Criminal Justice (Young Offenders) (Jersey) Law 2014: Regulations: Law drafting instructions

Information about the publication of Ministerial Decisions

A formal published “Ministerial Decision” is required as a record of the decision of a Minister (or an Assistant Minister where they have delegated authority) as they exercise their responsibilities and powers.

Ministers are elected by the States Assembly and have legal responsibilities and powers as “corporation sole” under the States of Jersey Law 2005 by virtue of their office and in their areas of responsibility, including entering into agreements, and under any legislation conferring on them powers.

An accurate record of “Ministerial Decisions” is vital to effective governance, including:

demonstrating that good governance, and clear lines of accountability and authority, are in place around decisions-making – including the reasons and basis on which a decision is made, and the action required to implement a decision
providing a record of decisions and actions that will be available for examination by States Members, and Panels and Committees of the States Assembly; the public, organisations, and the media; and as a historical record and point of reference for the conduct of public affairs

Ministers are individually accountable to the States Assembly, including for the actions of the departments and agencies which discharge their responsibilities.

The Freedom of Information Law (Jersey) Law 2011 is used as a guide when determining what information is be published. While there is a presumption toward publication to support of transparency and accountability, detailed information may not be published if, for example, it would constitute a breach of data protection, or disclosure would prejudice commercial interest.

A decision made 6 July 2015:

Decision Reference: MD-HA-2015-0049
Decision Summary Title :	Law Drafting instructions – Criminal Justice (Young Offenders) (Jersey) Law 2014 – Regulations		Date of Decision Summary:	23 June 2015
Decision Summary Author:	Executive Officer Home Affairs		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	n/a
Written Report Title :	Law Drafting instructions – Criminal Justice (Young Offenders) (Jersey) Law 2014 – Regulations		Date of Written Report:	23 June 2015
Written Report Author:	Executive Officer Home Affairs		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject: Criminal Justice (Young Offenders) (Jersey) Law 2014. Drafting instructions for the Regulations.
Decision(s): The Minister approved the law drafting instructions for the Regulations under Article 22 of the Criminal Justice (Young Offenders) (Jersey) Law 2014.
Reason(s) for Decision: Article 17 of the Criminal Justice (Young Offenders) (Jersey) Law 2014 provides that a Young Person’s Placement Panel shall be established. Article 22 of the Law provides that the States shall, by Regulations, make provision for the appointment of members of the Panel and their removal, the holding of meetings of the Panel, rights of appeal by a young person against decisions of the Panel, and all such other matters relating to the constitution and governance of the Panel as the States think fit.
Resource Implications: None.
Action required: The Executive Officer, Home Affairs, to forward the drafting instructions to the Law Draftsman’s Office.
Signature:		Position: Minister for Home Affairs
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Criminal Justice (Young Offenders) (Jersey) Law 2014: Regulations: Law drafting instructions

Law Drafting Instructions

Criminal Justice (Young Offenders) (Jersey) Law 2014 - Regulations

The Young Person’s Placement Panel (‘the Panel’) established under Article 17 of the Law would comprise management representatives from the following:

Probation and After-Care Service

Education Department

Educational Psychology

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)

Youth Service

Health and Social Services (but not someone with responsibility for children in care)

Voluntary Sector representatives (as approved by the Minister)

It is not thought appropriate for representatives from the Prison and Greenfields to sit on the Panel, because if there are differing views over where a young person should be placed, the Panel may wish to obtain information from representatives from the Prison and Greenfields, so they should not form part of the decision making process.

The Chair of the Panel would be appointed on a rotational basis by the Minister for Home Affairs and serve for 3 – 5 years. There should also be two Vice-Chairs, so that the Chair is not required to be present for every ‘meeting’ of the Panel. The Chair may be re-appointed but should not, generally, serve as the Chair for in excess of 5 years.

A Panel of three would generally constitute a quorum, consisting of the Chair, or a Vice-Chair, together with 2 other members either or both of whom could be Vice-Chairs. However, we would like there to be an element of flexibility to enable a decision to be made by the Duty Social Worker alone and then ratified by the Panel at the next possible opportunity. This would be necessary, for example, in cases where a 16 / 17 year old is arrested on a Jurat’s warrant on Friday night, but there are other young people in Greenfields that make it inappropriate for him to be placed there in accordance with the fall-back position detailed in Article 7(3) of the Law. Staff from the various Departments / Organisations that comprise the Panel membership may not be working at the weekend, and it is not possible to constitute a quorum, so the Duty Social Worker would be asked to make the placement decision and then bring it to the attention of the other members of the Panel as soon as possible for ratification. In the UK a single individual makes the placement decision.

Ideally, a representative from the Voluntary Sector should sit on every Panel, although it is accepted that this may not always be possible, but should be achieved ‘where practicable’. As ex officio members of the Panel, representatives from the Voluntary Sector will not generally be involved in the decision making, but will ensure fairness and equity and will quality assure the process.

It is accepted that the Panel will be required to convene within 72 hours to determine the appropriate place of custody for a young person in every case, even where the default position has been applied. There will be cases where the default position is the correct location for the young person and the Panel have no concerns. In these cases, it would not be a good use of resources for the Panel to meet physically, so we would like the Regulations to provide for a ‘virtual meeting’, whether by telephone or some other medium, in such cases. However the Panel meet, it will be necessary for a record of their decision to be made for audit purposes.

In relation to the requirement for the panel to convene within 72 hours, we would like there to be the flexibility to extend this in the case of a bank holiday. However, the Chair or Vice-Chair would be available within the 72 hour period to make the decision. The delay would be in relation to the ratification of that decision.

The Regulations will make provision for the removal of members of the Panel. The grounds for removal should not be too restrictive and should include:

retirement from the official capacity in which the member is attending
competency issues
disciplinary issues
non-attendance at Panel meetings on four consecutive occasions without good reason or for less than 60% of the meetings in any 12 month period
breach of confidentiality
conflict of interests

In relation to remands under a Jurat’s warrant, we think that the warrant should not name the place to which a young person is to be sent, but simply say an ‘appropriate place’. It is for the Panel to decide the appropriate location for the young person, rather than the Jurats, who do not currently receive any guidance on the appropriate location for a young person.

We believe that any appeal by a young person against a decision of the Panel should be made to the Youth Court.