States of Jersey
(Powers, Privileges and Immunities) (Committees of Inquiry) (Jersey)
Regulations 2007
Made 16th July 2007
Coming into force 23rd
July 2007
THE STATES, in pursuance of Article 49 of the States of Jersey Law 2005[1], have made the following
Regulations –
1 Interpretation
Expressions defined in standing orders have the same meaning in
these Regulations.
2 Power
of committee of inquiry to issue summons
(1) Before
issuing a summons requiring a person to appear before it and to give evidence
and produce documents to it, a committee of inquiry must –
(a) request
the person to so appear;
(b) accommodate
any reasonable request by the person as to the day and time of the appearance;
and
(c) where
it would be appropriate to do so, having regard to the nature of the evidence
or any document, undertake to receive the evidence or document in confidence.
(2) If
a person refuses to comply with a request made under paragraph (1) a
committee of inquiry may summons the person to appear before it and to give
evidence and produce any document to it if the committee is satisfied that the
evidence or document is, or might reasonably be, relevant to the matter that it
is inquiring into.
3 Procedure
for issue of summons by a committee of inquiry
(1) A committee of inquiry shall inform the
Greffier of its decision to issue a summons.
(2) The Greffier shall prepare the summons and
sign it.
(3) The summons shall –
(a) state the day and time when and place where
the person is required to appear;
(b) indicate, in general terms, the issues on
which the committee of inquiry proposes to question the person;
(c) be accompanied by information
regarding –
(i) how the summons may be challenged, and
(ii) the offences in Regulation 12.
(4) The summons may require the person to
produce –
(a) all documents;
(b) specified documents;
(c) documents described by reference to their
subject matter or any other factor,
which are or might
reasonably be relevant to the matter that the committee of inquiry is inquiring
into.
(5) The day on which the person is to appear
must be at least 10 working days after the day the summons is served on the
person.
(6) The Greffier shall cause the summons to be
served on the person by personal service or by ordinary service.
4 Challenging
a summons issued by a committee of inquiry
(1) A person may challenge a summons issued by a
committee of inquiry on any of the following grounds –
(a) that Regulation 2(1) was not complied with
before the summons was issued;
(b) that the condition in Regulation 2(2) in
respect of the evidence or a document has not been satisfied;
(c) that any requirement of Regulation 3 was not
complied with in respect of the summons;
(d) that the evidence or a document is
privileged;
(e) that the prejudice to the person that would
ensue from appearing before the committee of inquiry and giving the evidence
and, where required, producing a document so far outweighs the usefulness of the
evidence or document to the committee of inquiry that it would be unreasonable
to require the person to appear or produce the document;
(f) that it would be contrary to the
public interest for the evidence to be given or a document produced.
(2) The person must notify the Greffier, in
writing, that he or she wishes to challenge the summons and of the grounds for
his or her challenge.
(3) Once the person has so notified the
Greffier –
(a) the Greffier shall inform the PPC and the
committee of inquiry of the challenge; and
(b) the person shall not be required to obey the
summons unless, on review, it is upheld by the PPC.
5 Review
of challenge of summons issued by a committee of inquiry
(1) The PPC shall review the challenge as soon
as is practicable.
(2) A member of the PPC who is connected with or
involved in the matter being inquired into by the committee of inquiry whose
summons is being challenged, or who is a member of that committee, shall not
take any part in the review.
(3) The PPC shall undertake such investigations
into the matter as it sees fit and may, as part of the investigations, request
submissions, either in writing or in person, from –
(a) the chairman and any member of the committee
of inquiry;
(b) the person who has challenged the summons;
(c) any other person whose submission is, in the
opinion of the PPC, relevant to its review of the challenge.
(4) Notwithstanding paragraph (3), any
person requested to make a submission may elect to make it in person.
(5) After it has concluded its investigations
the PPC shall –
(a) uphold the summons as served;
(b) uphold the summons with such alterations as
it considers appropriate; or
(c) direct that the person is not required to
comply with the summons.
(6) The PPC may reach its decision on the ground
in Regulation 4(1)(f) or, as the case requires, Regulation 7(1)(d),
notwithstanding that the challenge is not made on that ground.
(7) Where the PPC upholds a summons it may also
impose conditions on the giving of the evidence and the production of a document
and their use.
(8) The PPC shall inform the person who
challenged the summons, and the committee of inquiry, of its decision and the
reasons for it.
6 Power
to administer oath
(1) A committee of inquiry may require a person
appearing before it to give evidence on oath.
(2) The chairman of a committee of inquiry is
authorized to administer the oath for this purpose.
7 Challenge
and review of question put by a committee of inquiry
(1) A person appearing before a committee of
inquiry in answer to a summons may challenge a question put by the committee on
the ground that –
(a) the question is not relevant or necessary to
the matter that the committee is inquiring into;
(b) the evidence sought is privileged;
(c) the prejudice to the person that would ensue
if he or she answered the question so far outweighs the usefulness of the
answer to the committee of inquiry that it would be unreasonable to require the
person to answer; or
(d) it would be contrary to the public interest
for the question to be answered.
(2) Once the person has made the challenge, he
or she is not required to answer the question unless the PPC directs that it
must be answered.
(3) Paragraphs (1) to (4) and (6) of Regulation
5 shall apply to a review of a challenge to a question as they apply to a
review of a challenge to a summons.
(4) After it has concluded its investigations
the PPC shall direct –
(a) that the question must be answered; or
(b) that the question need not be answered.
(5) Where the PPC directs that a question must
be answered, it may impose conditions on the giving and use of the answer.
(6) The PPC shall inform the person who
challenged the question and the committee of its decision and the reasons for
it.
8 Privileges
and immunity of person appearing before or producing documents to a committee of inquiry
(1) A
person asked or required to give evidence or produce documents before a
committee of inquiry shall be entitled, in respect of such evidence and
documents, to legal professional privilege and privilege against self-incrimination.
(2) An
answer given by a person to a question put to that person, or an oral or
written statement made by that person, or a document produced by a person in
the course of his or her appearance before a committee of inquiry shall not,
except in the case of proceedings for the offence of perjury or for an offence
under these Regulations, be admissible in evidence against that person in any
civil or criminal proceedings.
(3) Paragraph (2)
shall not apply to evidence given or documents produced by that person which he
or she knows to be untrue.
9 Immunity
of member of a committee of inquiry who is not a member of the States
No civil or criminal proceedings may be instituted against a member
of a committee of inquiry who is not also a member of the States for any
words –
(a) spoken
or written before or within the committee of inquiry; or
(b) reproduced
or recorded in a report presented to the committee of inquiry or a report
presented by the committee of inquiry to the States.
10 Personal
service
(1) For
the purposes of these Regulations, personal service of a summons is effected by
leaving it with the person to be served.
(2) In
the case of personal service on a body corporate, such service may be effected
by leaving the summons with the president or chairman, or the secretary,
treasurer or other similar officer of the body corporate or by leaving it at or
delivering it to the registered office of the body corporate.
11 Ordinary
service
(1) For
the purposes of these Regulations, ordinary service of a summons is
effected –
(a) in
the case of service on an individual –
(i) by leaving it at
the last known address or last known place of business of the person to be
served, or
(ii) by sending it by
ordinary post to the last known address or last known place of business of the
person to be served;
(b) in
the case of service on a body corporate –
(i) by leaving it at
or sending it by ordinary post to the registered or principal office of the
body corporate, or
(ii) by leaving it at
or sending it by ordinary post to the last known place of business of the body
corporate.
(2) Without
prejudice to Article 7 of the Interpretation (Jersey) Law 1954[2] a document sent by post to
an address in Jersey shall, unless the contrary is proved, be deemed to have
been served on the 2nd day after the day on which it was posted, days on which
there is no collection or delivery excepted.
12 Offences
(1) A
person shall be guilty of an offence if he or she, without reasonable
excuse –
(a) disobeys
any requirement of a summons issued under these Regulations; or
(b) when
summoned under these Regulations refuses to comply with a requirement to be
examined before, or to answer any lawful and relevant question put by, the
committee of inquiry which issued the summons.
(2) A
person guilty of an offence under this Regulation shall be liable to
imprisonment for a term of 2 years and to a fine of level 4 on the
standard scale.
13 Citation
and commencement
These Regulations may be cited as the States of Jersey (Powers,
Privileges and Immunities) (Committees of Inquiry) (Jersey) Regulations 2007
and shall come into force 7 days after they are made.
m.n. de la haye
Greffier of the States