Jersey Law 1/1990
TORTURE (JERSEY) LAW 1990
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A LAW to
declare that torture shall be an offence in the Bailiwick, sanctioned by Order
of Her Majesty in Council of the
19th day of
December 1989
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(Registered on the 23rd day of February 1990)
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STATES OF JERSEY
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The 17th day of
October 1989
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THE
STATES, subject to the sanction of Her Most Excellent Majesty in Council,
have adopted the following Law –
ARTICLE
1
Torture
(1) A
public official or person acting in an official capacity, whatever his
nationality, commits the offence of torture if in the Bailiwick or elsewhere he
intentionally inflicts severe pain or suffering on another in performance or
purported performance of his official duties.
(2) A
person not falling within paragraph (1) commits the offence of torture,
whatever his nationality, if –
(a) in
the Bailiwick or elsewhere he intentionally inflicts severe pain or suffering
on another at the instigation or with the consent or acquiescence –
(i) of
a public official, or
(ii) of
a person acting in an official capacity; and
(b) the
official or other person is performing or purporting to perform his official
duties when he instigates the commission of the offence or consents to or
acquiesces in it.
(3) It
is immaterial whether the pain and suffering is physical or mental and whether
it is caused by an act or an omission.
(4) It
shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under this Article in
respect of any conduct of his to prove that he had lawful authority,
justification or excuse for that conduct.
(5) For
the purposes of this Article “lawful authority, justification or
excuse” means –
(a) in
relation to pain or suffering inflicted in the Bailiwick, lawful authority,
justification or excuse under the law of the Bailiwick;
(b) in
relation to pain and suffering inflicted outside the Bailiwick –
(i) if
it was inflicted by an official of the Bailiwick acting under the law of the
Bailiwick or by a person acting in an official capacity under that law, lawful
authority, justification or excuse under that law,
(ii) in
any other case, lawful authority, justification or excuse under the law of the
place where it was inflicted.
(6) A
person who commits the offence of torture shall be liable on conviction to
imprisonment for life.
ARTICLE
2
Requirement of Attorney General’s consent for prosecutions
Proceedings for an offence under Article 1 shall not be begun
except by, or with the consent of, the Attorney General.
ARTICLE 3
Citation and commencement
This Law may be cited as the Torture (Jersey) Law 1990.
R.S. GRAY
Deputy Greffier of the States.