Strain on 'under pressure' prison if laws approved

Jersey's home affairs minister has said the criminal justice system is "under significant pressure" which will only increase if the States approves new laws.

On Tuesday, Deputy Mary Le Hegarat proposed five laws to better protect women and girls from violent crimes, including stalking and strangulation.

She said the number of people reporting crimes related to gender-based violence had increased by more than a quarter in the last three years, placing criminal justice and support services under "significant strain".

She said this included the island's La Moye Prison which was "currently experiencing intense population pressures".

Le Hegarat said initial police estimates found the number of crimes recorded in Jersey could increase by up to 270 a year, if all five of the draft laws were approved - an 8-9% increase in annual recorded crime.

She said: "This increase in demand on the criminal justice system, as well as the impact on associated supportive services, including third-sector services, will necessarily require appropriate resourcing to ensure safe practice."

The five proposed laws are part of the government's commitment to implement recommendations from a 2023 report by the Violence Against Women and Girls Taskforce and include:

• Making it illegal to posses, create or share initimate images

• Making stalking and cyber-stalking specific crimes

• Making strangulation a specific crime

• Strengthening existing legislation to make threats of sexual violence illegal

• Greater protections for victims of domestic abuse, including pre-conviction emergency barring orders to remove a perpetrator from a victim's home

While Le Hegarat has acknowledged the five laws as a whole would put pressure on the criminal justice system, she said each specific piece of legislation had been analysed for its financial and staffing implications.

She said analysis of local and national police data suggested the law to make strangulation a standalone offence, could mean an extra five people are sent to prison within four years. This would cost the States approximately £1.2 million a year.

The draft laws are due to be debated by the States Assembly at the end of February.

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