The Civil Service Illusion
Why Our Deputies Keep Believing the Bureaucracy Guernsey’s political structure allows the Civil Service to dominate policymaking, despite repeated failures. Senior Deputies, even those who should know better, continue to…
Public Trust and Authority: A Lesson for Guernsey
Public trust is the cornerstone of a functioning society. In Guernsey, where government and community often intersect closely, breaches of this trust have amplified consequences. When those in authority manipulate…
The 3 types of notice
Legal Notices in Guernsey: Actual, Constructive, and Public Legal notices serve to inform parties of their rights, obligations, or legal proceedings. In Guernsey, as elsewhere, these notices fall into three…
The People’s Trust
Welcome to The People’s Trust: A Movement for Guernsey’s Future We are a consortium of local families and individuals united by a shared belief: the need to protect our rights,…
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing..
The famous quote, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,” often misattributed to Edmund Burke, encapsulates the essence of civic duty—although…
Exposing the Truth: How Legal Privilege Hides Injustice
The recent revelations at the Post Office inquiry have highlighted the dangers of using legal privilege to conceal the truth1. Paula Vennells, the former Post Office chief executive, attempted to…
Guernsey Civil Service: who holds the privilege?
There is an assertion often made by our Civil Service in Guernsey that the privilege attaching to legal advice given by the Law Officers belongs to the Law Officers and…
Misconduct in public office may not occur in Guernsey
This article is informed by recent discussions with English lawyers and focuses on potential misconduct in public office in Guernsey – a jurisdiction of sixty-three thousand – and reflects my…
Ethical Governance. Suggestions from 2015.
Nine years ago, I was asked by the then States CEO, Paul Whitfield, to make suggestions about transparency and ethical conduct in Guernsey’s public sector. My reply highlighted critical areas…
The Nolan Principles and Guernsey’s Code of Conduct.
Guiding our politicians’ integrity. The Nolan Principles1, established in 1995 by Lord Nolan in the UK, articulate a set of seven ethical guidelines for public service: Selflessness, Integrity, Objectivity, Accountability,…