Advocate - Advocates in The Channel Islands

Advocates in The Channel Islands

The legal professions of Jersey and Guernsey are separate. In both jurisdictions, advocates—properly called Advocates of the Royal Court—are the only lawyers with general rights of audience in their courts.

To be eligible to qualify as an advocate in Jersey, it is necessary first to have a law degree from a British university or a graduate diploma in law and to have qualified as a recognized legal professional in England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. Thereafter, a candidate must undertake two years of practical experience in a law office dealing with Jersey law, enroll on the Jersey Law Course provided by the Institute of Law, Jersey and pass examinations in six subjects. Alternatively, a person may apply to become a Jersey advocate two years after qualifying as a Jersey solicitor.

To become an advocate in Guernsey, one has to possess a valid law degree or diploma, plus a qualification as an English barrister or solicitor, or a French avocat. They must then study for the Guernsey Bar. Three months of study of Norman law at the Université de Caen is required; this is no longer the case in Jersey.

Guernsey Advocates dress in the same way as barristers, but substitute a black biretta-like toque for a wig, while those in Jersey go bare-headed. Advocates are entitled to prefix their names with 'Advocate'; e.g. Mr Tostevin is called to the Guernsey Bar and is henceforth known as Advocate Tostevin.

The head of the profession of advocate in each Bailiwick is called the Bâtonnier.