CHILDREN and young people serving a sentence of youth detention in secure accommodation will be able to gain temporary or early release if legislative changes put forward by the Home Affairs Minister are approved.
Deputy Mary Le Hegarat said that her proposed amendment to the Criminal Justice (Young Offenders) (Jersey) Law 2014 was intended to “address an identified gap in Jersey’s legislation”.
It follows publication of the Youth Justice Roadmap earlier this year, outlining the government’s intended “children-first” approach to enforcing youth justice and rehabilitating child offenders.
The actions detailed by the strategy included plans to “undertake a review to identify legislative gaps concerning young people” and to “enact a Criminal Justice (Youth Offenders in Secure Accommodation) Law to allow remission, temporary release, and safeguard the rights of children and staff”.
In the report accompanying her proposed amendment, Deputy Le Hegarat explained that there is currently no legislation for children (aged ten to 14) and young people (aged 15 to 17), serving a sentence of youth detention within secure accommodation – such as Greenfields – that entitles them to gain temporary or early release.
“This is not the case for young people serving a sentence within a young offenders’ institute or for young offenders or adults within the prison,” the minister continued.
“The impact is that children and young people in secure accommodation must serve the full length of their sentence whereas if serving a sentence within the prison estate, they could gain temporary release and early release at the two-thirds point of their sentence.
“Children and young people within secure accommodation would therefore, for example, be deprived of their liberty for an additional four months if they were sentenced to a 12-month sentence of youth detention.”
Deputy Le Hegarat’s proposed amendment is set to be debated by the States Assembly in January.
Early release
The Island’s legislation allows for young offenders serving their sentence within the prison estate to be released at the two-thirds point of their sentence on the grounds of ‘industry and good conduct’, but this does not currently apply to young offenders held in secure accommodation.
