Court costs for cases heard 24 April 2024 (FOI)

​​​​Request

On 24 April 2024 there were six cases heard in the Magistrate Court, with Magistrate [name redacted] presiding. 

All offences were relating to motoring offences.

Please provide an estimate as to the total costs of the court for the entire session of 24 April 2024 to hear these cases?

If possible please breakdown the cost as follows:

• Courtroom cost
• Magistrate cost
• Other court staff cost
• Admin staff processing the documentation for the day

Response

An estimate of the total costs of a court on a particular day is not held in recorded form and therefore it is not possible to provide the information requested. Further explanation is provided below.

​The attendees in the court room on 24 April 2024 were:

• Relief Magistrate
• A Greffier
• 3 Centeniers
• A Viscount’s Department Officer
  
• A probation Officer
• An Usher

Six defendants were heard; 15 charges were considered.  Five defendants made their first appearance.  Five defendants were sentenced, one defendant was remanded on bail to appear on 28 May 2024 for sentencing.  Three of the six defendants were represented by Advocates; three were non-represented defendants.

The total costs of the court for the entire session will involve costs from all of the people listed above plus an unknown portion of the court building costs.

Information about the costs of Centeniers, defendants or Advocates is not held nor is the cost information for the particular court room disaggregated from all the costs for running the whole Magistrate’s Court building. No estimate for the total costs requested are already held and given the range of costs outlined above it is not possible to produce an estimate. Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 therefore 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.​