PETITION

To the Commons, House of Parliament in Parliament assembled.

The humble Petition of Mr. Abraham Jones Le Cras, the Island of Jersey,

SHOWETH,

1. That your Petitioner has for many years past, edited two weekly Journals, printed and published in the said Island, intituled "The English & Foreign News," and "Jersey Patriot."

2. That your Petitioner's occupation has afforded him great opportunities to become conversant with the public affairs of the Island, and that he has availed himself of it to examine into the laws, customs, and privileges of the same, and the manner in which they are administered.

3. That the result of his investigations has convinced him of the existence of great and manifold abuses, both in the one and the other, by which the lives, liberties, and properties of 40,000 inhabitants have no security; and which, as regards their trade and commerce with the mother country, is highly prejudicial to the empire at large.

4. That as respects the enactment of laws, for the good government of the people, the States of Jersey or Legislative Assembly, (composed of twelve Jurats elected by the people, and twelve Rectors appointed by the Crown, both for life, and twelve Constables elected every three years) has become a useless body; inasmuch as it rarely passes any Acts for the reform of abuses, or to meet the wants of the times, excepting a few provisional ordinances, such as concern the removal of gravel and sand, the gathering of sea-weed, the repairs of a road, and the like, which last only for three years.

5. That from the immense increase of the population and commerce of the Island, since the States were instituted, the persons and properties of the inhabitants are not sufficiently represented in the said Assembly, to procure the enactment of laws adapted to their wants.

6. That the regulations for conducting the meetings of the said States, present grievous impediments to the dispatch of public business, inasmuch as they seldom meet, and when they do, it is only for a few hours, and oftentimes, without being enabled to form a house, in consequence of the nonattendance of members.

7. That although an Order in Council, bearing date the 24th day of April, 1830, was issued to remedy the latter grievance, by inflicting a fine of two pounds sterling on those who should absent themselves without lawful excuse, yet the said fines have never been levied, but have been allowed to accumulate to a very large amount, the States having nullified the said Order, by refusing to register it on the public rolls.

8. That the union of the legislative and judicial functions in the same persons is found to be incompatible, and highly detrimental to the public service, because, whilst it impedes the progress of legislation in the States, it renders them unfit for the bench, inasmuch as it makes them political partizans and subject to local prejudices, as daily experience proves. And that the union of the constabulary with the legislative office, imposes numerous and burthensome duties to be performed by one person, which are also incompatible and prejudicial to the public service, because persons are elected as peace officers, who are not qualified by education and talents to be legislators for the country.

9. That the elective franchise is open to, and always polluted by, corrupt influence, owing to the immense power and authority vested in the Court, and the servile dependence of all classes upon them; besides which, aliens, paupers, vagabonds and fugitives from Justice, exercise the rights of citizens.

10. That certain honours, places of trust and profit, and privileges in trade, are monopolised by persons who fortuitously were born in the Island, to the great prejudice of all others of Her Majesty's subjects, domiciled therein.

11. That in consequence of there being scarcely any written laws, and no disposition on the part of, or capacity in, the States of Jersey, to enact any, for permanent use, the customs and usages which had their origin in barbarous times are perpetuated, to the great injury of the people, and to the disgrace of this enlightened age.

12. That certain Ordinances and odious enactments, passed by the States, are not sent up for the Royal Assent, but are allowed to expire, through lapse of time, (three years,) and are then re-enacted, and this again and again, by which the States defraud the Crown of its prerogative, and perpetuate laws without its consent.

13. That this discretionary power of enacting laws, without the consent of the Crown, is not only calculated to undermine Her Majesty's royal authority in the said Island, and the rights and liberties of the people, but also perpetuates numerous frauds and abuses, and prevents the punishment of crime, to the great detriment of Her Majesty's loyal subjects.

14. That the Acts passed by the States, to prevent the exportation of foreign corn to England as Jersey produce, free of duty, were not sent up for the Royal Assent; in consequence of which, parties who were prosecuted for a breach of the same, were enabled to evade the penalties thereof, by summoning a witness who was absent from the Island, and who remained away until the law expired; by which trial was postponed from time to time, and the parties were eventually discharged, when there was no law upon which they could be convicted, as in the case of the Crown v. Anley.

15. That when the said Act expired, the States re-enacted it with some trifling alteration, but not having forwarded the same for the Royal Assent, it will expire on the 30th Aug., 1840, which temporary enactment is a breach of faith with your honourable house and the Government, inasmuch as it does not suppress those fraudulent exportations which were matter of complaint before your honourable house in the year 1835.

16. That Her Majesty in Council has also a legislative jurisdiction in the Island, and occasionally issues Orders in Council to improve the laws and their administration, which Orders are usually nullified either by the States or the Court refusing to enroll them, and without which they are held to have no force of law.

17. That numerous Acts, by the Legislative wisdom of Parliament, have from time to time, been extended to the Island, by being specially included in them, and yet when the said Acts have been transmitted, they have also usually been nullified by non-registration, or their force restrained by local ordinances.

18. That for want of an express enactment to determine what is necessary to render an Act of Parliament binding on the Island, and when its operation commences, Parliamentary legislation has hitherto been evaded, when found convenient, because it is held by the local authorities that not only must the Island be particularly named therein, but that the Act must be transmitted to them, accompanied by an Order in Council, commanding its observance; which Order must be ratified and registered in the public rolls to give it force of law; and that the omission of the former formality in England, or of the latter in Jersey, renders both the one and the other a dead letter, the Act having force only in virtue of the Order, and the Order having force only in virtue of the registration; hence that the suspension of the latter necessarily nullifies the former, and renders it of no effect whatever.

19. That this system of nullifying the laws, enacted by the supreme Legislature, is pregnant with the most alarming consequences, being calculated ultimately to sever the compact betwixt the Crown and its dependency-stabs the vitals of constitutional government, renders the law uncertain, and places the lives, liberties, and properties, of the people connected with it, in imminent jeopardy.

20. That the said States of Jersey have also for many years, usurped the prerogative of naturalizing aliens, without the consent of the Crown; and have thereby induced great numbers of Frenchmen and other foreigners, to purchase landed property in the Island, upon the faith of their being thus made British subjects, by Acts which have never received the Royal Assent, but have expired through lapse of time.

21. That the only Court of Justice in the Island is composed of the Bailiff, appointed by letters patent from the Crown, and twelve Jurats, elected by the people, from among the farmers, shop-keepers, and merchants, and without any regard to their previous qualifications; having cognizance of all causes, civil, criminal and mixt, arising within the Island, treason only excepted, and is immediately dependant on the Privy Council, by appeal or doleance, which is a tardy and expensive means of obtaining justice.

22. That neither the Bailiff nor the Jurats are sufficiently qualified for the responsible situations they hold, and being members of the local legislature for life, thus exercising political as well as judicial functions, and residing within a juris

diction of small extent, are in constant communication with the inhabitants, and subject to local prejudices; and having scarcely any written laws to govern their decisions, the lives, liberties, and properties of the people are almost at their absolute disposal, which renders the former despotic, and the latter mere slaves.

23. That these prejudices are so notorious, and the latitude allowed them so great, some of those who have the conducting of legal matters, get the Jurats packed for certain causes, so as to ensure a judgment in favour of their clients, by which the form of a trial is become a farce.

24. That this system of packing the Jurats is adopted in all causes of importance, for although by the customs of the Island they are required to sit in turn to hear causes, yet certain of these Magistrates sit day after day, by which others are virtually excluded, and which has been recently made a matter of complaint to Her Majesty's Government, in the case of Le Breton v. Ennis, but without any redress.

25. That the Bailiff and Jurats are so notoriously unqualified for their duties, that they frequently suspend their judgments, in order to consult a party on the framing of them, and alter and revoke them, after they have delivered them, as may be proved by numerous examples.

26. That the judgments of the Court are sometimes prepared before the trials are heard, as was the case in the prosecution of the Crown, at the instance of the late Lieutenant Governor, Major General Thornton v. Le Breton, Colonel of Militia, when one of the Jurats, after the pleadings were closed, produced a judgment already written, which was adopted by the Bailiff and Jurats, and rendered against the said Lieutenant Governor.

27. That their oath of office does not require them to give judgments according to evidence, but according to conscience, and that when a Jurat sits in the place of another, he shall govern his decision by the opinion of the absent Jurat, who does not hear the trial; and that in all cases when the bench is divided in opinions, the minority shall conform to the majority, whether they approve of the judgment or not; a striking example of which recently occurred in the case of Godfray v. Romeril, when two Jurats were compelled by the other Jurats to adjudge defendant to damages and costs,