Jersey Law 7/1949
POLICE COURT (MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) (JERSEY) LAW, 1949.
____________
A LAW to
extend the jurisdiction of the Police Court, to modify procedure before that
Court and to allow appeals from decisions thereof, sanctioned by Order of His
Majesty in Council of the
29th day of APRIL, 1949.
____________
(Registered on the 21st day of May, 1949).
____________
STATES OF JERSEY.
____________
The 17th day of
November, 1948.
____________
THE STATES, subject to the sanction of
His Most Excellent Majesty in Council, have adopted the following Law: -
PART i
INTERPRETATION
ARTICLE 1
DEFINITIONS
In this Law, unless the context otherwise requires –
“the Constable”, in relation to an offence, means the
Constable or “Chef de Police” of the parish in which the offence
was committed or is suspected to have been committed;
“the Magistrate” means the “Juge
d’Instruction” appointed in pursuance of
the “Lois (1864 et 1946) concernant la charge
de Juge d’Instruction” and includes any person exercising the functions of
the “Juge d’Instruction”;
“offence” means any crime or misdemeanour
(“délit”), whether at customary
law or by enactment, any contravention of an enactment and any other act or
omission involving breach of a duty to which by law a sanction is attached by
way of punishment;
“the Police Court” means the Court established by
virtue of the “Acte établissant
une cour pour la répression des moindres délits”, passed by the States on the
seventeenth day of August, 1852, and confirmed by Order of Her Majesty in
Council of the twenty-ninth day of December, 1853.
ARTICLE 2
MEANING OF “POLICE COURT” IN OTHER ENACTMENTS, ETC
References to the Police Court in any enactment, instrument or
document shall, unless a contrary intention appears, be construed as references
to the Police Court as defined by Article 1 of this Law.
PART II
JURISDICTION
ARTICLE 3
JURISDICTION OF POLICE COURT
Notwithstanding anything in any enactment, the Magistrate, sitting
as judge in the Police Court, shall have power and authority to hear and
determine all cases for offences, other than those which are within the
exclusive jurisdiction of His Majesty.
ARTICLE 4
MAXIMUM PENALTIES
(1) Notwithstanding
the provisions of Article 3 of this Law, the maximum penalties which may be
imposed by the Magistrate shall be a fine of [two hundred pounds] or imprisonment for a term of [six months],3 or both such
fine and such imprisonment, or such greater penalty as may be authorized by or
by virtue of any Law or Order in Council to be imposed by the Police Court:
Provided that where the Magistrate passes a sentence of
imprisonment on any person, he may order that the sentence shall commence at
the expiration of any other term of imprisonment to which that person has been
previously sentenced, so however that the aggregate of the terms so imposed, if
the previous sentence was imposed by the Magistrate, shall not exceed the
maximum term which he is empowered by this paragraph to impose:
Provided further that where a person is convicted of more than one offence,
the aggregate of the fines imposed by the Magistrate in respect of those
offences shall not exceed the maximum fine which he is empowered by this
paragraph to impose.
(2) If
the Magistrate is of opinion that the gravity of an offence is such that there
should be imposed a penalty or penalties in excess of those which he is
empowered by paragraph (1) of this Article to impose, it shall be his duty to
commit the accused for trial before the Royal Court.
ARTICLE 5
SAVING
Nothing in this Law shall derogate from the powers of His
Majesty’s Attorney General to institute proceedings before the Royal
Court in respect of any offence.
ARTICLE 6
POWER OF COURT TO AWARD DAMAGES
(1) In
any prosecution for an offence involving injury to the person or damage to property,
the Magistrate may, in addition to imposing a penalty or penalties on the
offender, order him to pay to the person injured or the owner of the property
damaged, if he so requests, such sum, not exceeding [one hundred pounds], as the Magistrate shall consider sufficient to make
good the damage caused.
(2) Where
any person injured or the owner of any property damaged requests that an order
be made under this Article and an order is so made, he shall be debarred from
instituting proceedings against the offender in respect of the injury or
damage.
ARTICLE 7
POWER TO HEAR WITNESSES ELSEWHERE THAN IN COURT
Where a witness is, by reason of illness, unable to attend before
the Police Court to give evidence, the Court may adjourn elsewhere to receive
his evidence and, in such case, the normal practice and procedure of the Court
shall be followed.
[ARTICLE 7A
TAKING OF FINGER-PRINTS
(1) Where
any person not less than fourteen years old has been arrested for an offence
and charged before the Police Court, the Court may, if it thinks fit, on the
application of the Constable, order the finger-prints of that person to be
taken by a police officer.
(2) Finger-prints
taken in pursuance of an order under this Article shall be taken either at the
Police Court or, if the person to whom the order relates is remanded in
custody, at any place to which he is committed; and a police officer may use
such reasonable force as may be necessary for that purpose.
(3) The
provisions of this Article shall be in addition to those of any other enactment
under which finger-prints may be taken.
(4) Where
the finger-prints of any person have been taken in pursuance of an order under
this Article, then, if he is acquitted, or the Magistrate determines not to
commit him for trial before the Royal Court, or if he is discharged from the
prosecution, the finger-prints and all copies and records of them shall be
destroyed.
(5) For
the purposes of this Article, a person shall be deemed to be of such age as
appears to the Police Court, after considering any available evidence, to be
his age.]
PART III
INSTITUTION OF PROCEEDINGS, ETC
ARTICLE 8
SUMMONS
(1) Any
person who has committed or is suspected of having committed an offence for
which he is liable by law to be fined in an amount not exceeding [two hundred
pounds] or to be imprisoned for a term not exceeding [six
months]6
may, instead of being arrested, be summoned, at the instance of the Constable,
to appear before the Police Court.
(2) Such
summons shall contain a statement of the specific offence with which the
accused person is charged, together with such particulars as may be necessary
for giving reasonable information as to the nature of the charge.
(3) The
statement of the offence shall describe the offence shortly, in ordinary
language, avoiding as far as possible the use of technical terms and without
necessarily stating all the essential elements of the offence, and, if the
offence charged is one created by enactment, it shall also contain a reference
to the provision of the enactment creating the offence.
(4) After
the statement of the offence, necessary particulars of the offence shall be set
out in ordinary language, in which the use of technical terms shall not be
required.
(5) Any
summons issued in pursuance of this Article shall be in whichever of the French
or English languages is thought to be best understood by the accused person.
[ARTICLE 9
SERVICE OF SUMMONS
(1) Every
summons issued under Article 8 of this Law shall be signed by the Constable and
shall be served by –
(a) registered post or by
the recorded delivery service; or
(b) a member of the police
on the person to whom it is directed by delivering the same to that person
personally or by leaving the same with some person for him at his last or most
usual place of abode.
(2) A
member of the police who serves a summons under sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph (1) of this Article
shall sign a record of service of the summons which shall be produced to the
Police Court at the time and place mentioned in the summons.]
ARTICLE 10
ERRORS IN SUMMONS
No objection shall be taken or allowed to any summons for any
alleged defect therein in substance or in form or for any variance between the
summons and the evidence adduced on the part of the prosecution at the hearing,
but if any such variance shall appear to the Magistrate to be such that the
party so summoned and appearing has been thereby deceived or misled, it shall
be lawful for the Magistrate, upon such terms as he shall think fit, to adjourn
the hearing of the case to some future day.
ARTICLE 11
FAILURE TO APPEAR OF PARTY SUMMONED
Where any person summoned in pursuance of Article 8 of this Law
fails to appear at the time and place mentioned in the summons, the Magistrate,
upon proof of the service of the summons, may order the arrest of the accused
person so that the case may be heard and determined.
ARTICLE 12
SAVING
Nothing in this Part of this Law shall prevent the apprehension,
detention, arrest or taking into custody of any person.
[PART
IV
APPEAL AND CASE STATED
ARTICLE 13
DEFINITIONS
In this Part of this Law, unless the context otherwise requires
“appeal aid
certificate” has the meaning assigned thereto in Article 20;
“probation
order” means an order under the “Loi sur l’attenuation des peines et sur la mise en liberté surveillée”, confirmed by Order of His Majesty
in Council of 8th June, 1937;
“the Royal
Court” means the Inferior Number of the Royal Court.
ARTICLE 14
RIGHT OF APPEAL
(1) A
person convicted by the Police Court may appeal to the Royal Court
(a) if he pleaded guilty or
admitted the facts, against his sentence;
(b) if he did not, against
the conviction or sentence.
(2) A
person sentenced by the Police Court for an offence in respect of which a
probation order has previously been made may appeal to the Royal Court against
the sentence.
(3) In
this Article, “sentence” includes any order made on conviction by
the Police Court, not being –
(a) a probation order;
(b) an order for the
payment of costs;
(c) an order made in
pursuance of any enactment under which the Court has no discretion as to the
making of the order or its terms;
(d) a committal in default
of payment of any sum of money, or for want of sufficient distress to satisfy
any sum of money, or for failure to do or abstain from doing anything required
to be done or left undone.
ARTICLE 15
NOTICE OF APPEAL
(1) An
appeal under Article 14 of this Law shall be commenced by the appellant’s
giving notice of appeal to the Judicial Greffier
within eight days after the day on which the decision of the Police Court was given.
(2) A
notice of appeal shall be in writing and shall state the general grounds of
appeal.
(3) Where
it appears to the Royal Court, on application made in accordance with the
following provisions of this Article, that any person wishing to appeal to that
Court from the Police Court has failed to give the notice of appeal required by
this Article within the period of eight days prescribed by paragraph (1) of
this Article, the Royal Court may, if it thinks fit, direct that any such
notice of appeal previously given by the applicant after the expiration of the
said period, or any such notice to be given by him within such further time as
may be specified in the direction, shall be treated as if given within the said
period.
(4) An
application for a direction under paragraph (3) of this Article shall be made
in writing to the Judicial Greffier.
ARTICLE 16
ABANDONMENT OF APPEAL
(1) An
appellant may abandon an appeal under Article 14 of this Law by giving notice
in writing to the Judicial Greffier, not later than
the third day before the day fixed for the hearing of the appeal.
(2) Where
notice to abandon an appeal has been duly given by the appellant –
(a) subject to anything
already suffered or done by the appellant under the decision from which the
appeal is made, such decision shall be enforceable forthwith by due process of
law;
(b) the Police Court may,
on the application of the prosecution, order the appellant to pay to the
prosecution such costs as appear to the Police Court to be just and reasonable
in respect of expenses properly incurred by the prosecution in connexion with the appeal before notice of the abandonment
was given.
ARTICLE 17
PROCEDURE ON APPEALS
(1) The
Royal Court may direct that witnesses shall be heard before it at the hearing
of any appeal under Article 14 of this Law in relation to any matter or thing
relevant to the appeal and may require the production of the Magistrate’s
notes of the trial.
(2) If,
at any stage of the proceedings, the Royal Court is of opinion that the appeal
is frivolous or vexatious or brought for the purpose of delay, it may forthwith
dismiss the appeal.
(3) On
any appeal under Article 14 of this Law, the Royal Court may by order confirm,
reverse or vary the decision of the Police Court, or may remit the matter with
its opinion thereon to the Police Court, or may make such other order in the
matter as it thinks just, and may by such order exercise any power which the
Police Court might have exercised, and any order so made shall have the like
effect and may be enforced in like manner as if it had been made by the Police
Court.
(4) The
powers of the Royal Court under paragraph (3) of this Article shall be
construed as including power to award any punishment, whether more or less
severe than that awarded by the Police Court, which that Court might have
awarded.
(5) On
any appeal under Article 14 of this Law –
(a) if the appeal is
successful, the Royal Court may order the prosecution to pay to the appellant
such costs as may appear reasonably sufficient to cover the out-of-pocket
expenses of the appellant in relation to such appeal; or
(b) if the appeal is
unsuccessful, the Royal Court may order the appellant to pay to the prosecution
such costs as may appear reasonably sufficient to cover the cost of the
services rendered by the officers of the Court in relation to such appeal.
ARTICLE 18
STATEMENT OF CASE BY MAGISTRATE
(1) Any
person who was a party to any proceeding before the Police Court or is
aggrieved by the conviction, order, determination or other proceeding of the
Police Court may question the proceeding on the ground that it is wrong in law
or is in excess of jurisdiction by applying to the Magistrate to state a case
for the opinion of the Royal Court on the question of law or jurisdiction
involved:
Provided that a person shall not make an application under this
Article in respect of a decision which by virtue of any enactment is final.
(2) An
application under paragraph (1) of this Article shall be made within eight days
after the day on which the decision of the Police Court was given.
(3) On
the making of an application under this Article in respect of a decision, any
right of the applicant to appeal under Article 14 of this Law against the
decision shall cease.
(4) If
the Magistrate is of opinion that an application under this Article is frivilous, he may refuse to state a case and, if the
applicant so requires, shall give him a certificate stating that the
application has been refused:
Provided that the Magistrate shall not refuse to state a case if
the application is made by or under the direction of the Attorney General.
(5) Where
the Magistrate refuses to state a case, the Royal Court may, on the application
of the person who applied for the case to be stated, make an order requiring
the Magistrate to state a case and it shall be the duty of the Magistrate to
comply with the order.
(6) The
Magistrate shall not be required to state a case until the applicant has, if so
required by the Police Court, given an undertaking and given or found such
security, in such amount as the Police Court may determine, that he will
prosecute the appeal without delay and submit to the judgment of the Royal
Court and pay such costs as that Court may award.
ARTICLE 19
PROCEDURE ON CONSIDERATION OF APPEAL BY CASE STATED
(1) On
an appeal by case stated under Article 18 of this Law, the Royal Court shall
hear and determine the question or questions of law arising on the case and may
reverse, affirm or amend the determination in respect of which the case has
been stated, or remit the matter to the Police Court, with its opinion thereon,
or may make such other order in relation to the matter, and may make such
orders as to costs, as may seem fit.
(2) The
Royal Court shall also have power, if it thinks fit, to cause the case to be
sent back for amendment, and thereupon the case shall be amended accordingly,
and judgment shall be delivered after it has been amended.
(3) Any
conviction, order, determination or other proceeding of the Police Court varied
by the Royal Court on an appeal by case stated, and any judgment or order of
the Royal Court on such an appeal, may be enforced as if it were a decision of
the Police Court.
ARTICLE 20
PROVISIONS AS TO LEGAL AID
(1) Where
a person desires to appeal under Article 14 of this Law or to make or oppose an
application for the statement of a case under Article 18 of this Law but has
not sufficient means to enable him to obtain legal aid for the purpose, he may
make application to the Magistrate for free legal aid.
(2) If,
on an application made to the Magistrate under paragraph (1) of this Article,
it appears to the Magistrate that the means of the applicant are insufficient
to enable him to obtain legal aid, and that it is desirable in the interests of
justice that the applicant should have free legal aid, the Magistrate may grant
him a certificate (in this Law referred to as “an appeal aid
certificate”).
(3) Where,
on an application made under this Article, the Magistrate has refused to grant
an appeal aid certificate, the applicant may make an application for the same
purpose to the Royal Court, and the Royal Court shall have the like power,
exercisable on the like grounds, of granting an appeal aid certificate as the
Magistrate.
(4) A
person to whom an appeal aid certificate has been granted under this Article
shall be entitled to free legal aid in the preparation and conduct of his case
and to have an advocate assigned to him for that purpose by the Bâtonnier.
(5) Where
an appeal aid certificate has been granted to any person under this Article, an
order shall be made by the Royal Court directing his costs, as fixed by, or
ascertained in accordance with, rules made under this Law, to be paid out of
the General Revenues of the States.
(6) When
notice of the abandonment of an appeal has been given, an order under paragraph
(5) of this Article may be made by the Royal Court.
(7) If,
any person, for the purpose of obtaining free legal aid under this Article,
makes any statement which he knows to be false in a material particular or
recklessly makes any statement which is false in a material particular, he
shall be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds or to imprisonment for a
term not exceeding one month, or to both such fine and such imprisonment.
ARTICLE 21
BAIL ON APPEAL OR CASE STATED
(1) Where
a person has given notice of appeal under Article 14 of this Law or has applied
for the statement of a case under Article 18 of this Law then, if he is in
custody, the Magistrate may release him on his giving an undertaking and giving
or finding such security in such amount as the Magistrate may determine –
(a) (i) if
he has given notice of appeal, that he will attend before the Royal Court at
the hearing of the appeal; or
(ii) if
he has applied for the statement of a case, that he will appear before the Police
Court within seven days after the judgment of the Royal Court has been given,
unless the determination in respect of which the case is stated is reversed by
that judgment;
(b) that he will not leave the
Island until the appeal or application has been disposed of;
(c) that he will not consort with
or molest any designated persons pending the disposal of the appeal or
application;
(d) if he subsequently gives
notice of abandonment of appeal, that he will immediately surrender himself to
the Viscount;
and the Magistrate may further require him to elect and name an
address in the Island at which summonses and notices respecting the appeal or
application may be validly served on him:
Provided that where the accused has been committed to the Royal
Court for sentence under paragraph (2) of Article 2 of the Criminal Justice
(Jersey) Law, 1957, the powers conferred by this
paragraph shall be exercisable by the Royal Court instead of by the Magistrate.
(2) The
time during which a person is admitted to bail under this Article shall not
count as part of any term of imprisonment under this sentence; and any sentence
of imprisonment imposed by the Police Court or, on appeal, by the Royal Court,
after the imposition of which a person is so admitted to bail, shall be deemed
to begin to run or to be resumed as from the day on which he is received in
prison under the sentence.
(3) If
any person acts wilfully in breach of an undertaking
given under paragraph (1) of this Article, he shall be guilty of an offence and
shall on conviction by the Royal Court be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty
pounds or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to both
such fine and such imprisonment, and to pay the costs of the prosecution, and
the Court may direct that any term of imprisonment to which he is sentenced
under this paragraph shall not begin to run until after the end of any term of
imprisonment which he is then liable to serve.
(4) Upon
any such conviction, or, if the person liable to prosecution under paragraph (3)
of this Article cannot be apprehended within the three months next following
the contravention, upon an application made after the expiration of such
last-mentioned period, the Royal Court may –
(a) direct that any security
given or found in connexion with the undertaking
shall be forfeited to Her Majesty or may, if such security was found by some
person other than the person admitted to bail and the Court thinks it proper in
the circumstances so to do, direct that the security or some part thereof shall
be returned to the person by whom the same was found; and
(b) dismiss the appeal or
application without proceeding to the hearing thereof.
ARTICLE 21A
SUSPENSION OF LICENCES AND CUSTODY OF GOODS PENDING APPEAL
Where notice of appeal is given under Article 14 of this Law or an
application for the statement of a case is made under Article 18 of this Law in
respect of a decision which includes –
(a) an order for the suspension
or withdrawal of a licence or other permit, the
Magistrate may, unless it be otherwise provided by the enactment under which
the licence or permit was granted, direct that the
order be suspended pending the disposal of the appeal or application;
(b) an order for the confiscation
of goods, the goods shall be delivered into the custody of the Judicial Greffier pending the disposal of the appeal or application.
ARTICLE 21B
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
(1) Any
appeal or application under this Part of this Law may be heard and determined
by the Royal Court either in term or in vacation.
(2) Any
judgment or order of the Royal Court under this Part of this Law shall be final
and conclusive, and shall not be subject to appeal to any other court.
(3) Costs
ordered to be paid under this Part of this Law –
(a) where they are ordered to be
paid by the prosecution, shall be paid out of the General Revenues of the
States; and
(b) where they are ordered to be
paid to the prosecution, shall be paid into the General Revenues of the States
and shall be recoverable as a civil debt due to the States, and proceedings for
the recovery thereof may be instituted by the Treasurer of the States either in
term or in vacation.]
PART V
MISCELLANEOUS
ARTICLE 22
PROCEDURE
(1) The
Superior Number of the Royal Court may make rules of court –
(a) prescribing forms to be used
for the purposes of this Law;
(b) regulating the practice and
procedure in any proceedings under this Law;
(b) with respect to the rates or
scales of payment of any costs which are payable under Article [16] of this Law and the conditions under which any
such costs may be allowed; and
(d) generally for carrying the
purposes and provisions of this Law into effect.
(2) Rules
of court made under this Article may be amended or revoked by subsequent rules
and shall be laid before the States as soon as may be after they are made, and
if the States, within the period of twenty-one days beginning with the day on
which any such rules are laid before them, resolve that they be annulled, they
shall cease to have effect, but without prejudice to anything previously done
thereunder or to the making of any new rules.
ARTICLE 23
REVOCATION
Subject as hereinafter provided, the “Loi
étendant la compétence
de la Cour des Moindres Délits et définissant
sa juridiction”
passed by the States on the tenth day of February, 1865, and confirmed by Order
of Her Majesty in Council of the ninth day of March, 1865, with the exception of Article 5 of the said Law,
is hereby revoked:
Provided that the provisions of the said Law shall apply in respect
of any prosecution instituted before the day on which this Law comes into
force.
ARTICLE 24
COMMENCEMENT
This Law shall come into force on such day or days as the States
may by Act Appoint and
different days may be fixed for different purposes and different provisions of
this Law.
ARTICLE 25
SHORT TITLE
This Law may be cited as the Police Court (Miscellaneous
Provisions) (Jersey) Law, 1949.