Guernsey’s newest Jurat will be elected later this month – with three people vying to take on the role.
Richard Ashplant, Karen Jagger, and Andrea Nightingale have each been nominated to replace Jurat Jonathan Hooley following his retirement.
They’ll face the States of Election – made up of the Bailiff and the Law Officers, the Jurats, eligible Rectors, the People’s Deputies, and 34 Douzaine Representatives – on Wednesday 25 November.
Each member of the States of Election has a vote except for the Bailiff who may only vote in the event of a tie.
When elected, the new Jurat will join others in acting as a jury and ‘judge of fact’ in both criminal and civil cases.
Jurats are not ‘interpreters of law’ with that duty carried out by the presiding Judge who will direct the Jurats in both decision-making and sentencing in criminal cases, and in providing a ‘reasoned judgment’ in civil cases.
The Jurats also sit in the Full and Ordinary Court, hear appeals, act as Commissioners in saisie, en désastre and compulsory liquidation hearings, and attend ceremonial events.
They are not paid a salary but earn a fee from working in the Contracts Court, which includes property sales and purchases, mortgage bonds, liquor licences, and other matters.
Among their other unusual duties, Jurats supervise the destruction of Guernsey currency notes.
