The States Assembly and Constitution Committee of the Guernsey States of Deliberation (States Assembly) held a Workshop on the Commonwealth Latimer House Principles on 29 September 2025 in St Peter’s Port.

The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s Head of Programmes, Matthew Salik presented on the application of the Commonwealth Latimer House Principles on the Separation of Powers in the Guernsey context alongside consideration of the CPA Benchmarks for Democratic Legislatures and CPA Model Law for Independent Parliaments.

The Workshop was attended by Deputies from Guernsey and was championed by the CPA Small Branches Vice-Chairperson, Deputy Adrian Gabriel.

The Workshop builds on a similar successful programme held in July 2024, when the CPA’s Head of Programmes delivered a presentation to Deputies on the Commonwealth Latimer House Principles which formed part of a planned Requête or Proposition being presented and debated on Commonwealth (Latimer House) Principles: the Role of the Parliamentary Assembly within the ‘Three Branches of Government.

The Requête was brought forward by Deputy Gavin St Pier who sought to ensure that Deputies had appropriate space allocated to them in the Royal Court Building as well as examining the establishment of a parliamentary body to oversee the institution of the States of Deliberation as a Parliament. The Requête was passed by the States on 19 July 2024.

The CPA continues to advocate for Parliaments, especially smaller Parliaments’ achieving greater levels of independence.

This Workshop follows on from the recent CPA Small Branches Workshop held in the Isle of Man in March 2025 which promoted the importance of ‘Strong and Independent Parliaments in Small Jurisdictions’.

• The CPA has played a central role in the establishment of the Commonwealth Latimer House Principles on the separation of powers.
• The Commonwealth Latimer House Principles (officially titled: Commonwealth (Latimer House) Principles on the Three Branches of Government) highlight the importance of the separation of powers between the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary to ensure effective governance and democracy.
• The Latimer House Principles provide guidance on the role of the separation of powers in the Commonwealth, its effectiveness in providing democratic governance and the role of civil society.
• Download the Commonwealth Latimer House Principles here.

Marking 20 years of the Commonwealth Latimer House Principles, this series of articles examines the ‘Power of Parliaments’ and the impact of the separation of powers.

Read the blog series by clicking here.