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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 –
- from among persons suitably qualified by profession or experience appoint a Chairman and 2 suitably qualified Deputy Chairmen of the Panel; and
- 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.