Judicial Greffe grant (FOI)

​Request

In the 2015 States of Jersey accounts, page 93, reference is made to a grant being approved even though the recipient had a cash balance of more than £1 million.

A

I would like to know if the grant was paid out.

B 

If so, I would like to know the nature of the grant, including the size, purpose, and rationale for making the grant.

C 

Who was the recipient?

Response 

In response to all three parts of the request, the information is all already publicly available by researching on the States of Jersey website and on the Jersey Legal Information Board website for the ways in which the Jersey Legal Information Board (JLIB) receives funding from the Judicial Greffe.

View States of Jersey website

View Jersey Legal Information Board website

The close relationship between Judicial Greffe and JLIB which provides purpose and rationale and the payment of a grant of £100,000 in 2014 are detailed in the Court Service Annual Report 2014 pages 20 and 25:

View Court Service Annual Report 2014

The Court Service Annual Report 2015 states the grant was not paid in 2015 as described under 'Departmental Savings' on page 13 and included under the following link:

View Court Service Annual Report 2015

"Administrative costs in the Judicial Greffe decreased in 2015 due to the cessation of costs relating to the Programme Director for the Jersey Legal Information Board (JLIB), which are now funded directly by JLIB. In addition, as a result of a recommendation from an audit that took place in 2015, the annual grant of £100,000 was not paid to JLIB."

Business Plans and Annual Reports for JLIB are published on the Jersey Legal Information Board website. Greater detail is given on the many projects undertaken by JLIB in the following documents:

View Annual Reports and Business Plans

The final three paragraphs from the 2015 JLIB Annual Report page 2 explain the current situation:

"In the past JLIB has been funded from both the public sector and the private sector. However, due to cutbacks in 2015, JLIB did not receive a grant and relied on subscription income alone. As the subscription rate has remained the same for four years, the Board approved an increase in rates for 2016. This will ensure that JLIB is in a position to continue to develop the website
and provide added value to its users. Close links with the Law Society of Jersey continue to be maintained with the appointment of two of its representatives to the Board (both are also ex- officio members of the Executive Group).

JLIB would require a combined revenue and capital budget of approximately £350,000 per annum, in order to achieve all of its strategic aims, especially its aim to support Jersey's position as a leading business centre. Whilst it is difficult to undertake a cost-benefit analysis, the social benefits of JLIB's work are self-evident, particularly in relation to making the law and legal processes freely accessible to the public. As legal aid support dwindled in 2015, JLIB saw an increase in the number of Litigants in Person applying for free access to judgments to enable them to research cases to assist them in their own litigation. Moreover, the extent to which the website continues to be consulted by a wide range of users testifies to its importance as a resource which is valued by the legal profession, as well as the wider public (including, for example, users in the financial services sector, both in and outside the Island).

The table below sets out some of the achievements made in 2015; with reduced financial support, JLIB will have to be circumspect with regard to the number and cost of projects it takes on in the coming years."