The Law Office(r)s Part 1

As part of an up-coming “Team Voice” venture, where we will be looking at the Law Officers, who are, it is believed by some, the people who hold the real power in Jersey. They are unaccountable. They are powerful and unaccountable and nobody can do much, or anything, about it. They are not elected. They are not on any fixed term appointments that we are aware of. The process by which they are selected is a bit of a mystery and once appointed they appear to hold their powerful position for life or until they retire or move on.

No legislation or significant changes in the way the Island is governed can pass through the States without their endorsement and Ministers defer to their “advice” on all significant issues. They are the gatekeepers of the States. They control the legislative agenda and they control debates and questions, rarely hesitating to block or rule out of order anything which challenges establishment interests “The Jersey Way.” That is their power base. Ministers and even Chief Ministers come and go. The law officers remain as the bedrock of real political power in the Island.

In this “episode” we look at, among others, the current Attorney General and former Solicitor General Tim Le Cocq and the role played by, not so much him, but his (conflicted) position.

We thought where better to start than the possibly illegal suspension of our most Senior Police Officer Graham Power QPM?

1. 12th November 2008. A Suspension meeting of CPO Graham Power QPM is held. Bill Ogley (BO) the (then) Chief Police Officer, Graham Power QPM (GP) and Andrew Lewis (AL) the (then) Home Affairs Minister are present. The (then) Chief Minister Frank Walker (FW) in the next room. Things were said by all sides. BO takes notes with pen and pad. He asks GP, we are told, to slow down at one point so he can catch the words and write them down. Andrew Lewis lets it slip that he has already discussed how to handle the suspension with other Ministers and that he and FW are giving a Press Conference about it that afternoon. This is while he is “considering” whether the Chief Police Officer GP should be suspended.

2. 13th November 2008 GP hands in a letter saying that he challenges the legality of the process. He (GP) also gives media interviews in which the issue of legality and a possible legal challenge are raised.

3. 19th November 2008. Ian Crich, head of States HR (but not anymore) writes a letter on administrative issues but also includes a statement that he is aware of comments made by GP to the media challenging the legality of the suspension.

4. 24th November 2008. GP gives formal written notice to the Home Affairs Minister of his intention to seek a Judicial Review of the suspension. He also asks for a copy of the written record of the suspension interview.

5. 29th November 2008 GP receives a typed document in the post. The document purports to be a record of the suspension meeting. The document is inaccurate and says things which, according to GP, are not true.

6. 1st December 2008. GP writes to the Home Affairs Minister pointing out the alleged inaccuracies and untruths in the typed record of the meeting. He (GP) asks for a copy of the original hand written notes.

7. 4th December 2008 Ian Crich writes to GP telling him that the original notes of the meeting have been destroyed!!!!!

8. During December 2008 GP is in discussions with officials of the Royal Court (Law Officers) regarding an application for a Judicial Review. The Home Affairs Minister is kept informed of this intention. (Formal Papers are served on the Minister in January 2009.)

9. During December 2008 it becomes clear that the absence of the original notes of the suspension meeting is a difficulty for the Judicial Review proceedings. On 15th December 2008 GP writes to the Home Affairs Minister and formally complains about the destruction of the notes by BO. GP points out that the destruction appears to have occurred after he (GP) had made it clear that he was taking legal action and in those circumstances it could be a criminal act (attempting to Pervert the Course of Justice.) The Minister refers the matter to the Law Officers.

10. 16th February 2009. GP receives a letter telling him that there will be no criminal investigation regarding the destruction of the notes by the Chief Executive, Bill Ogley. The letter is signed by, none other than, the then Solicitor General (SG) Tim Le Cocq. The SG later represents the Minister in the Royal Court in opposing the former Police Chief’s (GP) Judicial Review Proceedings!!

It should also be remembered that according to GP, the SG (who was acting as lawyer for the Home Affairs Minister and the Crown’s interests at the same time) would not allow an investigation as to whether the notes were destroyed in order to prevent their use in Court. That is not the same as him saying that there would be no prosecution. From what is understood when a matter has been investigated the Law Officers decide to take no further action, because of lack of evidence or the old “public interest” sketch. That is not what happened here.

The SG, we are told, decided that there was to be no investigation. So therefore he couldn’t consider the evidence because HE decided not to allow the evidence to be gathered!!! The Former Chief Police Officer, Graham Power QPM, made a criminal complaint. No investigating officer was appointed and nobody asked him (GP) to make a statement!! The SG decided that the matter would go no further and so that was that!! He then went to Court as Lawyer acting on behalf of the very people who had been complained against. It is difficult to imagine a more conflicted situation. It is conflicted and it looks conflicted. No right minded person could look at it and not see it as conflicted. But the then Solicitor General went ahead anyway. We do not know what was in his mind when he did so. But we know what his behavior looks like. It looks like the behavior of someone who knows that he is conflicted and does not care because he knows that nobody can do anything about it. That is the “Jersey Way.” The Government’s Chief Lawyer is also the Chief Prosecutor and also the person who defends Jersey Ministers in Jersey Courts should anyone be rash enough to challenge the legality of what is taking place. They appear not to care what anyone thinks and they do not bother to pretend that anything is otherwise than it seems.

In banana Republics and Dictatorships at least the Legal Authorities pretend that they are independent of government. In Jersey they do not even bother to pretend. The Attorney General and the Solicitor General are the most influential politicians in the Island. They do not have to bother about elections. They do not have to bother about terms of office. They just hold power while politicians come and go. They are not merely the power behind the throne, they are the power beside the throne and in front of the throne. And nothing that happens on voting day alters that one bit.

Let us also assume that the new Police Chief Mr. Mike Bowron knows his place and how things are done, in Jersey, should he go "off script".