Crime
(Public Order) (Jersey) Law 202-
A LAW to create statutory offences
relating to public order, to consolidate offences on disorderly conduct, to
enable Centeniers to impose fines for certain minor offences, to repeal
redundant Laws and to make minor amendments to other Laws, and for connected
purposes.
Adopted
by the States 7th February 2024
Sanctioned
by Order of His Majesty in Council [date to be inserted]
Registered by the Royal Court [date to be inserted]
Coming into force [date to be inserted]
THE STATES, subject to the sanction of His Most
Excellent Majesty in Council, have adopted the following Law –
Part 1
Preliminary
1 Interpretation
In this Law –
“dwelling” means that part of a structure used
by anyone as living accommodation;
“intoxication” means any
intoxication, whether caused by drink, drugs or other means, or by a
combination of means;
“motor vehicle” has the same meaning as in the Motor Vehicle
Registration (Jersey) Law 1993;
“structure” includes a tent, caravan, vehicle,
vessel and other temporary or movable structure.
Part 2
Public order offences
2 Riot
(1) A
person commits an offence if –
(a) the person is present at
a riot;
(b) at the riot, the person
uses unlawful violence for the common purpose of the riot; and
(c) the person intends to use
violence or is aware that their conduct may be violent.
(2) In
this Article, “riot” means an occasion when –
(a) 12 or more people (the
“rioters”) are present and use or threaten to use unlawful violence for a
common purpose; and
(b) taken together the
conduct of the rioters would cause anyone of reasonable firmness also present
to fear for their safety.
(3) In
determining whether a riot has occurred, it is immaterial whether –
(a) the rioters use or
threaten unlawful violence simultaneously;
(b) the rioters intend to use
or threaten violence, or are aware that their conduct may be violent or
threaten violence;
(c) the riot occurs in a
public or private place; and
(d) a person of reasonable
firmness is present or is likely to be present.
(4) If
a person’s awareness is impaired by intoxication, for the purpose of paragraph 1(c)
the person is taken to have the same awareness that they would have were they
not intoxicated, unless the person shows that the intoxication –
(a) was induced without the
person’s knowledge or consent; or
(b) was caused solely by the
taking or administering of a substance in the course of medical treatment.
(5) Whether
an action was taken for a common purpose may be inferred from conduct.
(6) A
person who commits an offence under this Article is liable to imprisonment for
10 years and to a fine.
3 Affray
(1) A
person commits an offence if –
(a) the person uses or
threatens (other than by words alone) to use unlawful violence against another
person;
(b) this conduct (whether by
the person alone or jointly with other people) would cause anyone of reasonable
firmness present at the scene to fear for their safety; and
(c) the person intends to use
or threaten violence, or is aware that their conduct may be violent or threaten
violence.
(2) In
determining whether an offence under this Article has been committed it is
immaterial whether –
(a) the offence occurs in a
public or private place; or
(b) a person of reasonable
firmness is present or is likely to be present.
(3) If
a person’s awareness is impaired by intoxication, for the purpose of paragraph (1)(c)
the person is taken to have the same awareness that they would have were they
not intoxicated, unless the person shows that the intoxication –
(a) was induced without the
person’s knowledge or consent; or
(b) was caused solely by the
taking or administering of a substance in the course of medical treatment.
(4) A
person who commits an offence under this Article is liable to imprisonment for
5 years and to a fine.
4 Threats to kill, rape
or cause serious physical injury
(1) A
person commits an offence if –
(a) without lawful excuse,
the person threatens another person by any means, intending the other person to
believe that the threat would be carried out; and
(b) the threat is to kill,
rape or cause serious physical injury to any person.
(2) A
person who commits an offence under paragraph (1) is liable to imprisonment
for 10 years and to a fine.
5 Threatening, abusive or
disorderly conduct
(1) A
person commits an offence if the person, within the hearing or sight of another person likely
to be caused alarm or distress by the person doing so –
(a) uses words that are
threatening or abusive intending the words to be, or being aware that they may
be, threatening or abusive;
(b) behaves in a threatening
or abusive way intending the behaviour to be, or being aware that it may be,
threatening or abusive; or
(c) engages in disorderly
behaviour intending the behaviour to be, or being aware that it may be,
disorderly.
(2) The
offence may be committed in a public or a private place (including a dwelling),
but no offence is committed if the words or behaviour are used by a person
inside a dwelling and the other person is also inside that dwelling.
(3) If
a person’s awareness is impaired by intoxication, for the purpose of paragraph (1)
the person is to have the same awareness that they would have were they not
intoxicated, unless the person shows that the intoxication –
(a) was induced without the
person’s knowledge or consent; or
(b) was caused solely by the
taking or administering of a substance in the course of medical treatment.
(4) It
is a defence for the accused to prove that –
(a) they had no reason to
believe that there was a person within hearing or sight who was likely to be
caused alarm or distress;
(b) they were inside a
dwelling and had no reason to believe that the words or behaviour used would be
heard or seen by a person outside that dwelling; or
(c) their conduct was
reasonable.
(5) A
person who commits an offence under paragraph (1) is liable to
imprisonment for 12 months and a fine of level 3 on the standard
scale.
6 Harassment
(1) A
person commits an offence if the person pursues a course of conduct –
(a) that amounts to harassment
of another person; and
(b) that the person ought to
know amounts to harassment of another person.
(2) For
the purposes of this Article, a person ought to know that a course of conduct
amounts to or involves harassment of another person if a reasonable person in
possession of the same information would think the course of conduct amounted
to harassment of the other person.
(3) It
is a defence for a person charged with an offence under paragraph (1) in
relation to a course of conduct pursued by the person to prove that –
(a) the course of conduct was
pursued for the purpose of preventing or detecting an offence;
(b) the course of conduct was
pursued under an enactment or customary law or to comply with a condition or
requirement imposed by a person under an enactment or customary law; or
(c) in the particular
circumstances the pursuit of the course of conduct was reasonable.
(4) A
person who commits an offence under paragraph (1) is liable to
imprisonment for 5 years and to a fine.
(5) In
this Article –
(a) to harass a person
includes to cause them alarm or distress;
(b) a course of
conduct –
(i) includes speech,
(ii) includes conduct of a
kind that occurs on one occasion and conduct of a different kind that occurs on
another occasion, but
(iii) does not include conduct that
occurs on only one occasion.
7 Prohibition on having
an offensive weapon in a public place or on school premises without lawful
authority or reasonable excuse
(1) A
person who has an offensive weapon in a public place or on school premises commits
an offence.
(2) It
is a defence for a person charged with the offence to prove
that the person had good reason or lawful authority to have the offensive
weapon in a public place or on school premises.
(3) Without
limiting paragraph (2) it is a defence for a person charged with an
offence under this Article to prove that the person had the offensive weapon –
(a) for use at work;
(b) for religious reasons;
(c) as part of a national
costume; or
(d) in the case of school premises only, for educational purposes.
(4) A
person who commits an offence under paragraph (1) is liable to
imprisonment for a term of 5 years and to a fine and the court may make an
order for the forfeiture or disposal of the weapon concerned.
(5) In
this Article –
“offensive weapon” means
an article –
(a) that
is made or adapted to cause injury to a person, or intended by the person who
has it, for that use by that person or anyone else; or
(b) that has a blade or is
sharply pointed, other than a folding pocketknife with a blade that has a
cutting edge of no more than 3 inches;
“public place” includes a
highway, premises or other place to which, at the material time, the public or
a section of the public have or are permitted to have access, whether on
payment or otherwise;
“school premises’ means land consisting of an institution providing
full or part-time education but does not mean land occupied solely as a
dwelling by a person employed at the school.
Part 3
Miscellaneous
8 Restraining orders
(1) A
person presenting or prosecuting a case against a person convicted of an
offence (whether under this Law, any other enactment or customary law) may
apply to the court to make a restraining order against the convicted person.
(2) The
court may, in addition to any other order or penalty that it may make or
impose, make a restraining order against the person to whom the application
relates if paragraph (3) is met.
(3) The
court must be satisfied on the balance of probabilities that it is appropriate
to make a restraining order for the purpose of protecting the victim of the
offence, or any other person named in the order, from conduct by the person
against whom the order is made, that would, if carried out –
(a) amount to harassment of
the victim or other person named in the order; or
(b) be likely to cause the
victim or that other person to be in fear of being subjected to violence.
(4) A
restraining order prohibits the person against whom it is made from engaging in
conduct of the kind specified in the order.
(5) A
restraining order may prohibit the driving of a motor vehicle by the person or
another person other than in circumstances specified in the order, if a motor
vehicle was used by the person in committing an offence under Article 6(1).
(6) A
restraining order must specify the period for which it is to remain in force or
provide for it to remain in force indefinitely.
9 Breach of restraining order
(1) A
person against whom an order is made under Article 8 who breaches the
order commits an offence.
(2) A
person who commits an offence under paragraph (1) is liable to
imprisonment for a term of 5 years and to a fine.
10 Amendment or revocation
of restraining order
(1) An
order under Article 8 may be amended or revoked by the court that made the
order either of its own motion or on the application of –
(a) the Attorney General; or
(b) the person against whom
the order was made.
(2) The
court to which an application is made under paragraph (1) may amend or
revoke the order if (and to the extent that) the court is satisfied that it is
appropriate to do so.
11 Power to impose fines summarily
(1) If
a person is charged with an offence set out in paragraph (2) and accepts the
decision of a Centenier having jurisdiction in the matter, that Centenier may impose
summarily a fine of level 1 on the standard scale.
(2) The
offences are –
(a) an offence under Article 5
(threatening, abusive or disorderly conduct);
(b) an offence of being in an intoxicated condition at an aerodrome
contrary to Regulation 13 of the Aerodromes
(Jersey) Regulations 1965; or
(c) the customary law offences of being drunk and disorderly,
committing a breach of the peace or common assault.
(3) A
Centenier who has imposed a fine under this Article –
(a) must give a receipt for
it; and
(b) must, as soon as reasonably
practicable, inform the Chief Officer of the States of Jersey Police Force of
the details of the fine.
(4) A
fine imposed under this Article is to be paid –
(a) as to one half, to the
Consolidated Fund continued under Article 3(1) of the Public Finances
(Jersey) Law 2019; and
(b) as to the other half, to
the parish in which the Centenier who imposed it had jurisdiction.
(5) The
States may by Regulations amend paragraph (2) to vary the offences set out in
that paragraph.
12 Offences by bodies
corporate etc.
(1) In
this Article –
“relevant offence” means
an offence under this Law that is committed by a limited liability partnership,
a separate limited partnership, an incorporated limited partnership or another
body corporate;
“relevant person” means –
(a) if the relevant offence
is committed by a limited liability partnership, a partner of the partnership;
(b) if the relevant offence
is committed by a separate limited partnership or an incorporated limited
partnership –
(i) a general partner, or
(ii) a limited partner who is
participating in the management of the partnership;
(c) if the relevant offence
is committed by a body corporate other than an incorporated limited partnership –
(i) a director, manager, secretary or other
similar officer of the body corporate, and
(ii) if the affairs of the
body corporate are managed by its members, a member who is acting in connection
with the member’s functions of management; and
(d) a person purporting to
act in any capacity described in sub-paragraphs (a) to (c) in relation to
the partnership or body that commits the relevant offence.
(2) If
a relevant offence is proved to have been committed with the consent or
connivance of a relevant person, that relevant person is also guilty of the
offence and liable in the same manner as the partnership or body corporate to
the penalty provided for that offence.
(3) Paragraph (4)
applies if a relevant offence –
(a) is an offence that may be
committed by neglect; and
(b) is proved to be
attributable to any neglect on the part of a relevant person.
(4) The
relevant person is also guilty of the offence and liable in the same manner as
the partnership or body corporate to the penalty provided for that offence.
13 Repeals and minor
amendments
(1) The
following Laws are repealed –
(a) the Loi (1797) sur les
rassemblements tumultueux;
(b) the Crime (Disorderly Conduct
and Harassment) (Jersey) Law 2008.
(2) In
Schedule 3 to the Road Traffic
(Jersey) Law 1956 the items and entries relating to Article 4(1) and 25 are
deleted.
(3) After
Article 28 (penalties) of the Misuse of Drugs
(Jersey) Law 1978, there is inserted –
“28A Power to impose fines summarily
(a) must
give a receipt for it; and
(b) must,
as soon as reasonably practicable, inform the Chief Officer of the States of
Jersey Police Force of the details of the fine.
(3) A
fine imposed under this Article is to be paid –
(a) as
to one half, to the Consolidated Fund continued under Article 3(1) of the Public Finances (Jersey)
Law 2019; and
(b) as
to the other half, to the parish in which the Centenier who imposed it had
jurisdiction.”.
(4) In the Firearms (Jersey) Law 2000 –
(a) in Article 1(1) the
definition “school premises” is deleted;
(b) in the heading to Part 5
for “UNLAWFUL, PROHIBITED AND OFFENSIVE WEAPONS” there is substituted “UNLAWFUL
AND PROHIBITED WEAPONS”;
(c) Article 43 is
deleted.
14 Abolition of customary
law offence
The customary law offence
of affray is abolished.
15 Citation and commencement
This Law may be cited as
the Crime (Public Order) (Jersey) Law 202- and comes into force 7 days
after it is registered.