Naming of individuals in Jersey Court cases (FOI)

Request

I have just seen a Freedom of Information response regarding property ownership and the response claims it is personal data. Yet its a property name.

Why then if Jersey Courts work on innocent until proven guilty do you publish everyone's name? In Court the Magistrates Court allows personal data to be released.

Furthermore, you allow access to the Courts by media which is a breach of data protection.

The police also breach data protection along with other States departments.

Response

This is a request for information about the interpretation of the law in a particular set of circumstances. Such information would constitute legal advice. We do not hold any records of legal advice matching this specific request. In any event, we are not able to provide legal advice. We are therefore unable to supply any specific information in response to this request. To address the specific issues raised in the request the applicant would have to take legal advice.

It may assist the applicant that the statutory and case law framework for Jersey law is published on the Jersey Legal Information Board website should they wish to investigate the legal background further.

Jersey Legal Information Board (jerseylaw.je)

Some possible starting points on the JLIB site to investigate the issues raised in this request are:

The Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018 contains the definition of “personal data” at Article 2(1).

Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2019 (jerseylaw.je)

The Human Rights (Jersey) Law 2000 gives effect in Jersey to rights and freedoms under the European Convention on Human Rights including Article 6 – Right to a fair trial, Article 8 – Right to respect for private and family life and Article 10 – Freedom of Expression.

The judgment in the leading civil case in Jersey on the principle of open justice, that court hearings should generally be held in public, is [2002]JRC227 JEP v Qatar also published in the Jersey Law Reports under [2002]JLR542.

JEP v Qatar (jerseylaw.je)

This recent judgment of the Royal Court in a criminal matter [2022]JRC228 D v AG 24-Oct-2022 concerns whether the Magistrate may a hold sentencing hearing in private in derogation from the principle of open justice.

D v AG 24-Oct-2022 (jerseylaw.je)