Constitutional Law 2020 - part 2 (b)

Question 1

What is Le Geyt’s view on the influence of English Common Law upon Jersey Law

Answer 1

Le Geyt had a relatively open approach to importing outside influences into Jersey law when compared to Poingdestre who took a more conservative view. However, in this difference between Le Geyt and Poingdestre, we can see a recurring tension in the need of Jersey as a small customary law jurisdiction to “borrow” law from outside, and the need for a stable and principled approach for such borrowing.

Question 2

what was the main difference between Le Geyt and Poingdestre?

Answer 2

Poingdestre expressed a resistance to the incorporation of non-customary law sources, whereas Le Geyt had a more open approach. The contract between the two is perhaps one of the basic tensions in Jersey law, rather than a conflict of ideas where one is right and the other is wrong. The tension is between the need for Jersey law to borrow ideas from outside (Le Geyt) against it borrowing so freeley that it looses touch with its own established legal principles (Poingdestre)