INDIVIDUAL ministers could be forced out of office by a States vote under the new Draft States of Jersey Law 200- .
The law, which sets out the structure of the States under ministerial government, also includes provision for teenagers to stand for election and for the removal of the rarely used vetoes and casting votes of the Bailiff and Lieutenant Governor.
It also confirms for the first time that the executive will consist of a chief minister, nine ministers and up to 13 assistant ministers.
Few changes have been made to the consultation version of the law that was released earlier in the year under the previous Privileges and Procedures Committee.
Together with the expected changes to the Standing Orders of the States - which govern how States Members work and the rules of debate - the Draft States of Jersey Law lays out the future of Jersey’s government.
Privileges Committee president Deputy Roy Le Hérissier said there had been no material changes to the document through the consultation process, and that it had gone through a comprehensive audit.
While he acknowledged that the upcoming debate on the composition of the States - Deputy Bob Hill has lodged proposals for a ‘Clothier-style’ States Chamber while Privileges favour a ’super-constituency’ scheme - could cloud the waters, Deputy Le Hérissier said the law would be the closest thing Jersey has to a written constitution.
‘This is an inevitable step in the mature evolution of the Assembly in so far as it will now govern its own procedures and its own structure,’ he said.
Article posted on 10th July, 2004 - 12.00am
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