Ralph Mollet's diary - Royal Court and States

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Ralph Mollet's
Occupation diary:
Royal Court and States


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Ralph Mollet was the secretary to the Bailiff, Alexander Coutanche during the German Occupation and also secretary of La Société Jersiaise. He was ideally placed to observe the events of the the war as they impacted on his island community, and he recorded them in a diary, which was published after the war as Jersey Under the Swastika

Royal Court

During the whole period of occupation the Bailiff presided as usual over the Royal Court with the Royal Mace before him.

Owing to the buses arriving in St Helier at 10 am, and Central European Time being enforced, the sittings of the Court commenced at 10.30, and the "contracts" or deeds were passed before the Royal Court on alternate Saturdays at 11.3. The heading of the "contracts" was not altered, viz

A Tous Ceux Qui ces presentes Lettres verront ou orront Alexander Moncrieff Coutanche, Ecuier, Bailli de l'lle de Jersey sous notre Souverain Sire George Six, par la grace de Dieu Roi de la Grande Bretagne, de l'Irlande, et des Dominions Britanniques d'outre mer, Defenseur de la Foi, Empereur des Indes. Salut en Dieu.

The criminal cases arose generally out of infractions of the rationing and agricultural regulations, robberies, and black-market activities. A notable case was one in which a butcher bought a horse for £200, slaughtered it, and sold the meat in the black-market; he was fined £500, with imprisonment for one month with hard labour for slaughtering an animal without a licence.

The first day of Term was 12 September 1940. The Advocates renewed their oaths of office on the First Day of Term instead of at the Cour d'Heritage.

The Criminal Assizes were held when necessary, but the restricted transport, the regulations governing rationing, and the lack of hotel accommodation caused the sittings to be suspended daily at 4.30, and the jurymen had to return to their homes daily during the Assize.

States

The States Assembly met about twenty times, permission to assemble being first obtained from the Field Command, to whom the minutes were submitted afterwards for approval.

The General Election for Deputies which was due in December 1940, was deferred for a year, and that order was repeated each year, as no public election can be held during an Occupation. The parish meetings were held as usual, and elections of parochial officers were permitted at these meetings.

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