Amendments to the Powers Of Attorney (Jersey) Law 1995 consultation

About the consultation

These proposals to amend the Powers of Attorney (Jersey) Law 1995 are intended to:

• provide that particular entities with separate legal personality that are not body corporates are able to execute powers of attorney
  
• clarify the applicability of the PoA Law to foreign-law governed powers of attorney granted by Jersey persons
• confirm that an attorney may, in certain circumstances, sign a power of attorney on behalf of a donor
• confirm that an irrevocable power of attorney can be granted for longer than a year where it secures the performance of an obligation owed to the donee (at present this is expressly permitted in relation to defined Jersey security interests or interests secured under foreign law)
  
• confirm that the PoA Law does not affect arrangements created under the customary law of agency (in particular agency in rem suam)
  
• clarify that nothing in the PoA Law shall be interpreted so as to preclude the grant of a power of attorney under the PoA Law by an entity incorporated or established outside of Jersey.

The views and suggestions of representatives from the legal sector in conjunction with Jersey Finance Limited have helped shape the drafting of the proposals and amendments, and this consultation now seeks views from a wider selection of relevant stakeholders.

The Draft Law should be read in conjunction with the proposed amendments.

This consultation does not deal with electronic or remote witnessing of Powers of Attorney or other documents; nor will the amendments have any effect on Lasting Powers of Attorney made under the Capacity and Self-Determination (Jersey) Law 2016.

The proposals are set out in more detail in the consultation paper.

The responses to this consultation will be reviewed with industry and interested parties and, subject to those responses and discussions, the Draft Law will be lodged for debate by the States Assembly.

Draft Powers of Attorney (Amendment) (Jersey) Law 202-
Consultation: Amendments to the Powers Of Attorney (Jersey) Law 1995

How to submit comments to the consultation

To respond, review the consultation paper, which contains further information and a list of the questions to which we are seeking responses.

You can respond:

• by email to economy@gov.je with a subject line of "Powers of Attorney", including whether you give permission for your comments to be quoted and, if so, whether they should be attributed or anonymous
• by post to
  Louise Richardson, Associate Director of Financial Services
  Department for the Economy
  Government of Jersey
  19-21 Broad Street
  St Helier
  Jersey
  JE2 3RR
  

How we will use your information

The information you provide will be processed in accordance with the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018 for the purposes of this consultation. For more information, please read our privacy notice, which is Appendix A of the consultation document.

The Government of Jersey may quote or publish responses to this consultation, but will not publish the name and addresses of individuals without consent. Types of publishing may include, for example, sending to other interested parties on request, sending to the Scrutiny Office, quoting in a published report, reporting in the media, publishing on the Government website, and listing on a consultation summary. Confidential responses will still be included in any summary of statistical information received and views expressed.

Under the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011, information submitted to this consultation may be released if a Freedom of Information request requires it, but no personal data may be released.