From the Summit of the Moral High Ground

English "customary" laws (the "Common Law") includes decisions of judges made according to legal "principles" for which there is no written legislation (Natural Law). European states with a Roman law heritage do not have this element as strongly in their law (Positive Law).   In Jersey, they love to pretend that they are special however, 'Norman Law' is fundamentally 'Roman Law'. How exactly English Common Law came to be adopted in Jersey as 'customary law' appears to have arisen following Magna Carta.   Yes all the rights of Magna Carta applied at some stage in Jersey, most have been superseded, some have been repealed in the UK (such as the Right to Trial by Combat) but I have personally experienced that although the Right to Trial by Combat is still extant in Jersey they will simply not allow you to exercise that right.   Natural Law in philosophy is system of right or justice held to be common to all humans and derived from natu...

Whilst idling away the last few hours before the live coverage of the results of the primaries in Arizona and Michigan I can across the  Guide to Michigan Primary by CBS News . I was particularly taken by the few lines: First, absentee ballots will matter here. They could likely be one-fifth of the votes, with around 200,000 in so far. Mailed-in ballots put a premium on organization ( campaigns help people request ... [and] to return them ) and that may favor Romney. Now looking to our own Deputy Trevor Pitman's blog (in the comments section) Deputy Pitman Strange how with all of this 'anger' both Shona and Geoff were easily re-elected with Shona's vote being higher than ever? No doubt because she gave her constituents a detailed breakdown of the truth to counter Bryan's sad and desperate smear campaign. With regards to a second post that I couldn't use because of the standard deranged and abusive rant...  In answer to the question police documen...

The natural Person Alan Simon Crowcroft, the legal Person Alan Simon Crowcroft OR the legal Person the Constable of St Helier Which is he at this snapshot in time? I was speaking to the Constable of St Helier the other day, who felt my terms and conditions were a bit anarchic, I disagree, they are completely lawful, so for his benefit I shall go through the steps that would be required to successfully prosecute me for a parking ticket and hopefully demonstrate why it is imperative that both the Government and I understand in which persona, I am acting at any given time. If you ain't paying me then I am acting in my Natural Private Person, not my Legal Public Person. This time I am going to use the proper legal terms which are bold in italics. Note that none of what I have reproduced below has ever been admitted to, accepted or confirmed by any Law Officer, Advocate or Solicitor in Jersey, but neither has it been denied. The Law is deliberately complicated to make sure that you do n...

The Royal Court Building The Royal Court duly convened to consider my representation on Friday. The representation was a very minor part of the incompatibility between the operation of elections in Jersey and the European Convention of Human Rights; it asked the simple question, "Can this Court sit in judgement on itself?" The answer is obviously, no. I know it, you know it and the Court knows it. However " he will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight" and the law officers decided that the preferable option to actually answering is to prevent me from asking the question at all, they therefore gave notice of the intention to seek to strike out the representation.  Perhaps they even read my blog and followed my advice. That would have left a potential avenue through the usual legal processes for the case to eventually be heard in a Court of Appeal and thus in a manner that would be compliant with my Convention rights. Instead I objected to the Constituti...

One of the most unfortunate areas of the recent elections in Jersey was the lack of debate in the electoral process, this combined with a lack of qualitative analysis by the Jersey media combined to limit the ability of the Jersey electorate to make an informed vote and to effectively analyse how each candidate, if elected was likely to proceed. The American system is substantially different; in this format the candidates take part in debates. Questions are asked of an individual candidate with any other candidate free to counter any point raised with a right of reply. This format does not allow candidates to simply say what they think the people want to hear but requires the candidate to be sufficiently informed as to counter any argument which might seek to expose weakness in their position. You may have seen the CTV coverage in which Sir Phillip Bailhache noted that he had not even read the States Budget when asked to comment upon it. An American Political Debate Through th...

Many people were surprised that I initiated proceedings against Deputy Southern following his failure to properly declare his criminal convictions during the nomination meeting for the position of Deputy for St Helier district two. Deputy Southern Authoritarian Opposition to an already Authoritarian States So let's be absolutely clear on the thinking... it was because it seemed to be the right thing to do at the time. I'm sure most people don't go through life making decisions based on vague feelings of what the best course of action is, but I do and it works for me. I say this because I am not seeking to re-write history and say it was my intention all along for things to fall into place the way they have, it is just fortunate that they did. I wrote the representation quickly and submitted it, after a great deal of fence sitting, assurances of action, and lack thereof, by the Constable of St. Helier. Then I read the law. The law clearly states that the person presiding at ...

Historical Archive This article is preserved as part of the historical record of this blog. It reflects the author's views at the time of publication. The content has not been substantively altered, although the HTML, accessibility and formatting have been updated to meet modern web standards. On Friday 11 November 2011, I presented my Representation to the Royal Court of Jersey. There will be no fanfare; it is not going to be a landmark day, for it is the start of a long, laborious process which may take months, if not years, to complete. The Representation contends, initially, that the Royal Court cannot convene in a manner compliant with the Human Rights (Jersey) Law 2000 to hear matters relating to the 2011 Jersey Senatorial elections. Article 3 of Protocol 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights guarantees the right to free and fair elections. The Royal Court was asked to consider whether Jersey's elections complied with that standard . I argued th...

Historical Archive This article is preserved as part of the historical record of this blog. It reflects the author's views at the time of publication. The content has not been substantively altered, although the HTML, accessibility and formatting have been updated to meet modern web standards. Does the role of the Jersey Evening Post in Jersey prevent free and fair elections? I have previously examined the legal basis for defining a public authority . The Jersey Evening Post may be considered a functional public authority as a result of the following laws: the Jersey Gazette Act 1960 and the Official Publications (Jersey) Law 1960 . These laws enforce the public declaration of certain information in the Jersey Gazette and define the publication in which these pronouncements must be made as the Jersey Evening Post . In a previous post I looked at the concerns raised about the JEP by Senator Cohen and the effect of the media ...

The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), established under Winston Churchill's leadership and influenced by the lessons of World War II, was designed to shield individuals from government overreach. It allows individuals, after exhausting domestic remedies, to bring cases before the European Court of Human Rights. If successful, the Council of Europe acts to rectify the violation. Different countries respond variably to court rulings: the UK adapts laws relatively swiftly, while France lags with outstanding amendments. The ECHR holds states accountable not only for direct violations by "pure public authorities" (e.g., government departments, police) but also for breaches by private organizations performing public functions. A private entity may be deemed a "functional" public authority if: It operates closely with or under delegation from a state body, e xercises statutory powers of a public nature, o r wields coercive powers devolved by the state. Howeve...