Request
Are you able to advise on what Mr [surname omitted] actually went to prison for and when he is due to be released? I have tried to look online but cannot find any details.
Response
Your request has been handled by the Judicial Greffe which is the department responsible for the administration of the Courts in Jersey.
The Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 does not provide a way to discover the information requested because that information is absolutely exempt from the provisions of that Law; this is explained in detail below.
Outside the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011, the rules of the Court may allow you to obtain the information requested. Except in the rare cases where a private hearing is necessary for justice, a trial will be held in open court, with the public allowed to attend. During the trial, being present in Court is the only way to learn details of the case and no publication of information which may prejudice the trial is allowed. You may find that sufficient details are reported in media such as the Jersey Evening Post following their court reporter’s attendance at the trial and assuming they are able to publish without prejudicing the trial.
Following the end of the trial all judgments are published online.
Use the 'Search Now' button and enter ‘AG [defendant]’ in the Text: box on the ‘Search Judgments’ tab, where AG stands for the Attorney General who prosecutes all criminal cases and [defendant] is replaced with the surname of the defendant. The procedures for publication on the internet include removal of names where disclosure would be unfair; however for criminal cases, names of those sentenced are usually published. In sum the rules of Court provide that during the trial you may attend in person unless the hearing is held in private and following the trial there may be reports in the media and the judgment will be published online:
Jersey Law website
Exemption
Article 24 Court Information
(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it is held by a scheduled public authority only by virtue of being contained in a document:
(a) filed with, or otherwise placed in the custody of, a court; or
(b) served upon, or by, the scheduled public authority,
in proceedings in a particular cause or matter.
(2) Information is absolutely exempt information if it is held by a scheduled public authority only by virtue of being contained in a document created by:
(a) a court; or
(b) a member of the administrative staff of a court,
in proceedings in a particular cause or matter.
Justification for exemption
The information requested is only held by the Judicial Greffe, being the ‘scheduled public authority’, because of the criminal case, being the ‘proceedings in a particular cause or matter’. Therefore the information is Court Information and under Article 24 is absolutely exempt from the provisions of the Law. A key reason for the exemption under the Law is that the rules of Court already dictate how Court Information is to be accessed, as outlined above.
