The panel will meet on a monthly basis and any proposed changes are expected to be put before the States Assembly by the end of October.
The panel will advise Chief Minister Ian Gorst on the separation of the Bailiff’s powers and review any potential draft legislation.
The role of the Bailiff, who for centuries has acted as both the Island’s chief judge and President of the States, has been under the spotlight for a number of years and debated numerous times in the Assembly.
Both the Clothier Report, chaired by UK parliamentary commissioner Sir Cecil Clothier in 2000, and the Carswell Review, led by Lord Carswell in 2010, recommended that the Bailiff be removed from the Chamber.
Among the recommendations contained in the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry report, released in July, was that consideration should be given to implementing the Clothier and Carswell reviews.
The panel will be chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Andrew Green, with Senator Philip Ozouf and Deputies Montfort Tadier, Simon Brée and David Johnson also sitting. The panel will provide a detailed response to the inquiry’s recommendations. Members had been due to debate the dual role of the Bailiff during next week’s sitting and whether he should be replaced in the Assembly with an elected speaker.
However, Deputy Tadier, who brought the proposition, has now suggested that the debate by delayed until a later sitting.
Deputy Tadier, a member of political party Reform Jersey, said the delay would be ‘more helpful to allow Members more time and supporting material to be provided’. His comments come after Senator Sir Philip Bailhache lodged a proposition calling for a public vote on the separation of powers as well as the setting up of the panel.
He said: ‘The issues of separation of powers and delivering on the inquiry recommendations so that we have a fit-for-purpose democratic and social system fit for the 21st century should be goals that transcend partisan politics.
‘Jersey stands at a crossroads between going forward and embracing long-overdue, basic democratic reforms or going backwards. With this in mind, I have been keen to allow “cross-bench” work to take place on the issue, and to work closely with the Chief Minister on this particular issue, which we both now see as urgent.
‘I am convinced that this change is a matter of when, not if, and I remain hopeful that States Members will have the courage of their convictions to make the right decision once they have heard all of the arguments.’
The proposition is now due to be debated on Tuesday 26 September.
