Corruption (Jersey)
Law 2006
A LAW to create new offences of
corruption, to abolish the customary law offence of bribery and for connected
purposes, enabling the extension to Jersey of the ratification, acceptance or
approval of the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption of the Council of Europe
done at Strasbourg on 27 January 1999 and the Convention on Combating
Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Transactions of the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development adopted by the
Negotiating Conference on 21 November 1997
Commencement [see endnotes]
1 Interpretation
(1) In this Law, unless the
context otherwise requires –
“advantage” means –
(a) any
gift;
(b) any
office, employment or contract;
(c) any
dignity;
(d) any
deferral, payment, release or discharge of any loan, obligation or other
liability, whether in whole or in part;
(e) the
exercise, or forbearance from the exercise, of any right, power or duty;
(f) any
other service or favour, including –
(i) any aid, vote,
consent, or influence, or pretended aid, vote, consent or influence,
(ii) any
protection from any penalty or disability, whether incurred or apprehended,
(iii) any
protection from any action or proceedings of a disciplinary, civil or criminal
nature, whether or not already instituted;
(g) any
offer, undertaking or promise, whether conditional or unconditional, or the
holding out of any other expectation of, any advantage described in
sub-paragraphs (a) to (f);
“agent” has the meaning given in Article 2;
“gift” means any gift, loan, fee or reward consisting of
money or any valuable security or of any other property or interest in property
of any description;
“Jersey company” means a body incorporated under the
laws of Jersey;
“limited liability company” means a limited liability
company registered under the Limited Liability Companies
(Jersey) Law 2018;
“limited liability partnership” means a limited
liability partnership registered under the Limited Liability
Partnerships (Jersey) Law 2017;
“principal” includes an employer and a person on whose
behalf another person is employed;
“public body” has the meaning given in Article 3;
“public office” means any office or employment of a
person as a member, officer or servant of a public body;
“public official” has the meaning given in Article 4.[1]
(2) For the purposes of
this Law a national of the United Kingdom is an individual who
is –
(a) a
British citizen, a British Dependent Territories citizen, a British National
(Overseas) or a British Overseas Citizen;
(b) a
person who under the British Nationality Act 1981 of the United Kingdom
Parliament is a British subject; or
(c) a
British protected person within the meaning of that Act.
2 Meaning
of “agent”
(1) In this Law, unless the
context otherwise requires, “agent” includes –
(a) a
person employed by or on behalf of another person;
(b) a
public official;
(c) an
auditor;
(d) a
juror;
(e) a
person of any of the following descriptions –
(i) a member of the
government of any other country or territory,
(ii) a
member of a parliament, whether regional or national, of any other country or
territory,
(iii) a
member of the European Parliament,
(iv) a
member of the Court of Auditors of the European Union,
(v) a member of the
Commission of the European Union,
(vi) a
public prosecutor in any other country or territory,
(vii) a judge of
a court or tribunal in any other country or territory,
(viii) a judge of a
court or tribunal established under an international agreement,
(ix) a
member of, or any other person employed by or acting for or on behalf of, any
body established under an international agreement,
(x) a person employed by or
acting for or on behalf of the public administration of any other country or
territory,
(xi) a
person appointed or elected to hold an administrative office, whether regional
or national, in any other country or territory,
(xii) a person
exercising a public function, whether regional or national, for another country
or territory or for any public agency or public enterprise belonging to another
country or territory,
(xiii) an official or
agent of a public international organization.[2]
(2) The States may by
Regulations amend the definition “agent” in paragraph (1).
3 Meaning
of “public body”
(1) In this Law,
“public body” means –
(a) the
States of Jersey;
(b) the
Chief Minister and any other Minister or Assistant Minister;
(ba) any
committee or panel established by standing orders of the States of Jersey;
(bb) the States
Employment Board established by the Employment of States of
Jersey Employees (Jersey) Law 2005;
(c) any
board, commission, committee or other body, whether paid or unpaid, appointed
by the States or by any committee or panel established by standing orders of
the States of Jersey;
(d) any
board, commission, committee or other body, whether paid or unpaid –
(i) having power to
act under and for the purposes of any enactment relating to the raising of a
rate in or the administration of a parish, or
(ii) administering
or supervising the provision of welfare or any other service in a parish,
and any other body whose membership consists of officers of a parish
or persons elected by a parish assembly;
(e) the
Jersey Financial Services Commission established under the Financial Services Commission
(Jersey) Law 1998;
(f) the
Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority established under the Competition Regulatory
Authority (Jersey) Law 2001;
(fa) the Jersey Gambling
Commission established under the Gambling Commission (Jersey)
Law 2010;
(g) any
company in which the States of Jersey are the principal shareholder, and any
subsidiary of such a company,
and includes any such body which exists in a country or territory
outside Jersey and is equivalent to any body described above.[3]
(2) The States may by
Regulations amend the definition “public body” in paragraph (1).
4 Meaning
of “public official”
(1) In this Law, unless the
context otherwise requires, “public official” means –
(a) a
member of a public body;
(b) an
officer or employee of a public body;
(c) the
Bailiff, Deputy Bailiff and any Lieutenant Bailiff;
(d) a
judge of the Royal Court;
(e) a
judge of the Court of Appeal;
(f) the
Magistrate;
(g) a
jurat;
(h) a
member of the Youth Court panel;
(i) the
Attorney General and Solicitor General;
(j) a
Crown Advocate;
(k) the
Greffier of the States, the Deputy Greffier of the States and any Acting
Greffier of the States;
(l) the
Judicial Greffier, the Deputy Judicial Greffier and any Greffier Substitute;
(m) the
Viscount, the Deputy Viscount and any Viscount Substitute;
(n) the
Master of the Royal Court;
(o) the
Receiver General;
(p) an
employee of the Crown;
(q) a
member of the Honorary Police or an officer of the States of Jersey Police
Force;
(r) the
Comptroller and Auditor General appointed under Article 3 of the Comptroller and Auditor
General (Jersey) Law 2014 or a person for the time being appointed under Article 3(7) of
that Law;
(s) any
member of the Data Protection Authority constituted under Article 3(1) of
the Data Protection Authority
(Jersey) Law 2018;
(t) any
other person exercising a public function for Jersey or for any public agency
or public enterprise belonging to Jersey.[4]
(2) The States may by
Regulations amend the definition “public official” in paragraph (1).
5 Corruption
concerning public body
(1) It shall be an offence
for a person, whether alone or in conjunction with another person, corruptly
to –
(a) solicit
or receive or agree to receive, whether for his or her own benefit or for the
benefit of any other person; or
(b) give,
promise or offer to any person, whether for the benefit of that person or any
other person,
any advantage as an inducement to or reward for, or otherwise on
account of, any member, officer or employee of a public body doing, or not
doing, anything in respect of any matter or transaction whatsoever, whether
actual or proposed, in which that public body is concerned.
(2) A person shall not be
exempt from punishment for an offence under this Article by reason of the
invalidity of the appointment or election of a person to public office.
(3) A person guilty of an
offence under this Article shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of
10 years and to a fine.
6 Corrupt
transactions with agents
(1) It shall be an
offence –
(a) for
an agent corruptly to accept or obtain, or agree to accept or attempt to
obtain, from any person, whether for his or her own benefit or for the benefit
of any other person; or
(b) for
any person corruptly to give or agree to give or offer to an agent, whether for
the benefit of the agent or for the benefit of any other person,
any advantage as an inducement to or reward for doing, or not doing,
or for having done or not done, any act in relation to the affairs or business
of the agent’s principal or for showing, or not showing, favour or
disfavour to any person in relation to the affairs or business of the
agent’s principal.
(2) A person guilty of an
offence under this Article shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of
10 years and to a fine.
(3) For the purposes of
this Article, it is immaterial if –
(a) the
principal’s affairs or business have no connection with Jersey and are
conducted in a country or territory outside Jersey; or
(b) the
agent’s functions have no connection with Jersey and are carried out in a
country or territory outside Jersey.
7 Corruption
by public official
(1) It shall be an offence
for a public official to do or not do any act in relation to the
official’s position, office or employment, for the purpose of corruptly
obtaining any advantage, whether for his or her own benefit or for the benefit
of any other person.
(2) A person guilty of an
offence under this Article shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of
10 years and to a fine.
8 Extended
jurisdiction for
offences
(1) A person may be tried
in Jersey for an offence under this Law if any of the acts alleged to
constitute the offence was committed in Jersey, notwithstanding that other acts
constituting the offence were committed outside Jersey.
(2) Where –
(a) a
national of the United Kingdom resident in Jersey, a Jersey company, a limited
liability company or a limited liability partnership does anything in a country
or territory outside Jersey; and
(b) the
act would, if done in Jersey, constitute an offence under this Law,
the act shall constitute the offence under this Law and
proceedings for it may be taken in Jersey.[5]
9 Customary
law offence of bribery abolished
(1) The customary law
offence of bribery is abolished.
(2) Paragraph (1)
shall not affect any investigation or criminal proceedings in respect of an act
committed before paragraph (1) comes into force, and any such
investigation or criminal proceedings may be instituted, continued or enforced
as if paragraph (1) had not come into force.
10 Offences
by bodies corporate, etc.
(1) Where an offence under
this Law committed by a body corporate or by a limited liability
partnership is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of,
or to be attributable to neglect on the part of –
(a) a
person who is a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the
body corporate, or a partner of the partnership; or
(b) a
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 body corporate or the partnership to the penalty provided
for the offence.
(2) Where the affairs of a
body corporate are managed by its members, paragraph (1) 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.
11 Aiders and
abettors
A 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.
12 Restriction
on prosecution
A prosecution for an offence under this Law shall not be
instituted except by or with the consent of the Attorney General.
13 Citation
This Law may be cited as the Corruption (Jersey) Law 2006.