Criminal Offences Confiscation funding to maintain Jersey's position as a donor nation to the International Centre for Asset Recovery: Application

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While there is a presumption toward publication to support of transparency and accountability, detailed information may not be published if, for example, it would constitute a breach of data protection, or disclosure would prejudice commercial interest.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 on 5 March 2021

Decision Reference: MD-TR-2021-0023
Decision Summary Title:	Application of COCF funding to maintain Jersey’s position as a donor nation to the International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR)		Date of Decision Summary:	4th March 2021
Decision Summary Author:	Specialist – Business Cases		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title:	Application of COCF funding to maintain Jersey’s position as a donor nation to the International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR)		Date of Written Report:	4th March 2021
Written Report Author:	Specialist – Business Cases		Written Report: Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: The allocation of £250,000 from the Criminal Offences Confiscation Fund (COCF) to the Law Officers’ Department (LOD) head of expenditure to maintain Jersey’s position as a donor nation for the next three years, 2021-2023 inclusive, to the International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR).
Decision(s): The Minister approved the allocation of £250,000 in 2021 from the Criminal Offences Confiscation Fund (COCF) to the LOD head of expenditure to maintain Jersey’s position as a donor nation for the next three years, 2021-2023 inclusive, to the International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR).
Reason(s) for Decision: Article 21 of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2019 states that if, during a financial year, the Minister is satisfied that the income of a States funded body or area of operation is likely to exceed the estimate for that income, the Minister may authorise the withdrawal of that excess amount from the Consolidated Fund during that year. A case for funding from the COCF has been made by the departments. The Attorney General has consented to the use of the Fund for this project in an email to the LOD dated 20th January 2021.
Resource Implications: The COCF to decrease by up to £250,000 and the LOD head of expenditure to increase by an identical amount in 2021. This does not change the total amount of expenditure proposed in the Government Plan 2021-2024.
Action required: The Head of Financial Governance to advise the Specialist – Business Cases that this decision is approved.
Signature:		Position: Deputy Susie Pinel Minister for Treasury and Resources
Date Signed:		Date of Decision:

Criminal Offences Confiscation funding to maintain Jersey's position as a donor nation to the International Centre for Asset Recovery: Application

Treasury and Exchequer

Ministerial Decision Report

Application of COCF funding to maintain Jersey’s position as a donor nation to the International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR)

Purpose of Report

To enable the Minister to approve the allocation of £250,000 from the Criminal Offences Confiscation Fund to the Law Officers’ Department (LOD) head of expenditure to maintain Jersey’s position as a donor nation for the next three years, 2021-2023 inclusive, to the International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR).

Background

Jersey has been a donor nation to the International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR) for the last three-year period 2018 – 2020, funded from the Criminal Offences Confiscation Fund.

ICAR is a division of the Basel Institute on Governance dedicated to strengthening and supporting the capacities of developing and transition countries to recover stolen public assets. ICAR works through four main lines of intervention:

•Case advice and mentoring

•Capacity building training

•Legal and policy advice

•Global policy dialogue

ICAR works with partner countries in Central Europe, Africa, Asia and South America. Key partner countries include Ecuador, Colombia, Indonesia, Kenya, the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, Malawi, Mozambique, Peru, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Uganda and Ukraine. Two of these countries, Kenya and Uganda, have been identified as priority jurisdictions with the Government of Jersey’s Global Markets Strategy. ICAR provides these countries with technical support and advice to recover stolen assets and deter corruption. No other organisation offers the same specialised mix of technical expertise and mentorship in asset recovery, financial investigation and related fields.

ICAR is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the Principality of Liechtenstein, and for the past three years with a total of £250,000 of funding from the Criminal Offences Compensation Fund from Jersey (MD-TR-2018-0073). The additional links with country experts from Switzerland and the UK have been especially useful for achieving successful outcomes in complex, ongoing asset recovery cases with Nigeria and Kenya. In February 2020 for example, an agreement was concluded with the Nigerian and US authorities and the Attorney General of Jersey to repatriate over US$ 300 million of confiscated funds from Jersey to Nigeria, with US $5 million being paid into Jersey’s Civil Asset Recovery Fund.

Being a donor nation to ICAR for the last three years has provided Jersey with a global network of contacts and given Jersey an unprecedented global platform to demonstrate Jersey’s strength in fighting complex financial crime. ICAR’s Annual General Meeting was held in Jersey in 2018 (the Minister for External Relations takes a keen interest and officially welcomed attendees to this meeting) and the Attorney General presented to over 100 countries at the United Nation’s anti-corruption conference in Vienna in 2019. Furthermore, External Relations officials have participated in the International Expert Meeting on the return of stolen assets (Addis II) and a G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group Side Event on Transparent and Accountable Asset Return, held at the OECD in Paris. External Relations officers’ participation in these events was, in part, due to ICAR facilitating the extension of invitations to Jersey. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) commented publicly on Jersey’s positive record in asset recovery after the meeting – an example of promoting Jersey’s good reputation globally.

Participating in events led by multilateral organisations such as ICAR, the UNODC and G20 therefore helps enhance Jersey’s international profile in a positive way, thereby protecting and promoting the Island’s reputation and furthering economic growth objectives.

ICAR, though small, is a multilateral organisation with a Board comprising representatives from a range of donor jurisdictions. Jersey’s position as a donor nation on its board therefore contributes to achieving objectives in the Office of the Chief Executive Business Plan on ensuring Jersey has a high level of engagement with multilateral bodies. The objectives of the three-year funding are:

to enable ICAR to continue its work in assisting the recovery of stolen public assets and deterring corruption;
to enable Jersey to maintain its network of world-leading public asset-tracing contacts and to provide Jersey with a global platform to demonstrate its strength in fighting international financial crime and;
to receive invitations and participate in international fora on anti-corruption, tackling financial crime, and asset recovery to enhance Jersey’s international profile and good reputation.

This request is to maintain the funding of a total of £250,000 for the three years 2021 – 2023, to maintain Jersey’s position as a donor nation to ICAR and to enable to the work of ICAR to continue at its current level.

Recommendation

Based upon the advice of the Attorney General, the Minister is recommended to approve the allocation of up to £250,000 from the Criminal Offences Confiscation Fund (COCF) to the LOD head of expenditure to maintain Jersey’s position as a donor nation for the next three years, 2021-2023 inclusive, to the International Centre for Asset Recovery (ICAR).

Reasons for Decision

Article 21 of the Public Finances (Jersey) Law 2019 states that if, during a financial year, the Minister is satisfied that the income of a States funded body or area of operation is likely to exceed the estimate income for that income, the Minister may authorise the withdrawal of that excess amount from the Consolidated Fund during that year.

A case for funding from the COCF has been made by the department. The Attorney General has consented to the use of the Fund for this project in an email dated 20th January 2021.

5. Resource Implications

The COCF to decrease by £250,000 and the LOD head of expenditure to increase by an identical amount in 2021.

This does not change the total amount of expenditure proposed in the Government Plan 2021-2024.

Report author: Specialist – Business Cases

Document date: 4th March 2021

Quality Assurance / Review:

Group Director, Strategic Finance / Head of Financial Governance

File name and path: L:\Treasury\Sections\Corporate Finance\Ministerial Decisions\DS, WR and SD\2021-0023 - COCF allocation to LOD for ICAR

MD sponsor: Treasurer of the States