Prison (Independent
Prison Monitoring Board) (Jersey) Regulations 2017
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;
“senior officer” means a person recruited in accordance
with Article 26 of the Employment of States of Jersey Employees (Jersey)
Law 2005.
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
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;
(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) 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 Citation
These Regulations may be cited as the Prison (Independent Prison
Monitoring Board) (Jersey) Regulations 2017.