As a Crown dependency, Jersey has its own investigative, legal and judicial systems but Britain has the power to intervene in extreme circumstances.

The island's law officers, including its Attorney-General, William Bailhache, QC, and Bailiff, Sir Philip Bailhache — who are brothers — are appointed by the Queen.

Both roles are subject to Crown control and, in the event of a dereliction of duty, occupants can be dismissed through an order laid in the Privy Council, although the power remains unused in 800 years.

Mr Bailhache told The Times yesterday: “It is right that the Crown is said to be ultimately responsible for the good government of all Crown dependencies. That means that if there is some grave or serious breakdown of civil order, the Crown has power to step in.” But he added: “It's not happened in 800 years — so why should it happen now?”

He criticised two MPs, the Labour backbencher Austin Mitchell and the Liberal Democrat John Hemming, who have urged Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, to step in to ensure an independent inquiry into abuse claims. He accused them of using immoderate language and of being “extremely ill-informed”. He said: “Neither of these MPs has any democratic accountability to the people of Jersey.”

Mr Bailache would not comment on the police investigation. He said: “I let the police get on with their job and, when it is finished, it is the job of my staff and me to look at the evidence.”

He said that a judge from Britain would be brought in if any trials arising from the abuse charges were expected to be lengthy but said this was routine with long Jersey trials.British prosecutors would not be brought in because they would have no standing in the Royal Courts of Jersey.

“We are responsible for applying Jersey law to events that have taken place in this island. The idea that you can have an English judge and English prosecutors sitting on the cases [as urged by the two MPs] is simply inconsistent with the centuries-old Royal Charter,” Mr Bailhache said.

He added: “If the evidential tests are passed, we are going to prosecute and the Royal Courts of Jersey will do justice as it has done, week in, week out, for centuries. This is a problem that Jersey needs to confront. We need to do it properly so that when all is done, there is no doubt that the international community is able to say, at least we did the job properly.”

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