Attorney General's reviews of Parish Hall enquiries (FOI)

​​​Request

This request pertains to Parish Hall Enquiries, and persons who have suffered harm including physical, mental, or emotional harm or economic loss directly caused by an alleged criminal offence.

Victims of crimes in Jersey are entitled to apply to the Attorney General for a review of a decision not to prosecute. However Parish Hall Enquiries are not held in public.

Since 1 January 2020, at Parish Hall Enquiries for all Jersey parishes, how many times has a decision not to prosecute an alleged offender been made, and in how many of those enquiries was the victim notified of that decision?

In the Attorney General's Direction 2/2023 "The conduct of Parish Hall Enquiries", among procedural directives to Centeniers, point 36 reads (in part): "A Centenier must record in writing the reasons for a decision not to prosecute."

The Attorney General defines a victim of a crime as "...someone who has suffered harm including physical, mental, or emotional harm or economic loss directly caused by an alleged criminal offence".

So, a written record exists, and the term "victim" is defined.

​How many times has a Centenier recorded a decision not to prosecute please, and were victims notified of that decision each and every time?

My ultimate goal with this request, is to determine how frequently victims are not being notified, and are therefore unable to exercise their right to review a decision not to prosecute.

​Response

Between 1 January 2020 and 28 June 2024, Centeniers have determined that, where cases involve an individual as a victim, 20 resulted in either “no further action” or “words of advice”. It should be noted however that in some cases, one offence (for example, grave and criminal assault) may be recorded as “no further action”, but replaced with another offence (for example, common assault) that might receive a formal “Written Caution”. 

Of the 20 cases recorded above, States of Jersey Police records indicate that 19 victims were notified of the Centenier’s decision.​