The requirements for new legislation vary. It could be that an existing piece of legislation is no longer fit for purpose and needs to be completely repealed and replaced. Some pieces of legislation may need to be updated through an amendment to the existing legislation and other pieces of legislation may be completely new in that a version has never existed before, such as the upcoming Capacity legislation.
The legislative drafting process
Once the States of Deliberation agrees, with a Resolution, to create a new, or amend an existing piece of legislation, the new or revised draft of the Law has to pass through several stages and checkpoints before it comes into force.
The Legislative Counsel, part of the Law Officers of the Crown, drafts legislation on behalf of the States of Guernsey, the States of Alderney and the Chief Pleas of Sark, as well as some other public bodies.
The main types of legislation drafted are:
- Laws, (Projets de Loi) which generally deal with the most important issues such as crime, taxation, housing control and financial services;
- Ordinances, which might provide further detail for an area already dealt with by Law or might concern a stand-alone area such as fishing (in accordance with the customary law), and
- Subordinate legislation, which will generally provide practical or procedural detail in relation to a Law or Ordinance. This can be in the form of Regulations for example.
The process can vary depending on whether the legislation is a Projet de Loi or an Ordinance. The 
Approval Process for a Bailiwick of Guernsey Law [607kb] flowchart and the Approval Process for the Bailiwick of Guernsey Ordinance [565kb] flowchart have been created to explain this process.
The lists below contain links to further information and the contact details for the relevant Lead Committee for each piece of legislation.
Legislative drafting process lists
The lists include new or amended legislation for Guernsey or the Bailiwick as a whole. Legislation that is exclusive to Sark or Alderney is not included, nor are statutory instruments (Regulations, Orders and Rules) that address the details of operating a Law or Ordinance.
Legislation drafted and approved 2018-2021 [485kb] focuses on legislation that has reached its final stages (stages 7 & 8) before coming into force. The legislation on this list has been drafted and approved by the States of Guernsey.
Legislation drafting in progress [217kb] shows legislation that is in the earlier stages of the legislative drafting process (stages 1-6). Once prioritised, each piece of legislation is categorised as high, medium or low priority. This refers solely to its priority for drafting against other forthcoming legislation that has entered the legislative drafting process, not to legislative or Government Work Plan priorities generally. Drafting priorities are recommended by the lead Committee for each piece of legislation and endorsed by the Policy & Resources Committee, the committee responsible for prioritising the States' legislative programme. Proposals for prioritising legislation drafting are approved by the States annually through the Government Work Plan debate. The next debate is in June 2022.
