The Bailiff of Jersey () is the civic head of the Bailiwick of Jersey. In this role, he is not the head of government nor the head of state, but the chief justice of Jersey and presiding officer of Jersey's parliament, the States Assembly. The Bailiff is also the President of the Royal Court. It is similar in role to the Bailiff of Guernsey.
The position of Bailiff was created shortly after the Treaty of Paris 1259 in which the king of England, Henry III, gave up claim to all of the Duchy of Normandy but the Channel Islands. In 1290, separate bailiffs for Jersey and Guernsey were appointed.
History
The position of Bailiff in Norman law predates the separation of Normandy in 1204. When the Channel Islands were granted self-governance by King John after 1204, legislative power was vested in 12 jurats, the twelve "senior men" of the island. Along with the Bailiff, they would form the Royal Court, which determined all civil and criminal causes (except treason).
Any oppression by a bailiff or a warden was to be resolved locally or failing that, by appeal to the King who appointed commissioners to report on disputes. In the late 1270s, Jersey was given its own Bailiff (the first record of someone holding the position is in 1277) and from the 1290s, the duties of Bailiff and Warden were separated. The (Sub-)Warden became responsible for taxation and defence, while the Bailiff became responsible for justice. While probably originally a temporary arrangement by Otto de Grandison, this became permanent and the foundation for Jersey's modern separation of Crown and justice. It also lessened the Warden's authority relative to the Bailiff, who had much more interaction with the community.
In 1462, the occupying French Governor de Brézé issued ordinances outlining the role of the Bailiff and the Jurats. It may well be during this occupation that the island saw the establishment of the States. Comte Maulevrier, who had led the invasion of the island, ordered the holding of an Assize in the island. Maulevrier confirmed the place of existing institutions, however created the requirement for Jurats to be chosen by Bailiffs, Jurats, Rectors and Constables. The earliest extant Act of the States dates from 1524.
Peyton was also against democracy in the form of the States and the freedoms of the Courts in Jersey. In 1615, Jean Hérault was appointed Bailiff by the King, having been promised the role by Letters Patent in 1611. Peyton disputed this appointment, claiming it was the Governor's jurisdiction to appoint the Bailiff. Hérault asserted it was the King's jurisdiction to directly appoint the Bailiff. An Order in Council (dated 9 August 1615) sided with Hérault.
Hérault took this to claim the Bailiff was the real head of government and took steps to assert the precedence of the Bailiff over Governor: he ordered his name to be placed before the Governor's in church prayers and was the first Bailiff to wear red robes (in the style of English judges). To back his claims, he cited that in the Norman administrative tradition, the Bailiffs had "noone above them except the Duke". Though the Privy Council did not agree with Hérault's extreme position on the precedence of the Bailiff, on 18 February 1617 it declared that the "charge of military forces be wholly in the Governor, and the care of justice and civil affairs in the Bailiff." This secured for the Bailiff precedence over the Governor on justice and civil affairs.
By 1750, the Bailiffship had de facto become a hereditary position in the de Carteret family. Absences of the de Carterets and all other high-ranking posts left Charles Lempière, the Lieutenant Bailiff, in effective full control over the island. Lempière was a Parliamentarian, but by temperament was autocratic. His family had significant power with a number of high-ranking roles in the island and he issued ordinances and quashed protest through his court.:195
After the 1948 States reforms, Jurats were removed from the States, now only sitting on the Royal Court (and the Licensing Assembly). The reforms declared that the Bailiff shall be the judge of the law, and the Jurats the "judge of fact".
Appointment
The Bailiff is appointed by the Crown through Letters Patent after consultation with the Island. They serve at His Majesty's pleasure, usually until an age of retirement as specified in their Letters Patent, unless they resign earlier.
Roles
Ex-Bailiff Sir Philip Bailhache divides the role of Bailiff into four 'headings' –