When will the law relating to the Law Society of Jersey Law come into force

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WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE CHIEF MINISTER BY DEPUTY R.G. LE HERISSIER OF ST. SAVIOUR

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 28th MARCH 2006

Question

Will the Chief Minister inform members –

(a )  w h e n the Law Society of Jersey Law will be brought into force? and,

(b )  w h e th er anti discrimination legislation will be brought to the States and, if so, when? Answer

1. The matter currently rests with theLawOfficers' Department, and I am advised by that department that it is not possibleat this stageto give an indication of when the LawSocietyof Jersey Lawwillbebrought into force.

M  embers will recall from my previous answer to Deputy Le Herissier that the Law Society of Jersey Law has

not yet come into force because there are potential difficulties on the possible application of the Law to the Law Officers and the lawyers in the public service.

I u nderstand from H.M. Attorney General that discussions have taken place and agreement reached with the

Law Society on a proposal that the terms of the Law should not be extended to public sector lawyers. I shall be referring this proposal to the Legislation Advisory Panel that is shortly to be appointed by the States, and will be asking for its views on the proposal.

I c an assure members that this is being dealt with as a matter of the highest priority.

2. The subject of anti-discrimination legislation is referred to in the periodic report on the International Convention on the Elimination of all formsofRacialDiscrimination', a copyofwhichwas recently posted on the States of Jersey websiteunder Ministerial Decisions/ Chief Minister'.

The answer to the question is contained in the following extract from the report –

The States of Jersey decided in 2002 to introduce new primary legislation to address the issue of racial

discrimination.  It  was  subsequently  decided  to  extend  the  remit  of  the  drafting  programme  to  include protection from discrimination in a number of other areas including sex and disability discrimination.

A draft Discrimination (Jersey) Law is in the final stages of preparation. Once finalised, it will be published

for consultation in the Island so that organisations and individual members of the public can all comment on the proposals. The authorities hope to commence consultation early summer of 2006 with a view to a final draft Law being presented to the States as soon as reasonably possible after the consultation replies have been considered.

..The draft Law is designed to be an enabling law. In other words, the provisions of the legislation will

allow the States to adopt separate sets of Regulations in phases which will progressively extend protection from discrimination in different areas. The intention is to achieve conformity and consistency of treatment in relation to different areas of discrimination, because the underlying provisions of the Law will deal with all types of discrimination in a similar way.'