Crime (Prejudice and Public Disorder) Law consultation

Department	Justice and Home Affairs
Start date	14/10/2019
End date	03/01/2020
Type of consultation	Other
Deadline for comments	03/01/2020

About the consultation

​This consultation is intended to seek opinions about what should be included in the draft Crime (Prejudice and Public Disorder) (Jersey) Law. The draft Law is attached for consideration, and this paper addresses the key elements of that draft Law and outlines what they are intended to do and why. The consultation is in four parts.

The first two parts concern crimes of prejudice, focusing on those described in the draft Law.

Firstly, it describes what crimes of prejudice are, and how the draft Law will address them. It explains that it will provide appropriate penalties for such acts by providing in law that where crimes are committed out of prejudice they can be sentenced in a way that reflects the intent behind them.

Secondly, having seen what the draft will do, it considers whether there is a compelling need for such legislation, and the potential problems of introducing it, including the dangers of leaving some groups out, and the potential for the legislation to creep outside of its original remit. It also looks at how the term ‘crimes of prejudice’ was selected from the range of terms in use across other jurisdictions.

The third and fourth parts address the ‘public disorder’ element:

Thirdly it considers some ‘public order offences’, which refer to the act of committing violence or creating disorder in public and include things like rioting. The draft Law would repeal the existing customary versions of those offences, as these have fallen behind the times. There is a question over whether the currently planned new offence regarding threats to kill should be extended to include other serious threats.

Fourthly it considers whether the fining powers of Centeniers at Parish Hall Enquiries should be extended from merely dealing with statutory offences to cover customary offences as well.

Each of the four sections ends with a short series of questions for respondents to consider. These are by no means the only questions raised by the draft Law but they are simply the ones on which we would like specific feedback. Respondents should feel free to make comment on any part of the draft Law, or on the points made in this consultation more widely.

This draft Law is part of a broader package of measures intended to modernise Jersey’s approach to managing criminal offences, and to bring processes up to international standards. The recent Bail, Criminal Procedure and Sexual Offences Laws have all been aimed at providing Jersey with a world leading criminal justice system, and this draft Law forms part of this modernisation and enhancement process.

Consultation document for Crime Law

Draft Crime (Prejudice and Public Disorder) (Jersey) Law 201-

How to submit comments to the consultation

​This consultation report is divided into sections, each looking at a different aspect of the Law. There are a few key questions which you may wish to answer at the end of each section. You can also provide any additional comments that you want or submit any further information.

​Activity	​Dates
​Public consultation	​Monday 14 October to Friday 3 January 2020
​Publication of feedback report summarising the responses to consultation	​Friday 31 January 2020
​Analysis of consultation feedback	​Friday 6 March 2020

The next step will to make the changes necessary to the Law in light of the consultation feedback and to bring the draft Law to the States in due course.