24 January 2023
This statement has been approved by the Deputy Chief Minister, Deputy Kirsten Morel, and the Minister for Treasury and Resources, Deputy Ian Gorst.
The Royal Court of Jersey has handed down a judgment concerning the judicial review proceedings in the case known as XY and A Limited v States of Jersey Police, which was the subject of media comment in November 2022.
The case relates to a live investigation being carried out by the Economic Crime and Confiscation Unit (ECCU) within the Law Officers’ Department.
The Court heard that the warrants issued as part of the investigation were unlawful as a result of an operational error, in that the application had been made under Article 15 of the Police Procedures and Criminal Evidence (Jersey) Law 2003, instead of Article 16 of the Law.
The Court decided that costs should be on the standard basis and not on the indemnity basis, in that there had been no irregularity (beyond the operational error mentioned) justifying indemnity costs.
A link to the Royal Court’s judgment will be published on the Jersey Legal Information Board’s website at
www.jerseylaw.je.
Standard basis costs means that the benefit of the doubt is given to the paying party, whereas indemnity basis costs means that the benefit of the doubt is given to the receiving party.
If needed, further guidance can be found at Rules 12/4 and 12/5 of the Royal Court Rules.
Royal Court Rules 2004 (jerseylaw.je)
It is understood that the parties will now attempt to agree the amount of costs, and that if they fail to reach agreement then it will be decided by the Court through a specific process.
These are matters for the Government’s insurers with any residual amount being paid from the Court and Case Costs budget as is normal. The States of Jersey Police will not be paying any of the costs or damages from their budget.
Having taken independent advice, the Government is satisfied that the Attorney General and the Chief of Police have reviewed the circumstances around how the operational error with the warrants arose and have agreed measures that have now been put in place to ensure that such an operational error concerning the application for warrants does not happen again.
Government officials, Law Officers and States of Jersey Police also intend to review the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which was agreed at the creation of the Economic Crime and Confiscation Unit (ECCU). This will be jointly commissioned in the near future.
As the live investigation continues, we are unable to say anything further on this matter.
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