The States of Guernsey (french: États de Guernesey), sometimes referred to as the Government of Guernsey, is the

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

and

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

of the British Crown dependency of Guernsey. Some laws and ordinances approved by the States of Guernsey also apply to Alderney and

Sark Sark (french: link=no, Sercq, ; Sercquiais: or ) is a part of the Channel Islands in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, France. It is a royal fief, which forms part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, with its own set of ...

(the other component parts of the Bailiwick of Guernsey) as "Bailiwick-wide legislation" with the consent of the governments of those islands. All enactments of the States of Guernsey apply to Herm as well as Guernsey, since Herm is directly administered by the Bailiwick of Guernsey. When constituted as a

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

, it is officially called the States of Deliberation. When constituted as an electoral college, it is officially called the ''

States of Election The States of Election has only one purpose, to elect a new Jurat to the Courts in Guernsey. The first record of a Jurat in Guernsey was in 1179, and a roll of honour listing Jurats since 1299 is in the Royal Court. A Royal Commission of 1607 id ...

''. The executive functions of the States are carried out using a committee system, formed of one Senior Committee, six Principal Committees and several other Committees Boards, Authorities and Commissions. Legislation passed by the States is termed ''Laws'' (''Loi''), which take effect in the island by

Order-in-Council An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council (''Kin ...

. Minor and secondary legislation does not require the assent of the King-in-Council and are known as ''Ordinances'' (''Ordonnances'').

History

The legislature derives its name from the '' estates'' (French: ''états'') of

the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

, the Church and the people from whom the assembly was originally summoned. The

Jurat The ''jurats'' () are lay people in Guernsey and Jersey who act as judges of fact rather than law, though they preside over land conveyances and liquor licensing. In Alderney, however, the jurats are judges of both fact and law (assisted by the ...

s, representing the Crown, and the representatives of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

were replaced in the constitutional reforms following the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, when the office of Conseiller was introduced. Until 2000, there were 33 Deputies elected with three year mandates, and 12 Conseillers representing the Bailiwick, serving terms of six years, with half being elected every three. The Conseillers were not originally directly elected by the people (although latterly directly elected by Bailiwick-wide vote), and the office was abolished before the General Election held that year. The 10 Douzaine representatives (representing parish authorities) were removed from the States in the 2004 constitutional reform and the total of elected deputies rose to the 45 total. In 2016 the number of deputies was reduced to 38. A 2018 referendum means the whole island will form a single 38-member district for the 2020 election.

Composition

The States of Deliberation consists of 38 People's Deputies, elected every four years from a single island-wide constituency by

plurality-at-large voting Plurality block voting, also known as plurality-at-large voting, block vote or block voting (BV) is a non- proportional voting system for electing representatives in multi-winner elections. Each voter may cast as many votes as the number of sea ...

, each voter being allowed to cast up to 38 votes. Before the 2020 election, the electoral system was multi-member districts by plurality block voting, in which each voter can vote for as many candidates as there are seats in the district. Two Alderney Deputies are appointed by the States of Alderney to represent Alderney's interest in matters delegated by Alderney to Guernsey under the 1948 Agreement. The Alderney Representatives are full members of the States of Deliberation but are unpaid, and are chosen from the 10 members of the States of Alderney after an Alderney-wide plebiscite. There are also two non-voting members being the Law Officers of the Crown - the Procureur ( Attorney General) and the Comptroller ( Solicitor General) both appointed by the monarch. The Bailiff presides over the States.

Committee system

Guernsey's government operates on a committee system. A similar system used to be used in the neighbouring bailiwick, Jersey, however, this was abolished and replaced with a ministerial government in 2005. The Senior Committee is known as the Policy & Resources Committee. It is the leading body and in charge of co-ordination of policy and other States work. It oversees the functioning of the States and also has responsibilities for external affairs. The President of the Committee is often termed "Chief Minister" by the local media, as they are perceived to represent the island's government, especially abroad. They are elected by States Members. The incumbent President is Deputy Peter Febrache. The remaining Principal Committees are listed below: The remaining committees, all chaired by States Members, are the Development and Planning Authority, Transport Licensing Authority, Overseas Aid & Development Commission, States' Trading Supervisory Board, States Assembly & Constitution Committee, Scrutiny Management Committee and the Civil Contingencies Authority.

Elections

The last general election was on 7 October 2020. * 2020 results * 2016 results * 2012 results * 2008 results * 2004 results

Current deputies and representatives

Constitution of the States of Deliberation : Deputies Alderney representatives * Steve Roberts * Alex Snowdon

References

External links

* {{Guernsey elections Politics of Guernsey Government of Guernsey Guernsey