by  a  Complaints  Board  in  late  June  and  early  July.  The  Committee therefore believes that it is necessary to appoint some members now if possible to enable the Complaints Panel system to continue to function properly and avoid undue delay to complainants who are waiting for a review.

Although 2 members of the current Panel are stepping down at the end of their term of office, the Committee is pleased that the current Chairman, Deputy Chairmen and 5 members are willing to serve for a further 3 year term. Although the Committee considers that it is important to appoint new members, it is also vital to maintain some continuity and experience and, with the agreement of the Appointments Commission, the  Committee  is  pleased  to  be  able  to  nominate  them  for  re-appointment.  The Committee is extremely grateful to the members who give many hours of their time on a totally honorary basis in relation to the work of the Panel, and very pleased that they have offered to serve for a further 3 years. Brief biographical details of each nominee are set out in the Appendix.

The  Committee  would  like  to  pay  particular  tribute  to  Mr.  Patrick  Freeley  and Mr. Peter Farley, who are stepping down from the Panel at the end of their term of

office The Committee is very grateful to them for the service they have given over a number of years.

The Committee is hopeful that a further proposition recommending the appointment of new members to join the nominees in this proposition can be lodged very shortly, for debate  before  the  summer  recess.  There  is  no  fixed  maximum  number  to  the membership of the Complaints Panel and although only 2 members are stepping down, the Committee hopes to be able to recommend for appointment a number of new members after the interview process.

There  are  no  additional  financial  or  manpower  implications  arising  from  this proposition. As mentioned above all members of the Panel serve on a purely honorary basis.

APPENDIX

Chairman

Mrs. Carol Elizabeth Canavan has been Chairman of the Panel for the last 6 years. Mrs. Canavan, a Jersey écrivain or solicitor, was a co-founder and partner in Crill Canavan. She was employed in the Judicial Greffe from 1976 – 1984, initially as a Legal Trainee and ultimately as Assistant Greffier, before moving to Crills, where she remained until 1992. She is currently Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Jersey Law Society and Policy Adviser to the Chamber of Commerce.

Deputy Chairmen

Mr.  Nigel  Peter  Edgar  Le  Gresley  was  educated  at  Victoria  College  Preparatory School and Victoria College. He was admitted as a Jersey solicitor on 18th July 1983, having taken all the examinations locally, including two in French. He is a previous member of the examining board for advocates and solicitors and runs his own legal practice.

Advocate Richard John Renouf was called to the bar in 1979 and became an advocate of the Royal Court of Jersey in 1984. He was made a partner of Michael Voisin and Company in 1986. From 1989–1994 he practised as a sole practitioner and built up a strong local client base. In 1995 his practice merged with that of Advocate Raoul Lemprière, and they were joined by Advocate Marian Whittaker under the name of Lemprière  Whittaker   Renouf .  Since  February  2005  Advocate   Renouf  has  been  a Procureur du Bien Public of the Parish of St. Ouen .

Members

Mr. John Geoffrey Davies was Senior Jersey Partner of Deloitte & Touche and a Regional  Partner-in-charge  of  the  United  Kingdom  Offshore  Region.  Mr. Davies qualified  as  a  Chartered  Accountant  in  August  1974  and  has  wide  managerial experience.  He  worked  in  Industry  for  13 years  before  obtaining  his  Chartered Accountancy qualifications and moving onto his professional career, from which he has now retired.

Mrs.  Mary  Le Gresley  obtained  a  Diploma  in  Dietetics  in  Glasgow  Caledonian University and was employed as a Dietician in the Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh and the Western Infirmary, Glasgow, before moving in 1968 to the Jersey General Hospital as Senior Dietician. She has now retired from this position.

Mr. Thomas Siouville Perchard was educated at de la Salle College and is a farmer. He is a former Vice-President of the Jersey Farmers' Union. A Director of Biarritz Ltd., he has a deep understanding of Island life, its institutions and the structure of its administration.

Miss Christine Vibert comes from a legal family, was educated at the Jersey College for Girls and has a degree in Biochemistry from the University of London. She has run her own business since 1990. Good Moves Limited specialises in office relocation and project  management,  as  well  as  providing  consultancy  services  on  designing  and improving records management systems. She has a keen interest in Island affairs and a strong belief in the value to the community of traditional honorary service.

Mr.  David  James  Watkins  retired  as  Island  Director  of  Lloyds  Bank,  and was  a member of a previous Working Party to consider the relationship between the States and the parishes in the provision of services to the public. Mr. Watkins also served as a  member  of  the  Committee  of  Inquiry  which  investigated  the  development  of Fields 848, 851 and 853, Bel Royal, St. Lawrence and reported in 2008.