Laws regarding extreme pornography or obscene publications (FOI)

​​​Request

1.

Are there any such Jersey laws in regards to extreme pornography or obscene publications?

The UK has section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 which prohibits the production and possession of extreme content intended for sexual gratification.

2. 

Does Jersey use the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 in prosecution?

Response

1.

The Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 provides a general right to be supplied with information held by a scheduled public authority subject to certain exceptions. Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.

This question really amounts to a request for legal advice which the Judicial Greffe is not allowed to provide and does not hold in its records.

There is some research which you can do which may provide a starting point to answer your question. The Jersey Legal Information Board website publishes all the laws which are currently in force in Jersey as well as judgments of the Royal Court since 1997. Judgments of the Magistrate’s Court are not published. It is possible to search the website using single words such as pornography or obscene or using phrases such as “extreme pornography” or “obscene publications” by including the double quotes in the search box.

Similarly, a search for relevant terms from the Judgments page will allow discovery of whether any of those offences have been prosecuted in the Royal Court since 1997:

Jersey Law | Search All Judgments

A search within the Title of the laws or within the actual Content of the law is also possible by selecting the appropriate button below the Search box on the Laws page:

Jersey Law | Current Laws​

2.

The information requested is absolutely exempt from disclosure under Article 23 of the FOI Law because it is already publicly available. The answer to question one equally applies to this answer in that this is not information which is held by the Judicial Greffe. You are however able to use the same website to research this question and it may provide a starting point from which to answer your question.

In order for a UK Act to be used in Jersey, it has to be extended to Jersey. A search for the word Act in the Title of Jersey laws will reveal which UK Acts have been extended to Jersey. Further a search within the Content of the laws will reveal if any Jersey laws refer to a particular UK Act. For instance, a search for the phrase “Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008” reveals that the UK act is not mentioned in any Jersey Law.

Articles 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.

​Article 23 - Information accessible to applicant by other means

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it is reasonably available to the applicant, otherwise than under this Law, whether or not free of charge.

(2) A scheduled public authority that refuses an application for information on this ground must make reasonable efforts to inform the applicant where the applicant may obtain the information.​