Highways (Jersey)
Law 1956[1]
A LAW to control the placing of
things, and the removal of accident debris, below or on or above highways; and
for related matters[2]
Commencement
[see endnotes]
1 Definitions
In this Law –
“1914 Law”
means the Loi (1914) sur la Voirie;
“by-road” has the same meaning as chemin vicinal in the 1914 Law;
“highway authority”, in relation to a by-road means the
Roads Committee of the parish in which the road is situated and, in relation to
a main road, means the Minister;
“main road” has the same meaning as grande route in the said Law;
“Minister” means the Minister for Infrastructure.[3]
2 General prohibition
(1) Subject as provided by
this Law and the Customary Law (Choses Publiques) (Jersey)
Law 1993, it shall not be lawful to place anything below, on or above any
highway in Jersey.[4]
(2) Nothing in this Law
shall apply to –
(a) undertaker
works carried out by a utility undertaker, including any undertaker works
carried out by another person under licence from the utility undertaker;
(b) specified
road works;
(c) emergency
or urgent works.[5]
(3) In paragraph (2),
“undertaker works”, “utility undertaker”,
“specified road works”, “emergency works” and
“urgent works” have the same meanings as in the Road Works and Events (Jersey) Law 2016.[6]
(4) Nothing in this Law
shall relieve a person from an obligation to obtain any permit, consent,
permission or authorization required under the Road Works and Events (Jersey) Law 2016, or any other enactment.[7]
3 Power of the States to grant authority by Regulations
The States may make Regulations authorizing the placing below, on or
above the highway of things of such classes or descriptions as may be specified
in the Regulations subject to such conditions as may be so specified.
4 Power of highway authorities to grant licences
(1) Subject to paragraph (2),
the highway authority may grant a licence to any person authorizing the person
to place any thing below, on or above any highway administered by that
authority, and any such licence may be granted subject to such conditions as
the highway authority may think fit to impose and to the periodic payment of
such reasonable sum as the highway authority may determine.[8]
(2) The highway authority
shall not grant a licence under this Article authorizing the placing of
anything below, on or above a highway or a part of a highway which is for the
time being the subject of a permit granted under the Customary Law (Choses Publiques) (Jersey)
Law 1993 except on the application of the holder of the permit.[9]
(3) Any licence under this Article
may be granted for a fixed period or for an indefinite period, and any licence
granted for an indefinite period may be withdrawn by the highway authority on
giving not less than 6 months’ notice in writing to the holder of the
licence:
Provided that where less than 5 years’ notice of withdrawal is
given and the holder of the licence is of the opinion that he or she is
prejudicially affected by the withdrawal, the holder of the licence may appeal
to the Inferior Number of the Royal Court, either in term or in vacation, and
the Court may make such order in the matter as it thinks just and equitable.
(4) No licence granted
under this Article shall authorize the placing of any thing less than 7 feet
above a footpath or less than 18 feet above a carriageway.
(5) Where the property in
any thing placed below, on or above a highway under the authority of a licence
granted under this Article is transferred, the licence shall, on application to
the highway authority, be transferred to the new owner by endorsement of the
licence or otherwise, but unless so transferred a licence shall cease to be in
force at the expiration of 3 months from the date of the transfer.[10]
(6) Where a by-road below,
on or above which any thing has been placed under the authority of a licence
granted under this Article is, by virtue of Article 1 of the 1914 Law,
classified as a main road, the powers of the Roads Committee of the parish in
which the road is situated in respect of that licence shall be transferred to
the Minister.[11]
4A Power
to exempt election advertising material from general prohibition[12]
(1) The Minister may by
Order provide that the general prohibition in Article 2(1) does not apply
in relation to campaign advertising material relating to a public or parish
election, or a referendum, if –
(a) the
material is placed below, on or above the highway only during the campaign
period in relation to the election or referendum; and
(b) the
material and its placement comply with the conditions (if any) specified in the
Order.
(2) The conditions that may
be specified include, in particular, conditions as to the location of material,
the manner of its placement and the times at which it may be put up and taken
down.
(3) “Campaign
advertising material” means –
(a) in
relation to a public or parish election, material indicating support for or
against –
(i) a
candidate,
(ii) a
political party, or
(iii) the
option of voting for none of the candidates; and
(b) in
relation to a referendum, material indicating support for or against a
particular outcome of the referendum.
(4) “Campaign
period” –
(a) in
relation to a public election, means the period –
(i) beginning
with the day after the day on which the JEA publishes the candidate
announcement under Article 17H(1)(b) of the Elections Law, and
(ii) ending at the end of the second day after the day on
which the poll for the election is held;
(b) in
relation to a parish election, means the period –
(i) beginning
with the day after the day on which the nomination meeting under Article 19
of the Elections Law is held, and
(ii) ending
at the end of the second day after the day on which the
poll for the election is held;
(c) in
relation to a referendum, means the period –
(i) beginning
with the day specified in the Order made under this Article (which must be
earlier than the day on which the referendum is to be held), and
(ii) ending
at the end of the second day after the day on which the referendum is held.
(5) If, in accordance with
an order made by the Royal Court under Article 23 of the Elections Law
(withdrawal, disqualification or death of candidate), no poll for an election
is held, the “campaign period” in relation to that election ends at
the end of the second day after the day on which that order is made (instead of
at the time specified in paragraph (4)(a)(ii) or (b)(ii)).
(6) In this
Article –
(a) “Elections
Law” means the Elections (Jersey) Law 2002;
(b) “referendum”
means a referendum held in accordance with an Act under Article 6 of the Referendum (Jersey) Law 2017;
(c) the
following terms have the same meanings as in the Elections Law –
“candidate announcement”;
“JEA”;
“nomination meeting”;
“parish election”;
“political party”;
“public election”.
5 Offences and removal of things placed in contravention of law
(1) If any person places
any thing or causes any thing to be placed below, on or above any highway in
contravention of the provisions of this Law, the person shall, without
prejudice to any other proceedings which may be taken against him or her, be
guilty of an offence and shall be liable to a fine of level 3 on the standard
scale, and, whether or not any proceedings are taken in respect of the offence
or otherwise, the highway authority may remove the thing and the expenses
reasonably incurred in so doing shall be recoverable as a civil debt from the
offender:
Provided, that in the case of a thing which is placed below a
highway and which communicates with a property bordering on a highway, the
powers of the highway authority under the foregoing provisions of this paragraph
shall not be exercisable, but the highway authority may serve a notice on the
owner of such property requiring the owner to remove the thing in question.[13]
(2) If any person on whom a
notice has been served under the proviso to paragraph (1) fails to comply
with the requirements of the notice within such period (not being less than 28
days from the service thereof) as may be specified in the notice, the highway
authority may remove the thing in question, and the expenses reasonably
incurred in so doing shall be recoverable as a civil debt from the person in
default.
(3) Any person aggrieved by
a notice served under this Article may, within the period specified therein,
appeal to the Inferior Number of the Royal Court, either in or out of term, and
the decision of the Court shall be final and without appeal, but without
prejudice to the right of the Inferior Number of the Royal Court to refer the
matter to the Superior Number of the Royal Court.
(4) Where an appeal under
this Article is brought against a notice served thereunder, paragraph (2)
shall not apply unless the appeal is abandoned or dismissed, and shall, in that
case, have effect as if for the reference therein to the period specified in
the notice there were substituted a reference to 28 days from the date on which
the appeal was abandoned or dismissed.
5A Clearance
of accident debris[14]
(1) If any debris is
deposited below, on or above a highway in consequence of any accident, the
highway authority shall remove the debris from the highway.
(2) Paragraph (1)
applies whether or not the accident itself occurs below, on or above the
highway.
(3) If a highway authority
removes any debris under paragraph (1), the highway authority may recover
the expenses reasonably incurred by it in doing so as a civil debt from any
person who causes the accident.
(4) This Article applies,
instead of Articles 1(1) and 45 of the Loi (1914) sur La Voirie, to the
removal of debris deposited below, on or above a highway in consequence of any
accident.
6 Power
of Minister to delegate functions[15]
(1) Subject to the
following provision of this Article, the Minister may delegate, either partly
or wholly, the functions of the Minister under this Law in relation to any main
road to the Roads Committee of the parish in which the main road is situated.
(2) Any such delegation
shall be made, and may be amended, modified, varied or revoked at any time, in writing
by the Minister and shall be subject to such conditions, exceptions or
qualifications as the Minister may specify in writing at any time.
(3) The delegation of any
function under this Article does not prevent the exercise of that function by
the Minister.
7 Notices
Any notice authorized to be served under or for the purposes of this
Law may be served either –
(a) by
delivering it to the person on whom it is to be served;
(b) by
leaving it at the usual or last-known place of abode of that person;
(c) by
sending it in a prepaid letter addressed to that person at the person’s
usual or last-known place of abode;
(d) in
the case of a body corporate or unincorporate, by delivering it to the
secretary or clerk of the body at its registered or principal office or by
sending it in a prepaid letter addressed to the secretary or clerk of the body
at that office;
(e) if it
is not practicable after reasonable enquiry to ascertain the name and address
of an owner of premises on whom it should be served, or if the premises are
unoccupied or the name of the owner is not known, by addressing it to the owner
by the description of “owner” of the premises (naming them) to
which it relates and by delivering it to some person on the premises or, if
there is no person on the premises to whom it can be delivered, by affixing it
or a copy of it to some conspicuous part of the premises.[16]
8 Savings
(1) Nothing in this Law
shall prejudice or affect any rights or powers in existence immediately before
the coming into force of this Law.
(2) Nothing in this Law
shall affect any right of proceeding under any other enactment or under the
customary law.
(3) For the avoidance of
doubt, it is declared that this Law does not apply to the branches of trees
overhanging highways.
8A Amendment
by Regulations[17]
The powers conferred on the States by the Loi (1851) autorisant l’établissement
des règlements sur la police des chemins to make Regulations relating
to the police of the public roads include a power to amend the provisions of
this Law.
9 Citation
This Law may be cited as the Highways (Jersey) Law 1956.