ECCU Legislation & Civil Asset Forfeiture Powers

​​​Request ​755586565​

This is a request for information addressed to the Chief Minister. 

Per Schedule 1 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011, a Minister (which includes the Chief Minister) is a Scheduled Public Authority. 

In the Chief Minister's response to a written question submitted by Deputy H.L. Jeune (WQ.297/2025 ) – available at https://statesassembly.je/getmedia/102790ee-d263-43f8-b718-3704541c4a12/WQ-297-2025.pdf?ext=.pdf ​, tabled on 7 July 2025, the Chief Minister provided an update on the legislation still remaining to be lodged and debated before the end of the political term. 

One of the pieces of legislation listed in the Chief Minister's response to Deputy Jeune is described as “ECCU Legislation & Civil Asset Forfeiture Powers”. 

Unlike other legislation listed in the Chief Minister's response to Deputy Jeune, the "ECCU Legislation & Civil Asset Forfeiture Powers” legislation was not mentioned in either: 

(a) the Government Legislative Programme 2025-2026 included in a letter to Scrutiny on 18 November 2024 (available at https://statesassembly.je/getattachment/8b1fba8b-3ca7-4421-ac53-f4bbd5393df1/2024-11-18-Letter-from-the-Chief-Minister-Legislative-Programme-2025-and-2026.pdf?lang=en-GB&ext=.pdf​ ); or 

(b) the Cabinet Office Business Plan, published in March 2025 (available at​ https://www.gov.je/SiteCollectionDocuments/Government%20and%20administration/Cabinet%20Office%20Business%20Plan%202025.pdf​ ) 

It is not apparent from publicly available information when, how, or why, the “ECCU Legislation & Civil Asset Forfeiture Powers” crept into the Legislative Programme that had previously been agreed by the Council of Ministers and was reported in the Chief Minister's letter to Scrutiny on 18 November 2024. 

The Chief Minister’s response to Deputy Jeune’s question lists four items that it was agreed should be prioritised into the Legislative Programme, but the “ECCU Legislation & Civil Asset Forfeiture Powers” is not one of the​ pieces of legislation listed. As things stands, the presence of this legislation in the list of legislation being prioritised is an unexplained anomaly. 

Can the Chief Minister please provide information about: 

(a) when the Council of Ministers agreed to include “ECCU Legislation & Civil Asset Forfeiture Powers” in the Legislative Programme; 

(b) when, if at all, Scrutiny was informed of the decision to include “ECCU Legislation & Civil

Asset Forfeiture Powers” in the Legislative Programme; 

(c) why “ECCU Legislation & Civil Asset Forfeiture Powers” was not disclosed in the Chief Minister's 18 November 2024 letter to Scrutiny; and 

(d) which Minister is responsible for “ECCU Legislation & Civil Asset Forfeiture Powers”. 

It is in the public interest for this information to be disclosed, especially given that other important pieces of prospective legislation have been noted as having been deprioritised and moved to the “Development Pool”.

Response

(a) The Council of Ministers agreed the updated Legislative Programme in November 2024 (see the first link below), which was later shared with Scrutiny. At that time, the Council of Ministers also noted the status of the Development Pool, which included ECCU related legislation.

Council of Ministers Agenda 5 November 2024.pdf

In February 2025, the Minister for External Relations updated Scrutiny on the status of ECCU related legislation.

2025-02-28-MER-letter-to-EIA-Scrutiny-panel-legislative-programme.pdf​

The Chief Minister’s response to the Written Question in July 2025, as referenced by the request, provided a further update to the States on the status of the legislative programme.

(b) See answer to (a).

(c) See answer to (a).

(d) As stated in the published Article 30A report which can be accessed via the following link, the Minister for External Relations is responsible Financial Services.

R-118-2024.pdf​

Article applied

Article 3 - Meaning of “information held by a public authority”

For the purposes of this Law, information is held by a public authority if –

(a) it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person; or

(b) it is held by another person on behalf of the authority​​