Connétables or constables (

Jèrriais ( ; also known as the Jersey language, Jersey French and Jersey Norman French in English) is a Romance languages, Romance language and the traditional language of the Jersey people. It is a form of the Norman language spoken in Jersey, an isla ...

: ) are the civic heads of the twelve

parishes of Jersey The parishes of Jersey (Jèrriais, Jerriais: ) are the civil and religious Administrative division, administrative districts of Jersey in the Channel Islands. There are twelve in total; all have access to the sea and share a name with their anc ...

and ten

parishes of Guernsey The Bailiwick of Guernsey includes the island of Guernsey and other islands such as Alderney, Sark, Herm, Jethou, Brecqhou, and Lihou. Each parish was established, probably in the 11th century, as a religious area, each having its parish church ...

. The is grounded in Norman customary law. The structure, powers and responsibilities of the role differ between the islands, reflecting their different political histories.

Jersey

Each of the 12

parishes A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

elects a Connétable. In the parish, the Connétable presides over the Parish Assembly (''l'assemblée paroissiale''), which sets the rates (land tax), elects various officers, votes on applications for liquor licenses, names roads, and authorises contracts to be entered into by the parish. The Connétable is also head of the parish's honorary police force. Each Connétable is, by reason of that office, a member of the

States Assembly The States Assembly (; Jèrriais: ) is the parliament of Jersey, formed of the island's 37 deputies and the Connétable of each of the twelve parishes. The origins of the legislature of Jersey lie in the system of self-government according ...

. In Jersey, each

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

elects a at general elections to run the parish and also represent the parish in the legislature, the

. At parish-level, the constable presides over the Roads Committee, the Conseil Paroissial (except St. Helier) and parish assemblies. The twelve constables also collectively sit as the Comité des Connétables. The constable is the titular head of the Honorary Police. With the Roads Inspectors, Roads Committee and other officers, the constable of each parish also carries out the '' visites du branchage'' twice a year.

History

The origins of the are believed to be military and the position is recorded as early as 1462. The office is unique to the island, being no parallel office in England or mainland Normandy, though

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

believed the office to of English origin, perhaps a version of the English

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Guernsey

Guernsey Guernsey ( ; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; ) is the second-largest island in the Channel Islands, located west of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy. It is the largest island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes five other inhabited isl ...

, each

elects two constables, the senior constable and the junior constable. Persons elected generally serve a year as junior and then senior constable. The senior constable presides over the Douzaine that runs the parish. The constables are responsible for enforcing the decisions of the parish including the ''branchage'' (summer hedge-cutting).

Sark

Sark Sark (Sercquiais: or , ) is an island in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, and part of the archipelago of the Channel Islands. It is a self-governing British Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency, with its own set o ...

, the connétable (or constable) is the senior of two police officers and police administrator and the vingtenier is the junior police officer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Connetable Parishes of Jersey Law enforcement in the Channel Islands

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

Parochial politics of Jersey Law of Jersey Constables of Jersey Law of Guernsey

Jersey

History

Guernsey

Sark

See also

References