Economic Development,
Tourism, Sport and Culture
DEVELOPMENT OF HERITAGE LEGISLATION
(TO COMPLY WITH INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS
AND RECOGNISED BEST PRACTICE)
Report date: 20 November 2019
- Purpose
The purpose of this report is to seek the support of relevant Ministers to develop heritage legislation that will provide clarity on heritage matters in the Island and ensure that Jersey is able to comply with recognised best practice and comply with any relevant international requirements that extend to it.
- Background
The Island’s heritage plays a highly significant part in making Jersey a place where people want to live and visit. It also plays a major part in making the Island archaeology one of Jersey’s most precious cultural resources, providing the key to understanding vital chapters in human history and prehistory. There are few areas of similar size anywhere in Europe that have a comparable range of sites and material.
However, heritage matters in Jersey are not currently covered by adequate protective legislation. The current legal position regarding treasure trove, for example, is governed by limited customary law. More broadly, the Island lacks a robust, statutory set of protections for antiquities, including with respect to their movement, treatment, those who discover them and those who act as custodians.
In the late 1990s, the then Solicitor-General attempted to highlight the need for up-to-date arrangements for portable antiquities in Jersey, in light of the adoption of the Treasury Act and Portable Antiquities Scheme in England and Wales in 1996. Since then, there has been little progress in Jersey, which has notably fallen behind similar jurisdictions, such as the Isle of Man which adopted a new Treasure Act in 2017 and Gibraltar in 2018. (The Isle of Man has also had in place its Manx Museum and National Trust Act since 1959 which, inter alia, provides detailed sections on the protection of ancient monuments).
Over the following two decades, interest in archaeological activity in Jersey has grown considerably through a combination of amateur metal-detecting, visiting archaeological teams (as part of research projects), and developer-funded archaeology (as part of the planning process).
Recent high-profile treasure finds, such as the Le Catillon Celtic Coin Hoard discovered in 2012, have illustrated the deficiencies of the current arrangements, where there is no statutory footing to govern the legal position for finders, landowners, heritage bodies, the Crown or the Government. As a consequence, the Government of Jersey has had to act with a mind to best practice in dealing with the issue but has encountered difficulties as a result of not having a set of clear statutory processes to rely upon. There are financial and reputational risks where
adequate legal provision is not in place to enable the Government to respond to discoveries such as the Coin Hoard.
Separately, Jersey Heritage has developed an effective web-based “Historic Environment Record”, which has the facility to record objects to a standard equal to the Portable Antiquities Scheme in England and Wales. However, the absence of comprehensive legal provisions means Jersey has to rely on a voluntary system, with only a small percentage of finds made by the public being successfully recorded by Jersey Heritage. Without making it mandatory for a finder to report to a competent authority, there is a continual threat of loss of irreplaceable historic objects and archaeological inheritance.
There are a number of international conventions, charters and recommendations that offer insight on accepted international best practice, principles and procedures. In addition, the existing international obligations that already extend to the Island must be properly respected by Jersey and acted on appropriately.
Jersey is a member of the following international conventions:
- European Cultural Convention (The Paris Convention) 1954 - ratified by the UK 05.05.1955 and extended to Jersey and came into force 19.03.1999;
- Convention for the Protection of the Architectural Heritage of Europe (The Granada Convention) 1985 - ratified by the UK 13.11.1987 and extended to Jersey and came into force 13.11.1987; and
- Convention of the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage (The Valetta Convention) 1992 - ratified by the UK 19.09.2000 and extended to Jersey and came into force 19.09.2000.
The UNESCO and Council of Europe websites show two further conventions that also apply to Jersey:
- European Convention on the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage 1969 - ratified by the UK 08.12.1972 and extended to Jersey 08.12.1972 (in effect superseded by the Valetta Convention); and
- Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and National Heritage (The World Heritage Convention) 1972 - ratified by the UK 29.05.1984 and extended to Jersey 20.08.1996
There are three other key Conventions cited by Historic England to which the UK is a signatory, but which do not yet extend to Jersey:
- Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (The Hague Convention) 1954 - ratified by the UK 12.09.2017;
- Convention on the Means of Prohibiting the illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (The Paris Convention) 1970 - signed by the UK 01.08.2002; and
- European Landscape Convention (The Florence Convention) 2000 - ratified by the UK 21.11.2006.
Jersey’s legislation in the areas of, inter alia, the protection of moveable objects (also known as ‘portable antiquities’), historic human remains, treasure or underwater archaeology is extremely limited and the Island risks breaching its international treaty obligations whilst also not being able to extend other treaties in which it may have a particular interest.
With respect to metal detecting, which has become increasingly popular in recent years, there is also no specific legislation or other provision on the use of metal detectors on land, other than with respect to sites of special interest, under Jersey Planning legislation. There is the ability for an archaeological survey to be undertaken as a condition of granting planning permission, but there is no legal framework or guidance for the deposition of archaeological remains found on sites which either are not SSIs or have not been subject to an archaeological survey to be undertaken as a pre-requisite of any development.
- Conclusion
The Island’s heritage plays a highly significant part in making Jersey a place where people want to live and visit. It also plays a major part in making the Island archaeology one of Jersey’s most precious cultural resources, providing the key to understanding vital chapters in human history and prehistory. There are few areas of similar size anywhere in Europe that have a comparable range of sites and material. However, the absence of robust legal provisions sufficiently comprehensive to deal with heritage finds will result in the continual loss of irreplaceable historic objects and archaeological knowledge. In addition, as Jersey is a member of a number of international heritage conventions, it needs to be able to demonstrate to its fellow signatories that the Island is taking its convention obligations seriously and is fully compliant with such obligations.
- Financial & Staffing Implications
Jersey Heritage currently employs an Historic Environment Officer. If the Historic Environment team requires expansion, this will be funded through a combination of Government of Jersey funding and Jersey Heritage income generation.
- Recommendation
The Chief Minister, Treasury Minister and Environment Ministers are asked to endorse the EDTSC Minister’s decision to request the development of specific heritage legislation, to provide clarity on heritage matters in the Island and a modern, effective framework that will enable Jersey to comply effectively with recognised best practice and international conventions that extend to it.
If Ministers agree, a Ministerial Decision will be prepared to submit law drafting instructions.
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