CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE IN THE JERSEY CHANNEL ISLANDS

This article will provide guidance on the Code of Civil Procedure in the Jersey Channel Islands. The Jersey Channel Islands has its unique judicial system. While it has judicial independence, it follows much of the same rules and processes as the courts in England and Wales, but with some key variances.

The Jersey Channel Islands’ modern legal system is a product of the island's commitment to judicial and political independence. Its legal system owes much to the precedents set by the Duchy of Normandy, which has been influential throughout history. Modern Jersey Channel Islands’ law is the product of legislative acts approved by the Island's parliament (known as the State of Jersey) and judicial precedents. Since the Islands’ have an amalgamation of laws that can make the delivery of international documents difficult for most servers, it is preferable to involve a private process service agency like Undisputed Legal to conduct international Jersey Channel Islands process service. We are an experienced private process service agency, and our team of private process servers has been conducting service across the globe.

BACKGROUND

The law of the Jersey Channel Islands continues to be heavily influenced by its old Norman roots, particularly in areas like property law and succession. Although the Islands have benefitted from having a model piece of local legislation on the issue, the law of trusts has been substantially impacted by the English legal concepts. The Jersey Channel Islands’ courts often use English case law and other legal resources.

In civil matters, the Royal Court and the Petty Debts Court are the highest courts of Jersey. Once limited to solely hearing liquidated damage claims, the Petty Debts Court now has the authority to hear both cases. The Bailiff serves as both the top judge of the Island and the president of the Royal Court, in addition to being the civil leader of the Island. The Royal Court will be presided over by Deputy Bailiff or a Commissioner in the Bailiff's absence. A judge and two jurats make up the typical composition of the Royal Court.

The four branches of the Royal Court are known as the Samedi Division, the Family Division, the Probate Division, and the Héritage Division, respectively. The Héritage Division handles land title issues. Division by family and division by will are both self-explanatory. Samedi Division of the Royal Court handles all other cases. Assigning a case to one section of the Royal Court rather than another is mostly a formality since the judges in each section have a similar background and perspective.

STARTING A LAWSUIT IN THE JERSEY CHANNEL ISLANDS

The Master of the Royal Court is a barrister with the same authority as a Master in the England and Wales High Court of Justice and often hears minor interlocutory cases or procedural hearings. A ruling by the Master may be challenged before the Royal Court. The Registrar of the Family Division performs comparable tasks at the Royal Court's Family Division.

The Jersey Channel Islands’ law provides three primary avenues for initiating legal action. When a case is filed using a Summons, it is commonly referred to as a ‘simple action.’ Issuing a judicial order or making a statutory representation are two other ways to initiate legal proceedings. A Summons is used to initiate an action when the amount claimed is certain. This is how debt recovery proceedings are started. If the defendant contests the claim, the claimant must submit Particulars of the Claim, and the defendant must respond with an Answer.

An Order of Justice, a longer pleading similar to the Particulars of a Claim in English proceedings, must be prepared for more complicated situations. Jersey's pleading system is based on the English system. The advocate for the plaintiff will then sign the Order of Justice after detailing the nature of the claim and the remedies requested, and the document will be physically served on the defendant. The judge will include a provision in the Order of Justice for any necessary temporary order, such as an interim injunction or an order for disclosure of material.

Representation is an equally in-depth method of pleading before the Order of Justice. This approach is often used when putting things before the court and is not expected to be very acrimonious or confrontational. It might be used in a trust application if the trustee asks the court for guidance. However, the Order of Justice is the correct venue for a beneficiary's breach of trust lawsuit against a trustee. After a Representation is filed with the court, the parties involved will get an order to have it served on them and be summoned to a future hearing.

It should be known that the term ‘international service of process’ refers to the practice of formally serving legal papers to a foreign party. Once a lawsuit has been filed with the clerk, the papers should be served on the parties involved. A complaint and summons are the typical components of these papers. The plaintiff typically delivers the summons and complaint to the defendant in person. International service of the process typically requires more time than domestic process insofar as the papers have to go through multiple courts and finally through the authority of the receiving country. It is preferable to involve the services of a private process service agency like Undisputed Legal in order to minimize the uncertainty and the lengthy court proceedings that usually accompany international service of process.

DOMESTIC SERVICE IN THE JERSEY CHANNEL ISLANDS

If you're filing a Summons-only action, you may serve the papers via mail. The rules spelled out how much notice is needed and whether service by mail is considered complete. The defendant must be physically served with an Order of Justice whenever possible by a Viscount's Department of the Royal Court member. The Viscount's Department handles a number of tasks, including bankruptcy administration, judgment enforcement, and serving of process. The attorney for the claimant will order an officer from the Viscount's Department to personally deliver the Order of Justice to the party named in it. When dealing with a firm based in the Jersey Channel Islands, the Order of Justice must be sent to the company's official place of business.

Suppose service cannot be done in person. In that case, an applicant may ask the Master to issue an order for substituted service, which allows service to be made by taking whatever actions the court deems necessary to get the document to be served to the notice of the person who is obligated to be served. An affidavit must be submitted supporting the application, indicating the deponent's view that the plaintiff has a valid cause of action, identifying the location or jurisdiction where the defendant may be located, and explaining the basis for the application. This kind of application is submitted to a Master.

Any service of process outside of the Jersey Channel Islands requires an application for leave of court. Now, the parties should go to international conventions, which spell out the conditions for the service of process on foreign plaintiffs. Since the Conventions often overlap or involve confusing requirements for each country depending on the reservations these countries make or the languages they need to be translated into, a private process service agency like Undisputed Legal is much more effective in fulfilling your service needs.

STARTING A CLAIM IN THE JERSEY CHANNEL ISLANDS

The Jersey legal system has peculiarities, such as tabling proceedings for a Friday afternoon court session. A public document, the ‘table’ lists all the cases the Royal Court will hear at that session. Attorneys for both parties must provide evidence of service on the defendant and a tabling fee to the court clerk's office (known as the Judicial Greffe) before the case may be listed in this fashion. All of these procedures must be completed the day before the court session. If these measures aren't followed, the court case will not be posted until all parties agree, at which point the service must be redone. In cases when a prescription's expiration date is close at hand, this might have devastating results.

A defendant who is the subject of proceedings will receive both the first process (either an Order of Justice or Representation) and a Summons, which will direct him to appear before the Royal Court on a certain day and at a certain time. The defendant can ask the court to put the case on the ‘pending list’ at that hearing if he intends to defend himself against the claim. After then, the defendant has twenty-one days to respond to the claim by filing an Answer unless the time limit is extended by mutual consent of the parties or by the Master. The plaintiff may seek judgment by default if the defendant is not present at the first hearing or does not timely submit an Answer.

PROCEDURE FOR CIVIL CASES IN THE JERSEY CHANNEL ISLANDS

Generally, a summons is used to initiate claims for liquidated obligations. If the defendant has reason to deny the plaintiff's claim, the plaintiff must submit Particulars of the Claim, and the defendant must respond with an Answer. In more complicated matters, an Order of Justice must be drafted to outline the precise nature of the claim and the remedy sought.

The use of representations is common in non-contentious proceedings. The Representation and any supporting affidavits must be submitted with the Bailiff's Judicial Secretary no later than Wednesday at noon to schedule the issue as an ex parte application at the Friday afternoon Samedi court session. At that first hearing, the Court will issue orders assembling parties, appointing guardians or representatives of minor or unborn beneficiaries, and directing all parties to the Representation to attend at a later date (the return date), which will be no less than four clear days later.

Service of a summons shall stop the limitation period in respect of a cause of action under the Rules, with the exceptions of invalid service, discontinuance of the action, and discharge of the defendant. The statute of limitations for contract claims is ten years, while the statute of limitations for tort claims is three years. Any standards do not govern pre-suit activity in business situations. A party may be penalized when considering expenses if it initiates proceedings without first providing the other party with a letter before acting out its position and giving the other party an opportunity to respond to the charges mentioned in the letter.

PRE-ACTION PROCEDURE IN THE JERSEY CHANNEL ISLANDS

If the defendant is a Jersey resident, the Order of Justice must be delivered in person by a Viscount, an official of the court. Depending on the defendant's business nature, the Order of Justice may need to be served on a director, manager, company secretary, or similar person or left at the firm's registered office. Suppose the defendant lives outside of the jurisdiction. In that case, the plaintiff must petition the court for leave to serve the Order of Justice on the defendant outside of the jurisdiction (typically through a service of process agent) and show that the claim is within the provisions that allow service out to be granted.

Attached to the Order of Justice is a summons, which directs the defendant (or its advocate) to appear before the Royal Court on a specified day, at least four clear days after service was made, to confirm whether or not the defendant wants to defend the proceedings. The Royal Court traditionally meets on Friday afternoons to settle routine matters. After this, the defendant has twenty-one 21 days to submit a fully argued response or counterclaim (although extensions are frequently requested, agreed upon, or granted by order in complex cases).

SERVICE OF FOREIGN PROCEEDINGS IN THE JERSEY CHANNEL ISLANDS

In practice, a party wishing to effect service of foreign proceedings in the Jersey Channel Islands, particularly the first notification of those foreign proceedings, should send the papers to a Jersey Advocate who will arrange for service to be effected personally on the defendant through the office of the Viscount, and thereby obtain a formal record of service.

To examine a witness in Jersey for use in foreign proceedings, the foreign court must issue a letter of request to the Royal Court requesting that assistance. An application is made to the Royal Court based on that letter and provided the Royal Court is satisfied the request relates to proceedings that either has been instituted before the requesting court or will soon be instituted, the Royal Court can make any orders as it considers appropriate to assist. However, the Royal Court will not make an order that it could not make in Jersey proceedings.

The UK ratified the HCCH Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil and Commercial Matters 1970 on 16 July 1976 and formally extended it to Jersey on 6 January 1987. Reciprocal enforcement of judgments through an administrative process is available in relation to the superior courts of England and Wales.

In relation to those countries, a party can apply within six years of the date of the judgment to have it registered in Jersey. Once registered, it is treated as a local judgment and can be enforced in the same manner. The application is made without notice to the other party and is supported by an affidavit covering various requirements in specific rules dealing with these applications. In relation to final judgments of all other countries, including US judgments, the claimant must sue on the judgment and then seek summary judgment. Provided that the foreign judgment was not a default judgment, the defendant will not be permitted to re-argue the case, judgment will be given, and this will then bring into play all the local enforcement procedures.

Service on a global scale can be quite time-consuming and stressful, especially if you have a strict deadline to meet. While not every service of process supplier may be able to help you, full-service agencies like Undisputed Legal have substantial experience in serving legal documents in foreign jurisdictions. As a result of our extensive experience, we are well-versed in the many regulations and treaties that govern various situations. Service of process must be made in both English and the language of the nation you are serving in, under conventions like The Hague Services Convention and the Inter-American Service Convention on Letters Rogatory and Additional Protocol (IACAP).

We will help you prepare your service paperwork to submit to the Hague's Central Authority in other member nations. We will cooperate with the relevant courts in non-Hague member nations if your job takes you outside the Hague's jurisdiction. We also keep an eye on the paperwork you submit even after you have handed it in.

We realize that working on a global scale can be time-consuming and difficult. At Undisputed Legal, we ensure that your documents are delivered as fast and as reliably as possible.

OUR PROCESS

Documents can be faxed at (800) 296-0115, emailed to ps@undisputedlegal.com, or uploaded to our website. We do require prepayment and accept all major credit and debit cards. Once payment is processed, your sales receipt is immediately emailed for your records.

Drop-offs must call and make an appointment first to be added to building security to permit access to our office. Documents for service must be in a sealed envelope with payment in the form of a money order or attorney check (WE DO NOT ACCEPT CASH) payable to UNDISPUTED LEGAL INC.; Our receptionist receives all documents.

DOMESTIC COVERAGE AREAS:

INTERNATIONAL COVERAGE AREAS:

OFFICE LOCATIONS

New York: (212) 203-8001 – 590 Madison Avenue, 21st Floor, New York, New York 10022
Brooklyn: (347) 983-5436 – 300 Cadman Plaza West, 12th Floor, Brooklyn, New York 11201
Queens: (646) 357-3005 – 118-35 Queens Blvd, Suite 400, Forest Hills, New York 11375
Long Island: (516) 208-4577 – 626 RXR Plaza, 6th Floor, Uniondale, New York 11556
Westchester: (914) 414-0877 – 50 Main Street, 10th Floor, White Plains, New York 10606
Connecticut: (203) 489-2940 – 500 West Putnam Avenue, Suite 400, Greenwich, Connecticut 06830
New Jersey: (201) 630-0114 - 101 Hudson Street, 21 Floor, Jersey City, New Jersey 07302
Washington DC: (202) 655-4450 - 1101 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Suite 300, Washington DC 20004

FOR ASSISTANCE SERVING LEGAL PAPERS IN JERSEY CHANNEL ISLANDS

Simply pick up the phone and call Toll-Free (800) 774-6922 or click the service you want to purchase. Our dedicated team of professionals is ready to assist you. We can handle all your Jersey Channel Islands process service needs; no job is too small or too large!

Contact us for more information about our process-serving agency. We are ready to provide service of process to all our clients globally from our offices in New York, Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, Westchester, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C.

"Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction, and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives"- Foster, William A

Sources

1. Under the Rules, a person served with proceedings has the option to contest the legality of service on him or argue that Jersey does not have jurisdiction over the matter. The party challenging jurisdiction may then move to have the matter added to the court's ‘pending’ list. Within that time frame, he has to go to the Bailiff's chambers and ask for a date to hear his case. The application for a hearing date must include extensive justifications; hence, the allotted time frame of 28 days may prove to be rather short in actuality.

2. Simple action or summons, Order of Justice, and Representation are the three primary methods of initiating proceedings in Jersey.

3. The parties often negotiate and agree upon what happens on the return date. A directions hearing is typically scheduled after the proceedings have been adjourned (with the date to be fixed). The Master of the Royal Court or the Royal Court itself will then schedule a direction hearing. Filing of pleadings, if necessary, filing of additional evidence in the form of affidavits, granting of leave to cross-examine thereon, and discovery (although this is unusual in circumstances where the core documents have already been put before the Royal Court as exhibits to the affidavits) will all be directed by the court.

4. Actions for breach of trust have a three-year statute of limitations, counting from the earlier of (a) the date final accounts are provided to the beneficiary or enforcer or (b) the date the beneficiary or enforcer first knows about the occurrence of a breach of trust (Art 57(2)(b) of the Trusts Law). According to a common law maxim, an obstacle preventing the plaintiff from realizing he has a cause of action to pursue may be used to suspend the statute of limitations.

5. The steps that come after this are as follows, in general:

Subsequent pleadings are required as a result of the response or counterclaim.
A hearing for directions before an interlocutory judge (called the Master). At this juncture, the Royal Court issues its orders concerning the following: the time frame for the revelation of documents (discovery); the employment of expert witnesses; the exchange of factual and expert witness statements; and when a party may petition actually to schedule a date for trial.
Within one month after the completion of pleadings, the claimant must submit a summons asking for these directions hearing.
Publication of records.
Statements of witnesses are being traded.
Expert testimony may be shared.
Verification of trial readiness via a pre-trial review with the presiding judge.
Trial.

6. Without limiting the scope of the orders the court can make, they can often include provisions for the following:

Examination of witnesses, either orally or in writing.
Production of specified documents (but not general production of non-specified documents which may be relevant to the foreign proceedings) (but not general production of non-specified documents which may be relevant to the foreign proceedings).
Inspection, photographing, preservation, custody, or detention of any property.
Taking samples of any property and carrying out any experiments on or with any property.
Medical examination of any person.
Taking and testing samples of blood from any person.

7. Oral examination normally takes place before the Viscount and may or may not be under oath, depending on what the requesting court has asked for. The lawyers concerned in the foreign case can attend and ask questions.

8. Applicable courts:

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, the House of Lords, the Court of Appeal, and the High Court of Justice.
The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, the Court of Session, and the Sheriff Court.
The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and the Court of Judicature of Northern Ireland.
Her Majesty's High Court of Justice of the Isle of Man (including the Staff of Government Division) (including the Staff of Government Division).
The Royal Court of Guernsey and the Court of Appeal of Guernsey.