Public Holidays and
Bank Holidays (Jersey) Law 1951[1]
A LAW to make provision for public
holidays and bank holidays and for matters incidental thereto
Commencement
[see
endnotes]
1 Definitions
(1) In this Law –
“business day” means any day other than Christmas Day,
Good Friday, a Sunday or a bank holiday;
“normal banking hours”, in relation to a bank, means the
hours of any business day during which that bank is normally open.[2]
(2) In this Law references
to “open” or “closed” in relation to a bank are
references to the opening or closing as the case may be of that part of the
premises occupied by that bank to which the public are normally admitted for
the transaction of banking business with the public.[3]
2 Power
of States to appoint days to be observed as public holidays and bank holidays
(1) The States may by Act
appoint the days of the year which are to be observed as public holidays or
bank holidays, and any such Act may relate to the same day in each year or to
any day in any year.
(2) Every day appointed by
such an Act as aforesaid to be observed as a public holiday shall also be
observed as a bank holiday, unless provision otherwise be made by the Act.
3 Banks
to be closed on bank holidays[4]
Subject to the provisions of any Order made under Article 4, a
bank shall not open on a bank holiday.
4 Orders
with respect to the opening and closing of banks[5]
(1) The Minister for Sustainable Economic Development may by Order,
where he or she considers it expedient to do so in view of particular
circumstances, require or permit any bank –
(a) to be
open –
(i) on a bank holiday
or any other day that is not a business day, or
(ii) on
a business day outside normal banking hours; or
(b) to be
closed during normal banking hours,
for such period of time as may be specified in the Order.[6]
(2) Orders made under this Article
may make different provision for different cases or circumstances.
(3) [7]
5 Offences[8]
(1) A person who –
(a) contravenes
Article 3; or
(b) contravenes
or fails to comply with any provision of an Order made under Article 4,
shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine.
(2) Where an offence under
this Law committed by a limited liability partnership or body corporate is
proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be
attributable to any neglect on the part of –
(a) a person
who is a partner of the partnership, or director, manager, secretary or other
similar officer of the body corporate; or
(b) any person
purporting to act in any such capacity,
the person shall also be guilty of the offence and liable in the
same manner as the partnership or body corporate to the penalty provided for
that offence.
(3) Where the affairs of a
body corporate are managed by its members, paragraph (2) shall apply in
relation to acts and defaults of a member in connection with the member’s
functions of management as if the member were a director of the body corporate.
(4) Any person who aids,
abets, counsels or procures the commission of an offence under this Law shall
also be guilty of the offence and liable in the same manner as a principal
offender to the penalty provided for that offence.
6 Provisions
as to bills and other instruments due and payable on bank holidays
All bills of exchange, promissory notes and other instruments due
and payable on a bank holiday shall be payable, and in case of non-payment may
be noted and protested, on the business day next following that bank holiday,
and any such noting or protest shall be as valid as if made on the day on which
the bill, note or other instrument was made due and payable.
7 Provisions
as to notice of dishonour and presentation for honour
Where the day on which any notice of dishonour of an unpaid bill of
exchange or promissory note or other unpaid instrument should be given, or
where the day on which a bill of exchange, promissory note or other instrument
should be presented or received for acceptance, or accepted or forwarded to any
referee or referees, is a bank holiday, such notice of dishonour shall be given
and such bill of exchange, promissory note or other instrument shall be
presented or forwarded on the business day next following that bank holiday.
8 Provisions
as to payment on bank holidays
No person shall be compellable to make any payment or to do any act
on a bank holiday which the person would not be compellable to make or do on
Christmas Day or Good Friday; and the obligation to make such payment or do
such act shall apply to the business day next following that bank holiday and
the making of such payment or the doing of such act on such business day as
aforesaid shall be equivalent to payment of the money or performance of the act
on that bank holiday.
9 Sittings
of Royal Court
The power to make rules of court under the Royal Court (Jersey) Law 1948, shall include a power to
make rules prescribing the days on which the Royal Court may or may not sit.
10 Citation
This Law may be cited as the Public Holidays and Bank Holidays
(Jersey) Law 1951.