Law Society of Jersey Law: Appointed Day Act.

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A decision made (22/09/2006) regarding Law Society of Jersey Law: Appointed Day Act.

Subject:	Law Society of Jersey Law: Appointed Day Act
Decision Reference:	MD-C-2006-0041		Exempt clause(s):	n/a
Type of Report: (oral or written)	Written		Person Giving Report (if oral):	n/a
Telephone or e-mail Meeting?	n/a		Report File ref:	n/a
Written report – Title	The Law Society of Jersey Law 2005 (Appointed Day) Act 200-
Written report – Author (name and job title)	Jeremy Harris, Policy Adviser
Decision(s): To approve a draft Act, entitled the Law Society of Jersey Law 2005 (Appointed Day) Act 200-, for consideration by the States. The effect of this Act would be to bring into force the provisions of The Law Society of Jersey Law.
Reason(s) for decision: The Law Society of Jersey Law was approved by the States in 2005 and the Appointed Day Act will enable it to be brought into effect on 1st January 2007.
Action required: JH to arrange with the States Greffe for the draft Act to be lodged ‘au Greffe’ for consideration by the States on 5th December 2006.
Signature: Chief Minister		Date of Decision: 22 September 2006

Law Society of Jersey Law: Appointed Day Act.

REPORT TO CHIEF MINISTER

The Law Society of Jersey Law 2005 (Appointed Day) Act 200-

Introduction:

The Chief Minister is asked to approve the draft Law Society of Jersey Law 2005 (Appointed Day) Act 200- for lodging ‘au Greffe’ and consideration by the States.

Background:

The Law Society of Jersey Law was approved by the States in 2005 and, once it comes into effect, it will require practising Jersey advocates and solicitors to join the Law Society. The law has not yet been brought into force, and the reason for the delay is because of a question that was raised about the potential difficulties of applying the Law to lawyers in the Law Officers Department.

That question has now been resolved, as it has been agreed between the Attorney General and the Law Society that Jersey lawyers and solicitors employed in the Law Officers’ Department should be exempted from the requirement to join the Law Society. This proposed exemption is set out in the draft Law Society of Jersey (Amendment) Law 200-, which is due to be considered by the States on 26th September 2006.

Subject to approval by the States, the draft amending Law will be sent off to the Privy Council, and it is anticipated that the approval of Her Majesty in Council will be forthcoming within a relatively short period.

In order to expedite the commencement of the above legislation, a draft Appointed Day Act has been prepared which proposes that the Law Society of Jersey Law 2005 should come into force on 1st January 2007, with the exception of those provisions requiring practising advocates and solicitors of the Royal Court to be members of the Law Society of Jersey. The provisions of Article 3 of the Law that do require practitioners to be members of the Society would then, in consequence of the making of the Act, come into force on 1st April 2007. The point of the time gap is to allow practitioners who may not yet be members of the Society a sufficient opportunity to join it.

The draft Appointed Day Act is accordingly proposed for consideration by the States on 5th December 2006, i.e. the last sitting of the States before 1st January 2007. If for any reason the draft amending Law has not been received back from the Privy Council by early December, it would be necessary to withdraw the Act. In that event, a new Appointed Day Act - with a new commencement date – could be lodged within a short period so that it could be dealt with promptly after the registration of the present amending Law.

This proposal does not have any resource implications, as confirmed below –

Financial: Nil

Manpower: Nil

Property: Nil

ICT: Nil

Law Drafting: Nil (the draft legislation has already been drafted and is attached to this report).

The draft Law has been considered by the Legislation Advisory Panel and it has their support. The Panel’s recommendation to the Chief Minister is that it should be approved and lodged ‘au Greffe’ for consideration by the States.

Recommendation:

It is recommended that the Chief Minister should approve the draft Law and agree that it be lodged ‘au Greffe’ for consideration by the States on 5th December 2006.

Jeremy Harris,

Policy Adviser

19th September 2006