More than 500 Islanders have now signed a petition calling for updated domestic-violence legislation to be applied retrospectively to offences committed before the new law came into force.
Proposed by Islander Melyssa Vieira, the petition requires 1,000 signatures to prompt a ministerial response and 5,000 for a States debate.
She claims that the Domestic Abuse (Jersey) Law 2022 needs to recognise historical offences “to protect our community”.
Home Affairs Minister Mary Le Hegarat has so far refrained from commenting on the petition but in a letter to Scrutiny made public this week, the minister highlighted that it was a “strongly established principle of justice that new offences are not applied retrospectively on the basis that it is fundamentally unfair to criminalise someone for conduct which was not at the time of that conduct a criminal offence”.
But Deputy Le Hegarat added that she had “not at this stage given this matter detailed consideration”.
“I consider that it might be unfair on those who have submitted that petition to make comment now, as it could deter potential signatories while the petition is still active,” she wrote.
Domestic abuse was made a specific offence in Jersey for the first time in June 2023.
Those convicted under the legislation face a penalty of up to five years’ imprisonment and an unlimited fine.
Courts can also impose domestic-abuse protection orders, which restrict an offender’s activities to protect another person.
When it was introduced, the legislation was called a “critical step forward in
addressing domestic abuse in Jersey” by then Home Affairs Minister Helen Miles.
But in her petition, Ms Vieira said: “Abusers whose victims have come forward to report incidents which occurred prior to June 2023 have not been held accountable and [have] potentially been allowed to abuse and traumatise further victims.”
Kate Wright, who chaired the Violence Against Women and Girls Taskforce
and is the chief executive of Freeda – formerly Jersey Women’s Refuge – said that expanding the law might empower more survivors of domestic abuse to come forward.
“Enacting laws that encompass historical cases may contribute to broader cultural changes, helping to challenge long-standing societal norms that allowed abuse to go unchallenged,” she added.
