S_H_iom @ yahoo.com Isle of Man Newspapers Dear Sirs, Potential lawmakers who won't face voters. I am pretty certain that the constitution of the Isle of Man was created by Godred during his reign (1079-95) and consisted of Himself, two lawmen, and the twenty-four. One-hundred-and-twenty years later the English Barons held King John to account by petitioning him with Magna Carta Libertatum (the Great Charter of Liberties). Parliament at that time became “the Lords.” Tynwald consists of the twenty-four and the eleven, one of whom is the President. There is no difference between the House of Lords in England and the Legislative Council in the Isle of Man – they are both non elected upper houses. You express concern that any potential member of the “Leg-Co” will not face voters, but the Barons do not face voters (and there are a number of English Bishops; [not Welsh; not Scottish] who sit in the House of Lords. You have neglected to mention the Deemsters. These “lawmakers” do not face the voter either. The High Court Act 1991 allowed the Deemsters to make up rules, and in 2009 the Deemsters presented Tynwald with their revised rules of the High Court which were passed thereby amending the High Court Act 1991 to an act that is biased in favour of misgovernment by the Deemsters. The former Petition of Doleance (from the French word doléance meaning a complaint) has now been replaced by a doleance claim – literally a complaint claim, which makes no sense in English. The Deemsters use the English High Court Rules to dissuade citizens from making a doleance claim, but the English Judicial Review is quite different from what was known as a Petition of Doleance (see Manx Law Reports 1522-1920 page 325 for Deemster Gell's informative remarks). On 26th October 2007 Deemster Kerruish and Judge Tattersall handed down a judgment that contained the phrase “there was no legitimate basis upon which the Deputy Deemster could have made the order which he did.” The Deemsters are permitted to make-up common law (and they are not voted in); and allowed to execute the laws of this Isle unjustly without being held accountable. Corruption is rife in the judiciary in the Isle of Man because Deemsters act like Richard Nixon - “I'm saying that when the President does it, that means that it is not illegal”. On 5th November 2004 Deputy Deemster AK Williamson (a Crown appointment) issued a two paragraph declaration (he called it a declaratory order) that had no basis in Manx law. That false instrument circulated for two-and-a-half years before Deemster Kerruish looked at a complaint about it. Because Williamson was due to retire on 6th January 2008 (Adrian Derbyshire conducted his “exit interview” in December 2007, the brother Deemster and judge of appeal acted in a partial (biased) manner by making “no fair criticism” of a man who had sworn to execute the laws of this Isle justly, and then “made up his own rules” which turned out to be wrong. One Law that was never “voted upon” was section 45 of the Customary Laws Act 1422 (and it is still in force). It is headed Partiality and misgovernment prohibited. If you can find any examples of Members of Leg-Co acting in a similarly corrupt manner, then make a fuss about them; but the issue will never be addressed whilst Great Britain (and NI) has a monarchy and we a Crown Dependency. Laws are generally repetitions of Acts of some other Parliament (usually in Westminster) and debated and fine-tuned by both houses; and usually thorough research has gone into the drafting of the Bill that will become an Act of Tynwald. On the other hand, our Deemsters have no history of academic law, and so we have actual law-makers who do not face the voters, but we have a Lord, a Governor, a Lord Bishop and an Attorney General who do not face voters either, so what is your problem with the eight others. They usually do their best, are approachable (all addresses are in the telephone book, except for Stephen Harding (!)) and haven't done anything remotely as corrupt as issuing a court order (with no Act of Tynwald backing it) that got me arrested! Deemster Doyle did!
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