The Judge of Alderney is the senior judicial officer in

Alderney Alderney (; french: Aurigny ; Auregnais: ) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The island's area is , making it the third-larges ...

, ranking above the six

Jurat The ''jurats'' () are lay people in Guernsey and Jersey who act as judges of fact rather than law, though they preside over land conveyances and liquor licensing. In Alderney, however, the jurats are judges of both fact and law (assisted by thei ...

s. The holder was until 1949 entitled to a seat in the

States of Alderney The States of Alderney (French: ''États d'Aurigny'') is the parliament/council and the legislature of Alderney, part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. The origin of the States is unknown, but has operated from the medieval period. The States of A ...

, and between 1825 and 1949 was

Leader of Alderney The Leader of Alderney is the civil leader of Alderney. Alderney is a dependency of the Bailiwick of Guernsey. Its leader has traditionally been appointed by the British Crown and has been known by various titles including ''Lord of Alderney'', ' ...

History

The Judge of Alderney is a legally qualified person appointed by

the Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has differen ...

to be chief judge of Alderney, sitting with the Jurats (

lay judges A lay judge, sometimes called a lay assessor, is a person assisting a judge in a trial. Lay judges are used in some civil law jurisdictions. Lay judges are appointed volunteers and often require some legal instruction. However, they are not perman ...

) in cases heard there. The position is equivalent to that of a judge of the King’s Bench Division of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales. Appeals from decisions of the court may be made to the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 Augus ...

. In 1825, the hereditary Governor of Alderney,

John Le Mesurier III John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Seco ...

, returned his family's

fiefdom A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of ...

over Alderney to the Crown in exchange for an annual pension. That office of governor being thus in effect abolished, the Judge of Alderney, as highest Crown appointment there, assumed the role of leader. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey ...

were occupied by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, and the Judge, who had gone to England, was effectively replaced as leader of Alderney by Island

Commandant Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...

''Inselkommandant Alderney'' and a designated ''

Sonderführer ''Sonderführer'' (; "special leader"; in full: , "special leader with military command power"), abbreviated Sdf or Sf, was a specialist role introduced in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany in 1937 for the mobilization plan of the German armed ...

von Alderney''. After the war, less than 50% of Alderney's population returned, which led to the United Kingdom government proposing that Alderney become part of the

Bailiwick of Guernsey The Bailiwick of Guernsey (french: Bailliage de Guernesey; Guernésiais: ''Bailliage dé Guernési'') is an island country off the coast of France as one of the three Crown Dependencies. Separated from the Duchy of Normandy by and under the ...

. In 1948, the States of Alderney and the

States of Guernsey The States of Guernsey (french: États de Guernesey), sometimes referred to as the Government of Guernsey, is the parliament and government of the British Crown dependency of Guernsey. Some laws and ordinances approved by the States of Guer ...

passed laws under which Alderney gave up sovereignty to Guernsey. It was also provided that the Judge of Alderney be replaced as Leader of Alderney by the democratically elected President of the States of Alderney, the role of

Representative of the Crown Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

being fulfilled by the Lieutenant-Governor of Guernsey. Further, the Judge's right to sit in the States of Alderney was removed, judiciary and legislature now being separated.

References

{{reflist Politics of Alderney Judges Channel Islands law

History

See also

References