Prison (Independent
Prison Monitoring Board) (Jersey) Regulations 2017
Made 18th January 2017
Coming into force 18th
April 2017
THE STATES, in pursuance of Article 6 of the Prison (Jersey) Law 1957[1], have made the following
Regulations –
1 Interpretation
In these Regulations –
“Law” means the
Prison (Jersey) Law 1957;
“Monitoring Board”
means the Independent Prison Monitoring Board established under Regulation 2;
“panel” means the
panel described in Regulation 3(2);
“police officer”
means a member of the Honorary Police, a member of the States of Jersey Police
Force, the Agent of the Impôts or any other officer of the Impôts;
“prison rules” means
rules made under Article 29 of the Law;
“probation officer”
has the same meaning as in Article 1 of the Criminal Justice (Community
Service Orders) (Jersey) Law 2001[2];
“senior officer”
means a person recruited in accordance with Article 26 of the Employment
of States of Jersey Employees (Jersey) Law 2005[3].
2 Establishment,
constitution and functions of the Independent Prison Monitoring Board
(1) There
is established the Independent Prison Monitoring Board consisting of 7 or more
persons, including a chairman and a deputy chairman.
(2) The
function of the Monitoring Board is to satisfy itself as to –
(a) the
treatment and welfare of the prisoners;
(b) the
state of the premises of the prison; and
(c) the
administration of the prison.
3 Appointment of Monitoring
Board members
(1) The
Minister must appoint the members of the Monitoring Board.
(2) An
application for appointment to the Monitoring Board must be considered by a
panel of the following persons –
(a) a
senior officer in the department of the States having responsibility for the prison;
(b) if the
chairman of the Monitoring Board has been appointed, that chairman, or a member
of the Monitoring Board appointed by that chairman to that panel; and
(c) a
senior officer employed in the department of the States having responsibility
for human resources,
and the Minister may only appoint a person as a member of the
Monitoring Board where the panel has identified that person to the Minister as
being a suitable person for membership of it.
(3) The
panel, when considering applications of persons for membership of the
Monitoring Board, and the Minister, when appointing members, must have regard
to the need to encourage diversity in the range of persons appointed by the
Minister.
(4) The
term of appointment of any member shall be 4 years or such shorter period
as the Minister may in the circumstances decide.
(5) The
Minister must appoint from the membership of the Monitoring Board a chairman and
a deputy chairman.
(6) Where
a vacancy in the membership of the Monitoring Board arises, the Minister must
advertise the vacancy in such manner as he or she thinks fit and invite
interested persons to apply.
(7) Before
advertising for a person to fill a vacancy in the membership of the Monitoring
Board the Minister –
(a) must
prepare a person specification and a description of the role the member will be
expected to perform; and
(b) if
the chairman of the Monitoring Board has been appointed, must prepare that
specification and description in consultation with the chairman of the
Monitoring Board.
(8) Where
the vacancy arises because a serving member’s term of office has expired,
or is about to expire, the Minister may reappoint the member on the recommendation
of the chairman of the Monitoring Board, or in the case of the vacancy being
that of the chairman of the Monitoring Board, upon the recommendation of the
panel.
4 Membership
of the Monitoring Board
(1) Any
person may be appointed to the Monitoring Board if he or she is eligible for
appointment.
(2) The
following persons are not eligible to be members of the Monitoring Board –
(a) a
member of the States Assembly;
(b) a
person who is, or has been at any time in the past 5 years, a police
officer, probation officer or prison officer;
(c) a
person who is in the service of the Minister;
(d) a person who is
bankrupt;
(e) a person who has been
received into guardianship pursuant to a guardianship application under Article 14
of the Mental Health (Jersey) Law 1969[4] or has a curator appointed under Article 43 of the Mental
Health (Jersey) Law 1969 to manage and administer his or her property and
affairs;
(f) a person who has
a conviction, except a spent conviction, where the Minister is of the opinion
that it is not fitting for a person with such a
conviction to be a member of the Monitoring Board;
(g) a person who in the
past 5 years acted for or on behalf of the prosecution in any criminal
proceedings;
(h) a
person who has in the past 5 years adjudicated on a question of fact or
law in a court;
(i) a
person with an interest in any contract for the supply of goods or services to
the prison;
(j) any other person
who the Minister considers has or may be perceived to have interests which
conflict with the functions of the Monitoring Board.
(3) The
proceedings of the Monitoring Board are not invalidated by any vacancy in the
membership or defect in the appointment of a member.
5 Resignation or termination
of appointment of Monitoring Board member by Minister
(1) A member
of the Monitoring Board may resign at any time by giving notice in writing to
the Minister.
(2) The
Minister may by notice in writing terminate the appointment of a member of the
Monitoring Board if he or she has reasonable grounds for believing that the
member –
(a) is
no longer eligible to be a member of the Monitoring Board; or
(b) is a
person who, for any other reason, has acted in a way that is not conducive to
the Monitoring Board discharging its functions or duties under these
Regulations such that it is not, in the Minister’s opinion, fitting that the
person remain a member of the Monitoring Board.
(3) The
Minister shall consult the panel before terminating the appointment of a
member.
(4) The
Minister may by notice in writing suspend a member of the Monitoring Board from
office forthwith and for such period as he or she may reasonably require to
consult the panel and determine whether or not a member’s appointment
should be terminated.
(5) A
notice in writing given under paragraph (2) or (4) shall set out the
reasons for the termination or suspension, as the case may be.
(6) A
member suspended under paragraph (4) must not, during the period of
suspension, be regarded as a member of the Monitoring Board, other than for the
purposes of this Regulation.
6 Proceedings
of the Monitoring Board
(1) The
Monitoring Board –
(a) must
meet at the prison once a month to discharge its functions under these
Regulations or, if the Monitoring Board resolves that, for reasons specified in
the resolution, less frequent meetings are sufficient, not less than 8 times
in any period of 12 months; and
(b) must
meet to review its own practices and procedures at intervals of not less than
12 months and make such improvements to those practices and procedures as
it sees fit.
(2) A
meeting of the Monitoring Board –
(a) may
be held at any time at the request of its chairman; and
(b) must
be held following the submission of a written request by 2 members of the
Monitoring Board to the secretary of the Monitoring Board.
(3) The
quorum necessary for the purpose of the carrying out of the Monitoring
Board’s duties or the exercise of its powers is 3 members of the
Monitoring Board.
(4) The
quorum fixed under paragraph (3) is not required for performing a function
which, in accordance with an express provision of these Regulations or of
prison rules, may be performed by a smaller number.
(5) Every
meeting of the Monitoring Board must be presided over by –
(a) its
chairman;
(b) in
the absence of its chairman, the deputy chairman;
(c) in
the absence of the chairman and the deputy chairman, either –
(i) a member of the
Monitoring Board appointed by the chairman to preside over the meeting, or
(ii) in default of an
appointment specified in clause (i), or in the absence of the member so
appointed, a member elected by those present at the meeting.
(6) The
Monitoring Board must keep minutes of its meetings and of all its proceedings.
(7) The
Minister must provide a secretary to the Monitoring Board who must attend
meetings of the Monitoring Board, keep minutes of Monitoring Board meetings and
other proceedings and perform such other clerical duties as the Monitoring
Board may require.
(8) The
Governor, or such other officer of the prison as the Governor may assign for the
purpose, must attend each meeting of the Monitoring Board if so requested by
the Monitoring Board.
7 Powers
and duties of Monitoring Board
(1) The
members of the Monitoring Board, for the purpose of carrying out the Monitoring
Board’s or their duties, must –
(a) arrange
a rota of attendance at the prison of the members of the Monitoring Board; and
(b) arrange
for at least one member of the Monitoring Board to visit the prison once
between each meeting of the Monitoring Board.
(2) The
Monitoring Board or any member of the Monitoring Board –
(a) must
hear any complaint or request which a prisoner wishes to make to the Monitoring
Board or a member of the Monitoring Board;
(b) must immediately inform
the Minister of any abuse of a prisoner which comes to the knowledge of the Monitoring
Board or any of its members;
(c) must
attend to any report which it receives to the effect that the mind or body of a
prisoner is likely to be injured by the conditions of his or her imprisonment
and –
(i) if the case is
urgent, bring the matter to the immediate attention of the Governor, and
(ii) in any event, report
its opinion to the Minister;
(d) must,
at regular intervals, inspect the food provided to prisoners;
(e) may
inspect any of the records of the prison, except that members of the board
shall not have access to any records held for the purposes of or relating to
conduct authorised in accordance with Part 3 of the Regulation of
Investigatory Powers (Jersey) Law 2005[5];
(f) may
inquire into the state of the prison buildings and, if any repairs or other
work appear to it to be necessary, must report its opinion with its advice and
suggestions to the Governor and the Minister.
(3) Where
it appears to the Monitoring Board that action needs to be taken in respect of a
complaint, request or report that was made to the Board of Visitors
(established by the Prison (Board of Visitors) (Jersey) Regulations 1957[6]) before the coming into
force of these Regulations, the Monitoring Board must take that action as if
the complaint, request or report was received by the Monitoring Board.
8 Duty of Monitoring Board to co-operate with the Minister and Governor
In exercising its powers and duties under these Regulations, the Monitoring
Board –
(a) must
direct the attention of the Governor to any matter which, in the opinion of the
Monitoring Board, calls for the Governor’s attention;
(b) must
consult the Governor on any matter concerning discipline in the prison;
(c) must
make inquiry into any matter referred to it by the Governor or the Minister;
and
(d) must
report to the Minister on any matter that the Monitoring Board considers it
expedient to report.
9 Annual
and other reports
(1) The
Monitoring Board –
(a) must
make an annual report to the Minister, no later than the 31st March each
year, with regard to the matters referred to in these Regulations or in prison
rules, with its advice and suggestions upon any such matter; and
(b) may
make such other reports to the Minister as it considers necessary concerning
any matter relating to the prison to which, in its opinion, attention should be
drawn.
(2) The
Minister shall present any report provided to him or her under paragraph (1)
to the States Assembly as soon as reasonably practicable.
10 Revocation
The Prison (Board of Visitors) (Jersey) Regulations 1957[7] are revoked.
11 Citation
and commencement
These Regulations may be cited as the Prison (Independent Prison Monitoring
Board) (Jersey) Regulations 2017 and shall come into force 3 months
after they are made.
L.-M. HART
Deputy Greffier of the States