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Qualifying as a Guernsey Advocate
To become a Guernsey Advocate involves a considerable amount of work. You must have a law degree or its equivalent you must then have qualified as a lawyer in the United Kingdom you must also have taken and passed the Guernsey Bar exams, completed a training period with an Advocate and, of course, unless you already hold a French legal qualification, you must have studied at the University of Caen in Normandy.
The requirements for qualification as a Guernsey Advocate are set out in the various Bar Ordinances made between 1949 and 2006. The prospective Advocate must:
a) be a person who has been ordinarily resident in the Bailiwick of the Island of Guernsey for at least 2 years after having attained the age of 16 years
and is either
b) a member of the Bar of England and Wales, of the Bar of Northern Ireland, or of the Faculty of Advocates in Scotland,
or
c) a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales, of the Supreme Court of Judicature of Northern Ireland, or in Scotland
and holds either
d) a Licence or Maîtrise en Droit of one of the Universities of France,
or
e) a Certificat d’Études Juridiques Françaises et Normandes from Caen University (or its equivalent)
and
f) has undertaken pupillage in Guernsey whilst accredited to an Advocate of the Royal Court of at least 5 years’ standing for a period of not less than 12 months in the case of a member of the Bar of England and Wales, the Bar of Northern Ireland, or the Faculty of Advocates in Scotland, who has not (already) completed at least six months’ pupillage within the jurisdiction concerned
and
g) in any other case, pupillage in Guernsey whilst accredited to an Advocate of the Royal Court of at least 5 years’ standing for a period of not less than six months
and
h) has passed an examination conducted by a Committee under the authority of the Royal Court (ie the Guernsey Bar Exams themselves).
In summary therefore, the requirement is to have been resident in Guernsey for at least two years, to be a United Kingdom qualified lawyer, to have a French academic law qualification of a specified kind, to have passed the Guernsey Bar exams and to have completed either a 6 or 12 month Guernsey pupillage depending upon the nature of the UK qualification. Application for admission to the Guernsey Bar must be made by the candidate to the Law Officers of the Crown and submitted by them to the Royal Court. At the admission of a candidate he must take the oath of office of Advocate of the Royal Court.
The rugged coastline of Guernsey.
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