Jersey law drafter seconded to London for six months

Tuesday 14 June 2022

A Jersey legislative drafter is being seconded to the UK for six months to learn from London's best.

Advocate Jackie Harris, Jersey’s first ever trainee legislative drafter, is to be seconded to Office of the Parliamentary Counsel in London from next month.

The OPC serves largely the same function for the UK as the Legislative Drafting Office in Jersey does for the island.  

It describes itself as a group of government lawyers who specialise in drafting legislation and work closely with departments to translate policy into clear, effective and readable law, which is essentially what Jersey’s legislative drafters do.

Advocate Harris said: “I am very excited and flattered to be invited to train with the OPC – this is a great opportunity for me personally and for the Jersey Legislative Drafting Office as a whole, and I hope I am only the first of many Jersey-trained drafters to go out and gain experience of other Commonwealth drafting offices.”

Advocate Harris joined the Jersey office in April 2019 and is now well advanced in her training.  

Lucy Marsh-Smith, Principal Legislative Drafter and Head of the Legislative Drafting Office said that Jackie’s appointment had been a "huge success" and convinced her of the merits of home-growing drafting talent whenever possible.  

“Jackie took to drafting very easily and soon proved an extremely valuable member of the office, assisting other drafters as well as undertaking her own drafting projects," she said.

“I established links with the OPC in London and we have had a parliamentary counsel on a career break working for Jersey both last year and this year.  

“Out of this came the generous offer for Jackie to undertake some of her training with the very prestigious office in London.  

“I hope she will prove an asset to them and do Jersey proud. This is a wonderful opportunity of both Jackie and the Jersey office.”

Pictured top: Advocate Jackie Harris