Judging The Jurats: Exploring The Legitimacy Of The Jurats’ Role

Guernsey currently has no jury system, no lay magistrates, no sentencing guidelines and no sentencing council. Instead, it has Jurats: lay people, elected to serve for life by an electoral college. They receive no formal training as adjudicators of fact and sentence. Sentencing is the most public arena of the criminal court. If adjudicators of sentencing are not perceived as legitimate, the whole criminal justice system could be undermined. This first academic enquiry examines the contemporary legitimacy of Guernsey Jurats as adjudicators of sentence