Jersey relocation contingency plan (FOI)

​Request

Does the Island have a contingency plan if the island was to suddenly relocate e.g. the Indian Ocean? If so what plans are in place?

How would the fishermen recover their lost equipment (the equipment would be where the island used to be).

If no plan is in place why not as I feel this is a serious matter in today’s world?

Response

In accordance with Article 21 Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011, a scheduled public authority need not comply with a request for information if it considers the request to be vexatious.

Article 21 (2) provides some guidance as to what may be considered a vexatious request, if the applicant is to obtain information –

(a) to embarrass the scheduled public authority or some other public authority or person; or
(b) for a political purpose.

Article 21 (3) states that a request may be vexatious if –

(a) the applicant has no real interest in the information sought; and
(b) the information is being sought for an illegitimate reason, which may include a desire to cause administrative difficulty or inconvenience.

The likelihood of an event occurring as detailed in your request is so remote, and as all FOI requests place a strain on the resources of the States of Jersey and whilst the States of Jersey is fully prepared to meet its obligations under the FOI Law that fall within the cost limit, Article 21 is a safeguard against abuses of the rights of access to information.

For the reasons stated above, you request has been refused.

Refusal

21    A scheduled public authority need not comply with vexatious requests

(1)  A scheduled public authority need not comply with a request for information if it considers the request to be vexatious.

(2)    In this Article, a request is not vexatious simply because the intention of the applicant is to obtain information:

(a)     to embarrass the scheduled public authority or some other public authority or person; or

(b)     for a political purpose.

(3)    However, a request may be vexatious if:

(a)     the applicant has no real interest in the information sought; and

(b)     the information is being sought for an illegitimate reason, which may include a desire to cause administrative difficulty or inconvenience.