The States of Guernsey (French: États de Guernesey), officially the States of Deliberation, and sometimes referred to as the States Assembly or the Government of Guernsey, is the parliament and government of the British Crown dependency of Guernsey.
Some laws approved by the States of Guernsey also apply to Alderney and Sark (the other component parts of the Bailiwick of Guernsey) as "Bailiwick-wide legislation", with the consent of the governments of those islands. All enactments of the States of Guernsey apply to Herm as well as Guernsey, since Herm is directly administered by the Bailiwick of Guernsey.
States of Deliberation
The States of Deliberation consists of 38 People's Deputies, elected every four years from a single island-wide constituency where each voter is allowed up to 38 votes, and two Alderney Representatives, who are appointed by the States of Alderney to represent Alderney's interest in matters delegated by Alderney to Guernsey under the 1948 Agreement. The Alderney Representatives are full members of the States of Deliberation, but are unpaid, and are chosen from the 10 members of the States of Alderney after an Alderney-wide vote.
There are also two non-voting members of the States of Deliberation, the Procureur (Attorney General) and the Comptroller (Solicitor General), collectively the Law Officers of the Crown, who are both appointed by the monarch. The Bailiff presides over the States Assembly.
The States of Deliberation debates legislation, broad policies and priorities, items of significant expenditure, and matters of major public interest. If you wish to see what the States' Assembly has been debating this political term, you can access the Billets d'États for the States' Meetings here.
Executive Functions
The executive functions of the States' Assembly are carried out using a committee system. Each Committee is made up of a small number of Members, who are elected to the various Committees by the Assembly shortly after the General Election.
The committee structure consists of one Senior Committee, six Principal Committees and several other Committees, Boards, Authorities and Commissions, the names and responsibilities of which are provided on the final page of this section.
In practice, most day-to-day functions of the States are carried out by these Committees, each of which is independently responsible to the States of Deliberation. The Committees of the States are, in effect, agents of the States of Guernsey exercising functions conferred on them by resolution of, or legislation approved by, the States' Assembly.