A greffier is an official who acts as the clerk or registrar of a court or legislature in France and in some jurisdictions influenced by French legal terminology. In courts, greffiers maintain the official record of proceedings, assist judges at hearings and authenticate judicial acts. The related term greffe denotes the registry or administrative office of a court, where judicial records are kept and procedural documents are received.

The title remains in official use in the Channel Islands. In Guernsey, His Majesty's Greffier has judicial and registration functions and is also the statutory clerk and registrar of the States of Deliberation. Jersey has separate offices of Greffier of the States, who serves as clerk to the States Assembly, and Judicial Greffier, who performs the duties of clerk to the Island's courts and judicial tribunals.

Guernsey

In Guernsey, His Majesty's Greffier is the clerk of the Royal and Magistrate's Courts and performs a range of judicial and registration functions. The Reform (Guernsey) Law 1948 also designates HM Greffier as clerk and registrar of the States of Deliberation and the States of Election.

In 2020, HM Greffier delegated the parliamentary functions to a separately appointed States' Greffier, although HM Greffier remains the statutory clerk to the States.

The following table lists holders of the office of HM Greffier since 1945.

Jersey

In 1931, the previously combined office of Greffier was divided into the Judicial Greffier, responsible for the courts, and Greffier of the States, responsible for the work of the legislature. In a 2011 States Assembly debate, former Judicial Greffier Senator Ian Le Marquand said that he believed the division of the office in 1931 had been “purely administrative” rather than for constitutional reasons.

Judicial Greffier

The Judicial Greffier is the clerk or registrar of the Royal Court and the other courts and judicial tribunals of the Island. The Judicial Greffier, Deputy Judicial Greffier or a Greffier Substitute attends their sittings, records and authenticates their acts and decisions, and enters them in the appropriate registers. The Judicial Greffe provides administrative support to the Island's courts and to tribunals dealing with matters including employment and discrimination, social security, mental health and planning.

The office also performs a number of registration functions. The Judicial Greffier maintains the register of political parties, entering parties following an order of the Royal Court and retaining their constitutions and accounts. Other responsibilities of the Judicial Greffe include land, wills and intellectual-property registrations.

The following table lists holders of the office of Judicial Greffier since 1945.

Greffier of the States

The Greffier of the States is clerk of the States Assembly and head of the States Greffe. The Greffier appoints and supervises Greffe officers, subject in some cases to the consent of the Bailiff; those officers are not subject to direction by Ministers or the Government's Chief Executive in carrying out their Greffe duties. The Greffier is also responsible for maintaining and authenticating parliamentary records, safeguarding parliamentary privilege, arranging the publication of legislation and laying certain statutory reports before the Assembly.

Legislation assigns the Greffier several additional functions. These include administering the States of Jersey Complaints Panel process that determines complaints against ministers and Government of Jersey departments; serving as an ex officio member of the Jersey Electoral Authority; acting as clerk to the Electoral College which appoints Jurats; and participating in the appointment of the independent reviewer of elected members' remuneration. The Greffier also has custody of the formal minutes of the Council of Ministers and may be appointed to preside over the Assembly when neither the Bailiff nor Deputy Bailiff is available.

The States Greffe is the States Assembly’s independent parliamentary administration, comprising the Greffier, Deputy Greffier and their officers. It provides procedural and administrative support to the Assembly, its committees and scrutiny panels, and maintains its official records. The form States’ Greffe appeared historically, but the Privileges and Procedures Committee agreed in 2003 that the apostrophe—apparently introduced through translation from French—should be removed. Propositions presented to the States are described as "lodged au Greffe".

From 1946 until 1992, the offices of Greffier of the States and Law Draftsman were held by the same person. The arrangement began when Francis de Lisle Bois, Jersey's first Law Draftsman, became Greffier while retaining his drafting office.

The following table lists the Greffiers of the States from the office-holder in 1945.

France

The greffiers are responsible for the records of the courts. A judicial document is not valid without a greffier's signature. They also have some responsibilities for evidence.

References