Clameur de Haro raised over disputed sale of family home
THE Clameur de Haro was raised on the steps of the Royal Court yesterday over a disputed property sale.
Stephen Chilcott, who lives in Devon, also raised the clameur at the property.
As he read the proclamation, police were called and attended.
Mr Chilcott said that the court was refusing to release the proceeds of the ‘unlawful’ sale of a property, which he claims belongs to him following the death of his parents.
The former family home at Jerbourg was his by right of ‘forced heirship’ under Guernsey inheritance law, he said, as the only son of his late parents, Paul and Leonore Chilcott.
Leonore Chilcott died in April 1981, while Paul Chilcott died in August 2008.
According to Mr Chilcott’s petition as part of his clameur, his parents registered the purchase of the house in the Greffe in 1978.
Mr Chilcott said that the deed stated that, because he was the heir and successor in title to his parents, he counted as one of the joint purchasers of the property, and therefore was one of three joint owners.
This meant he became the property’s sole owner when his father died, he argued.
In 2001, Mr Chilcott said that the property was conveyed into a shell company.
Mr Chilcott added that, in the deed, the term ‘seller’ – or ‘vendor’ – included any heirs of his father, which he was.
He went on to say that, in 2018, the property was sold to Lothlorien Limited by a ‘self-appointed’ director of the company.
He claims this was unlawful as it was without his consent and against his instructions.
Mr Chilcott added that this amounted to theft and obtaining property by deception.
The other party was approached for comment yesterday.
Mr Chilcott added that the proceeds of sale have been held, by order of the Bailiff, in a Collas Crill client’s account since 2018.
He did not think the Bailiff was upholding Guernsey law, or the custom of ‘forced heirship’, which no longer exists under Guernsey law, but still applied in 2008.
‘If the Royal Court does not uphold the very conveyance deeds that have been formally registered in the Royal Court, and if such documents are not upheld as being legal and binding, 27,000 plus Guernsey property owners have deeds that are not worth the paper they are written on,’ he added.
What is the Clameur de Haro?
It is an ancient Norman customary law tradition dating to the early 10th century, which enables someone who believes they are being wronged to put an immediate stop to the wrongdoing.
The person being wronged must say ‘Haro! Haro! Haro! A l’aide mon Prince, on me fait tort’, followed by the Lord’s Prayer in French, all while kneeling down with one arm in the air and in the presence of two witnesses.
This puts an immediate stop to the wrongdoing, and the person raising the clameur must then lodge it in writing at the Greffe within 24 hours.
A judge will then decide if the clameur was raised lawfully or not.
Mourant advocate Gordon Dawes said that there were a handful of contemporary examples of the Clameur de Haro.
‘The last example of it being raised was in 2015. Generally it is something that is used if the person being wronged is in an emergency situation and needs to put an instant stop to the wrongdoing,’ he said.
