THE wheels of justice have turned far more slowly in Jersey this year than in 2023, newly released figures have shown.
In a letter to Home Affairs Minister Mary Le Hegarat, a top legal official has outlined an increase of 73% in the time between an adult being charged with an offence and their first appearance in court, rising from 26 days last year to 45 so far in 2024.
Judicial Greffier Rebecca Morley-Kirk wrote to Deputy Le Hegarat following a Scrutiny hearing to clarify figures quoted by members of the Children, Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel.
Outlining the background to the rise, Ms Morley-Kirk said a number of agencies were involved in the setting of court dates, including the States police and honorary police, Customs and Immigration, the Law Officers’ Department, the Jersey Court Service, the Probation Service and the Viscount’s Department.
The minister was also advised of a sharp increase in the elapsed time between an offence to the perpetrator being charged. The figure rose from 164 days last year to 449 days so far in 2024, but Ms Morley-Kirk said this was accounted for by historic offences being investigated.
Using a hypothetical example, the letter stated that an offence might have been committed in 2020 but not reported until this year, resulting in a figure of more than 1,000 days.
“In fact, there might have been no delay in the length of time between the offence being reported and being charged,” Ms Morley-Kirk explained. “I should be grateful if you would impress upon the Scrutiny panel that the length of time from offending to charge is outside of the control of the court service – it is entirely a matter for the police/prosecution.”
Other figures outlined in the letter include:
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An increase in the number of cases being heard by adult courts, from an average of 106 per month in 2023 to 115 so far this year, with the number of charges considered monthly rising from 260 to 289 in the same period.
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A year-on-year fall in the average time between a first appearance in the adult courts to the disposal of a case from 33 to 30 days, with the Youth Court also showing a fall from 38 to 28 days.
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The average time from a youth offence to first appearance before the Youth Court rising from 71 days last year to 116 days so far in 2024 – this data was reported to have been “skewed” by results for February 2024, which included an offence from 12 months earlier which had not resulted in a charge until January 2023.
Some initial statistics provided to the minister ahead of her Scrutiny appearance on 9 October had been inaccurate, Ms Morley-Kirk stated, apologising for this error.
