JERSEY LAW COMMISSION
WHO WE ARE
The Jersey Law Commission consists of commissioners appointed by the States of Jersey Assembly. The role of commissioner is unremunerated.
PROFESSOR CLAIRE DE THAN, BA (HONS), LLB, LLM
She is Co-Director of the Centre for Law, Justice and Journalism at City University, London, having previously held appointments at two London University colleges. A senior academic of more than 20 years’ standing, she is the author or co-author of more than 15 books, including de Than, Criminal Law (OUP 2016), de Than and Heaton, Criminal Law (OUP 2013) and de Than and Shorts, International Criminal Law and Human Rights (Sweet and Maxwell 2004). She has over 80 legal publications in total, including chapters in leading legal monographs and edited collections, such as Reed and Bohlander, Substantive Issues in Criminal Law (Ashgate, 2011) and articles in a variety of national and international journals, including the Modern Law Review. Her research fields include criminal law, human rights law, media law, and disability law. She has been an expert for the Law Commission of England and Wales on two recent criminal law projects. A regular keynote speaker at legal and medical conferences, she has advised several governments and many organisations on criminal law, human rights and law reform issues, with specialisms in the law of British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies and in the law of consent. Appointed as a member for a 5-year term on 19 January 2016. Appointed as Chair in 2021.
ADVOCATE BARBARA CORBETT
She is a Jersey Advocate (a partner at Corbett Le Quesne) and an experienced English Solicitor, who specialises in family and child law. As such, she is therefore able to advise and represent clients in both Jersey and England. She is also a qualified Collaborative Lawyer, Specialist Children’s Lawyer, and is both a Family and a Civil and Commercial mediator. Advocate Corbett is the only practitioner in Jersey who is a Fellow of the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, which demonstrates her expertise in international family law. Advocate Corbett is the first, and only, Family Arbitrator in Jersey. Advocate Corbett also has expertise in public child law, dealing with care and supervision orders and applications for contact with children in care. Appointed as a member for a 5-year term on 19 January 2016.
DR ELINA STEINERTE
She is an international human rights lawyer with extensive expertise with respect to the prevention of torture and ill-treatment, arbitrary deprivation of liberty and independent oversight of detention facilities. She was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in November 2016. Subsequently Dr Steinerte acceded to become Vice Chair of the Working Group in April 2017, reelected by her peers to that position in April 2018 and again in April 2019. In this role Dr Steinerte has lead numerous UN missions including to Argentina, Sri Lanka, Hungary and Bhutan as well as participated in the delivery of Opinions of the Group with regard to over 200 allegations of arbitrary deprivation of liberty globally. In May 2021 she was promoted to Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group, the first from Eastern Europe to hold that title since its founding.
Dr Steinerte was awarded a Ph.D. from Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen and has taught public international and human rights law at universities in Latvia, England and Scotland as well as the Bailiwick of Jersey. The primary focus of her work and research to date has been the implementation of the UN Convention against Torture and its Optional Protocol (OPCAT). She has worked globally with respect to the implementation of the Convention including advising upon the calibration of domestic legislation and the designation and effectiveness of National Preventive Mechanisms. Additionally, she has provided expert advice on a variety of criminal justice reforms concerning pre-trial detention, overuse of imprisonment, overcrowding and independent oversight over the places of deprivation of liberty. Recently she has been working with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees on streamlining its methodology for monitoring immigration detention.
TIMOTHY HART
He was admitted as a solicitor of the Royal Court in 1996, having been called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2015, and from 2000 to 2020 was a partner of Appleby (formerly Bailhache Labesse). He was the head of Appleby’s property practice, specialising in Jersey-based commercial property work, including property development, commercial leases, acquisitions and disposals, secured lending and general property law advice. His practice also included work in relation to residential property, wills and probate and local commercial transactions.
Tim currently works as a consultant to Jersey Finance Limited, working closely with the Government of Jersey and the Jersey Financial Services Commission in relation to legislation and policy affecting the financial services industry. He is also a member of the Board of Examiners for the Advocates and Solicitors Qualifying Examination (currently being an examiner for immovable property, having previously been an examiner for wills and succession) and is the Adjunct Professor of Immovable Property Law at the Institute of Law Jersey. Appointed as a Commissioner by decision of the Chief Minister presented to the States on 11 July 2019.
ADVOCATE STEVEN PALLOT
Steven Pallot has been in public service for the bulk of his professional career, which started in 1973 in the Law Drafting Section of the States Greffe. He also served in the Judicial Greffe before being called to the Bar of Gray’s Inn in 1978. He moved into private practice – with Messrs. Ogier & Le Cornu – in 1980. He was sworn in as an Advocate of the Royal Court in 1983. He continued in private practice until late 1988 when he joined the Law Officers’ Department as a Legal Adviser, later becoming a Crown Advocate and Senior Legal Adviser. He was also admitted as a Notary Public in 1991. He retired from the Law Officers’ Department in 2017 but has continued since then as a consultant to the Law Officers. A focus of Advocate Pallot’s work has been drafting of Rules of Court, notably, the Royal Court Rules 2004, the Children Rules 2005 and the Petty Debts Court Rules 2018. He was a member of the Royal Court Rules Review Group in 2015 established by the (then) Bailiff to improve access to justice. Advocate Pallot also liaised over many years with the Legislative Drafting Office on the preparation of many important items of legislation. He oversaw preparation of ‘Royal Assent memoranda’ to the Ministry of Justice. He was closely involved with the Loi (1991) sur la copropriété des immeubles bâtis (the ‘Flying Freeholds’ Law) as well as legislation for Honorary Police reform following the Clothier Report of 1996 on policing services in Jersey. Advocate Pallot prepared the Report of the Working Party on Parish Assemblies in 2001 providing an overview of the laws on Parish Assemblies, and he has since contributed articles to the Jersey & Guernsey Law Review summarising legislative reforms relating to Parish administration. He has translated many Jersey Lois into English for inclusion on the Jersey Legal Information Board website. Advocate Pallot has also advised on drafting to implement recommendations of the Jersey Law Commission, including –
the Wills and Successions (Amendment No. 2) (Jersey) Law 2013 – to end viduité
the Children’s Property and Tuteurs (Jersey) Law 2016 – to reform the law of tutelle
the Debt Remission (Individuals) (Jersey) Law 2016 – to provide relief for debtors with negligible assets
the Loi (2018) (Amendement No. 6) sur la propriété foncière – to enable charges for a percentage of land value/to extend the prescription period for reconnaissances
the Maintenance Orders (Enforcement) (Amendment) (Jersey) Law 2018 – to enable registration in the Public Registry of orders of the Family Division.
Advocate Pallot also has extensive experience of settling draft Orders in Council with UK counsel/legal advisers in cases – mainly in the areas of immigration and wireless telegraphy – where the States Assembly has agreed to the extension of UK Acts of Parliament by Order in Council. Appointed as a Commissioner by decision of the Chief Minister presented to the States on 20 January 2021.
ADVOCATE EMMA GERMAN
Emma German read law at King's College, London and spent an ERASMUS year at Leiden University, The Netherlands. Emma moved to Jersey in 2005 to join Carey Olsen in the corporate and finance team.
Emma was admitted to the bar of England and Wales in 2008 at the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, London. Emma later qualified as an English solicitor and then in 2014 was sworn in as an Advocate of the Royal Court of Jersey.
In 2020, Emma was awarded an LLM by the Jersey Institute of Law for her thesis on the enforceability of smart contracts, soon to be published in the Jersey and Guernsey Law Review.
In 2021 Emma left her full-time practice at Carey Olsen to launch her own innovation consultancy and pursue her research interests. Emma has retained a more limited role as a Senior Associate in the Carey Olsen digital assets team. Emma's research interests relate to the modernisation of Jersey law to make it fit for supporting a growing fintech industry.
Emma is delighted to be appointed to the Jersey Law Commission, on 20 January 2021.
PROFESSOR ANDREW LE SUEUR
Andrew Le Sueur was a Commissioner from 2014-2018, and returned to the Commission in February 2021 for a second five-year term. He was born and brought up in Jersey before studying for a law degree at the London School of Economics. He was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1987 and is a Bencher of Middle Temple.
Andrew has taught and researched at UCL, The University of Birmingham, Queen Mary University of London and, since 2013, is Professor of Constitutional Justice at the University of Essex. He is a specialist in constitutional and administrative law. During his first stint as a Commissioner he led projects on Improving Administrative Redress in Jersey and Designing a Public Services Ombudsman for Jersey.
FORMER LAW COMMISSIONERS
Advocate Keith Baker (1996-2000), a former chairman
Jurat Donald Le Boutillier (1996-2000)
Mr David Lyons (1996-2010), a former chairman
Mr David Moon (1997-2003), a former chairman
Advocate William Bailhache (1997-2000)
Advocate John Wheeler (2000-2004)
Advocate Kerry Lawrence (2003-2008)
Advocate John Kelleher (2005-2010)
Mr Peter Hargreaves (2005-2014)
Advocate Alan Binnington (2000-2016)
Mr Malcolm Le Boutillier (2010-2019)
Mr Clive Chapman (2000-2021), a former chairman
Mr Jonathan Walker (2016-2021)
Mr Matt Swan (2021-2022)
Mr Mark Dunlop (2019-2023)
PA TO THE CHAIR OF THE LAW COMMISSION
Cairistiona "Cass" Annan (since 2016)