Outstanding Viscount’s Distraint Cases

​Request ​831666708

With regards to link https://www.gov.je/gazette/pages/viscountsdistraint.aspx​

Please advise as follows:- 

Of the list of 27 entries (published 16th April 2026) 26 entries are showing 'To be confirmed' under the heading of 'Notice of sale' presumably whether the assets are to be sold or the debt settled in full. 

I would be grateful if you could clarify the following: 

1 The timeframes the courts typically work to, to bring closure, particularly given the age of some of the entries, the oldest being c.2.5 years old. 

2 Whether the moveable assets are being stored in a secure or remote location, and if so, whether the associated storage costs are currently being borne by the public of Jersey, if the storage costs are recoverable from a third party, and if so, confirmation who this may be. 

3 If storage costs are being paid for by the public of Jersey, then please indicate what these unrecoverable costs are over the last five year period broken down by year. 

I look forward to your clarification in due course.

Response

Please note that as the courts’ executive officer the Viscount holds, manages and realises seized or distrained assets in several different capacities and accordingly different laws and procedures may apply. The responses below are in respect of distrained assets pursuant to the enforcement of a court order in respect of a civil judgment debt.

1 Timeframes

There is no fixed or prescribed timeframe within which distraint matters must be concluded. The sale of distrained assets is undertaken at the Viscount’s discretion and will depend on the individual circumstances of each case. These may include, but are not limited to:

• The debtor settling the debt in full
• A payment plan being agreed between the debtor and the creditor
• In the event that no agreement is reached, the asset may be sold either by public auction, tender or by private sale to a third party, subject to an independent valuation being obtained from a certified dealer

Accordingly, some entries may remain listed as “To be confirmed” for extended periods, depending on the progression of the matter.

2 Storage and security of moveable assets

Moveable assets may be dealt with in one of two ways:

• ​They may remain in the custody of the debtor but under the Viscount’s jurisdiction. In such cases, the debtor is prohibited from selling or otherwise dealing with the asset without authority, and to do so may constitute contempt of court.
• Alternatively, assets may be removed to the Viscount’s secure store or to another suitable location determined by the Viscount depending on the nature of the asset.

3 Storage costs and responsibility

Storage costs are recovered at the Viscount’s discretion, taking account of the circumstances of the case. Where storage costs are incurred, these are recoverable from the proceeds of sale when the asset is realised. Recovering storage costs from the proceeds of sale may affect the amount that can be returned to the creditor if there are insufficient assets to cover the storage costs and the debt itself, therefore the Viscount exercises some discretion over the recovery of storage costs in a case.

Unrecoverable storage costs

As storage costs are applied at discretion and are recoverable from the debtor or sale proceeds, the Viscount’s Department does not hold figures for unrecoverable storage costs over the last five-year period and Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies

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.​