Investigation of
Fraud (Jersey) Law 1991
A LAW to make provision for the
investigation of fraud and for connected purposes
Commencement [see endnotes]
1 Interpretation
In this Law –
“documents” includes information recorded in any form
and, in relation to information recorded otherwise than in legible form,
references to its production include references to producing a copy of the
information in legible form;
“police officer” means a member of the Honorary Police
or a member of the States of Jersey Police Force.
2 Attorney General’s powers of investigation
(1) The powers of the
Attorney General under this Article shall be exercisable in any case in which
it appears to the Attorney General that –
(a) there
is a suspected offence involving serious or complex fraud, wherever committed;
and
(b) there
is good reason to do so for the purpose of investigating the affairs, or any
aspect of the affairs, of any person.
(2) The Attorney General
may –
(a) by
notice in writing require the person whose affairs are to be investigated (“the
person under investigation”) or any other person whom he or she has
reason to believe has relevant information to answer questions or otherwise
furnish information with respect to any matter relevant to the investigation at
a specified place and either at a specified time or forthwith; and
(b) administer
questions or otherwise obtain information accordingly.[1]
(3) The Attorney General
may by notice in writing require the person under investigation or any other
person to produce at such place as may be specified in the notice and either
forthwith or at such time as may be so specified any specified documents which
appear to the Attorney General to relate to any matter relevant to the
investigation or any documents of a specified description which appear to the
Attorney General so to relate; and
(a) if
any such documents are produced, the Attorney General may –
(i) take copies or
extracts from them,
(ii) require
the person producing them to provide an explanation of any of them;
(b) if
any such documents are not produced, the Attorney General may require the
person who was required to produce them to state, to the best of the
person’s knowledge and belief, where they are.
(4) If, on an application
by the Attorney General, the Bailiff is satisfied, in relation to any
documents, that there are reasonable grounds for believing –
(a) that –
(i) a person has
failed to comply with an obligation under this Article to produce them,
(ii) it
is not practicable to serve a notice under paragraph (3) in relation to
them, or
(iii) the
service of such a notice in relation to them might seriously prejudice the
investigation; and
(b) that
they are on premises specified in the application,
the Bailiff may issue such a warrant as is mentioned in paragraph (5).
(5) The warrant referred to
in paragraph (4) is a warrant authorizing any police officer –
(a) to
enter (using such force as is reasonably necessary for the purpose) and search
the premises; and
(b) to
take possession of any documents appearing to be documents of the description
specified in the application or to take in relation to any documents so
appearing any other steps which may appear to be necessary for preserving them
and preventing interference with them.
(6) A police officer
executing a warrant issued under paragraph (4) may be accompanied by any
person or persons expressly authorized for that purpose by the Attorney
General.
(7) A statement by a person
in response to a requirement imposed by virtue of this Article may only be used
in evidence against the person –
(a) on a
prosecution for an offence under paragraph (14); or
(b) on a
prosecution for some other offence where in giving evidence the person makes a
statement inconsistent with it.
(8) A person shall not
under this Article be required to disclose any information or produce any
document which the person would be entitled to refuse to disclose or produce on
grounds of legal professional privilege in proceedings in the Royal Court,
except that a lawyer may be required to furnish the name and address of the
lawyer’s client.
(9) A person shall not
under this Article be required to disclose information or produce a document in
respect of which the person owes an obligation of confidence by virtue of
carrying on any banking business unless –
(a) the
person to whom the obligation of confidence is owed consents to the disclosure
or production; or
(b) the
Attorney General has authorized the making of the requirement.
(10) The Attorney General
may –
(a) authorize
any Crown Advocate; or
(b) subject
to paragraph (11), authorize any other person,
to exercise on behalf of the Attorney General all or any of the
powers conferred on him or her by or under this Article, but no such authority
shall be granted except for the purpose of investigating the affairs, or any
aspect of the affairs, of the person specified in the authority.[2]
(11) No person mentioned in
paragraph (10)(b) shall be authorized to –
(a) give
a notice under paragraph (2)(a) or paragraph (3);
(b) make
an application under paragraph (4);
(c) authorize
any person or persons for the purposes of paragraph (6); or
(d) authorize
the making of any requirement for the purposes of paragraph (9).[3]
(12) No person shall be bound to
comply with any requirement imposed by a person exercising powers by virtue of
any authority granted under paragraph (10) unless the person has, if
required to do so, produced evidence of the person’s authority.
(13) Any person who without
reasonable excuse fails to comply with a requirement imposed on the person
under this Article shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to a fine or to both.
(14) A person who, in purported
compliance with a requirement under this Article –
(a) makes
a statement which the person knows to be false or misleading in a material
particular; or
(b) recklessly
makes a statement which is false or misleading in a material particular,
shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to a fine or to both.
(15) If any person –
(a) knows
or suspects that an investigation by the Attorney General into serious or
complex fraud is being or is likely to be carried out; and
(b) falsifies,
conceals, destroys or otherwise disposes of, or causes or permits the
falsification, concealment, destruction or disposal of, documents which the
person knows or suspects are or would be relevant to such an investigation,
the person shall be guilty of an offence unless he or she proves
that he or she had no intention of concealing the facts disclosed by the
documents from persons carrying out such an investigation.
(16) A person guilty of an offence
under paragraph (15) shall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a
term not exceeding 7 years or to a fine or to both.
(17) For avoidance of doubt, the
powers of the Attorney General under this Article shall be exercisable
notwithstanding that the suspected offence was committed prior to the coming
into force of this Law.
3 Disclosure of information
(1) If any information is
subject to an obligation of secrecy imposed by or under any enactment whether
passed before or after this Law, that obligation shall not have effect to
prohibit the disclosure of that information to the Attorney General or any
person duly authorized under Article 2(10), but any information received
by such a person by virtue of this paragraph may only be disclosed by the
person for the purpose of a prosecution in Jersey or elsewhere.[4]
(2) Without prejudice to the
Attorney General’s power to enter into agreements apart from this paragraph,
the Attorney General may enter into an agreement for the supply of information
to or by the Attorney General subject, in either case, to an obligation not to
disclose the information concerned otherwise than for a specified purpose.
(3) Subject to paragraph (1)
and to any provision of an agreement for the supply of information which
restricts the disclosure of the information supplied, information obtained by
the Attorney General or any person duly authorized under Article 2(10) may
be disclosed –
(a) to
any person or body for the purposes of any investigation of an offence or
prosecution in Jersey or elsewhere; and
(b) to
any competent authority.[5]
(4) The following are
competent authorities for the purposes of paragraph (3) –
(a) an
inspector appointed under Article 128 of the Companies (Jersey) Law 1991;
(b) any
person or body having supervisory, regulatory or disciplinary functions in
relation to financial services, any profession or any area of commercial
activity;
(c) any
person having under the law of any country or territory outside Jersey
functions corresponding to any of the functions of an inspector referred to in sub-paragraph (a);
and
(d) any
person or body having under the law of any country or territory outside Jersey
functions corresponding to any of the functions mentioned in sub-paragraph (b).[6]
4 Citation
This Law may be cited as the Investigation of Fraud (Jersey)
Law 1991.