PRESSURE is building for changes to be made to Jersey laws which would allow Islanders to claim compensation when they are injured falling on roads which are not properly maintained.
Infrastructure Minister Andy Jehan told the JEP it was “certainly time we had a review” of wider road legislation and the matter would be up for public consultation.
Meanwhile, the Jersey Law Commission said it was “keen to explore” defective highways legislation, which it will be scrutinising in January.
Concerns were raised recently regarding a lack of compensation after pensioner Janet Turner fractured her shoulder tripping on an “extremely large” pothole in St Lawrence, with her husband Michael getting in touch with this newspaper after they were left unable to claim compensation from the parish via its insurer.
Mr Turner said he reported his concerns to the parish, which he called “negligent”for “failing to remedy the danger”.
St Lawrence Constable Deidre Mezbourian said she was “sorry” to hear that Mrs Turner had been injured, “particularly as we do our utmost to undertake repairs on a timely basis”.
Islanders are currently unable to sue road authorities if they are injured on a public highway and the authority is found to be at fault.
Mr Jehan said: “We are reviewing all of the roads law but it is a very long process. It has already started but it won’t finish until 2028.”
The minister added that whether compensation was included in upcoming legislation would form part of a public consultation.
Mr Jehan said “a lot of work” was carried out managing roads, whether they were a main or parish road, and that inspections led to planned maintenance.
He said: “The weather we have had the last couple of winters has been tricky. I’m sure all parishes do their best.”
As a Constable responsible for parish roads and minister responsible for main roads, Mr Jehan urged Islanders to contacted their parish hall if they had been injured on a parish road and to use the Love Jersey app to report an incident if it has taken place on a main road.
JLC commissioner Professor Claire De Than said they would be begin looking at updates to defective highways legislation again in January – and they were “keen to explore” the issue.
She added that the Commission was “triaging” all previous JLC projects to “ensure that they are up to date and that as many as possible lead to necessary reforms”.
Jersey judge Sir Michael Birt asked politicians to consider updating legislation more than 20 years ago to allow Islanders to sue road authorities if they are injured on a public highway and the authority found to be at fault.
The proposed legislative change would have aligned the Island with most British-based legal systems, which place a statutory duty of care on authorities.
A bid by former Deputy Bob Hill back in 2011 to do so was rejected in the States.
