Post Office
(Jersey) Law 1969[1]
A LAW to provide for the vesting in
the States of the exclusive privilege in respect of the conveyance etc. of
letters within Jersey, to make better provisions for the administration of
postal services within Jersey, to provide for the performance by the Minister
of services on behalf of certain bodies and for purposes connected therewith[2]
Commencement
[see endnotes]
PART 1
GENERAL
1 Interpretation
(1) In
this Law, unless the context otherwise requires –
“cash on delivery service” means a service
whereby the Minister or any foreign postal administration collects or secures
the collection of a sum of money on the delivery of anything consigned for
conveyance by post and remits it to the sender thereof;
“commander”, in relation to an aircraft,
includes the pilot or other person in charge of the aircraft;
“enactment” includes any enactment of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom and any instrument made under any such
enactment;
“foreign”, in relation to any postal packet,
means posted in Jersey and addressed to any country or place outside Jersey,
posted in a country or place outside Jersey and addressed to a place within Jersey,
or in transit through Jersey to a place outside Jersey;
“foreign postal administration” means the
postal administration of any country or postal area outside Jersey;
“inward bound”, in relation to any ship or
aircraft, means bound for any port or place within Jersey from a port or place
outside Jersey;
“mail” means postal packets collected for
conveyance by the Minister in the exercise of his or her functions under this Law
whether in mail bags or otherwise; and includes every mail bag and every
conveyance by which postal packets are carried, whether it be a ship, aircraft,
vehicle or other conveyance, and also a person employed in conveying or
delivering postal packets;
“mail bag” includes any form of container or
covering in which postal packets in the course of transmission by post are
conveyed whether or not it contains any such postal packets;
“mail ship” means any ship or aeroplane
employed for the conveyance of mails, pursuant to a contract or arrangement
made by the States under Article 13 or by the government of the United
Kingdom or the government of any foreign country or territory or by any foreign
postal administration;
“master”, in relation to a ship, includes
every person (except a pilot) having command or charge of the ship;
“Minister” means the
Minister for Economic Development;
“officer of the Impôts” means an
officer within the meaning of the Customs
and Excise (Jersey) Law 1999;[3]
“outward bound”, in relation to any ship or
aircraft, means bound from any port or place within Jersey to a port or place
outside Jersey;
“parcel” means any postal packet defined as
a parcel in any Order made under this Law;
“postage” means the duty chargeable for the
transmission by post of any postal packet;
“postage stamp” means any stamp issued by
the Minister for denoting postage or other fees or sums payable in respect of
postal packets under this Law and includes adhesive stamps and stamps printed,
embossed, impressed or otherwise indicated on any envelope, card, wrapper or
other article;
“postal officer” means an officer or servant
appointed under Article 5;
“postal packet” means a letter, postcard,
reply postcard, newspaper, printed packet, sample packet, or parcel, and every
packet or article transmissible by post, and includes a telegram;
“postcard” means any card admissible as a
postcard in accordance with the provisions of an Order made under this Law and
includes a reply postcard;
“post office” includes any house, building,
room, vehicle or place within Jersey used for postal purposes and any post
office letter box;
“post office letter box” includes any pillar
box, wall box or other box or receptacle provided by the Minister for the
purpose of receiving postal packets or any class of postal packets for
transmission by or under the authority of the Minister;
“prescribed” means prescribed by Order;
“public service vehicle” has the meaning
assigned thereto under Article 1 of the Motor Traffic (Jersey) Law 1935.[4]
(2) For
the purposes of this Law –
(a) a postal packet shall be deemed to be in
course of transmission by post from the time of its being posted to the time of
its being delivered to the addressee;
(b) a postal packet shall be deemed to have been
posted when, for the purpose of being conveyed or delivered by post, it has
been put into a post office letter box, or delivered at a post office or
accepted for the purpose of being conveyed by post by a postal officer in the
course of the postal officer’s duty;
(c) the delivery of a postal packet at the
premises to which it is addressed or redirected (except they be a post office
from which it is to be collected) or to the addressee’s servant or agent
or to some other person considered to be authorized to receive the packet shall
be deemed to be a delivery to the addressee.
(3) References
in this Law to any other enactment shall, unless the context otherwise
requires, be construed as references to that enactment as amended and as
extended or applied by or under any other enactment, and as including
references to any enactment repealing and re-enacting that enactment with or
without further amendment.
2 Exclusive
privilege of the States with respect to the conveyance etc. of letters
(1) Subject
to the provisions of this Article, the States shall within Jersey have the
exclusive privilege of conveying from one place to another all letters and of
performing all the incidental services of receiving, collecting, despatching
and delivering all such letters except in the following cases –
(a) the conveyance and delivery of a letter
personally by the sender thereof;
(b) the sending, conveyance and delivery of a
letter by means of a private friend who delivers that letter to the addressee;
(c) the sending, conveyance and delivery of a letter
concerning the private affairs of the sender or addressee thereof by means of a
messenger sent for the purpose by the sender of the letter;
(d) the sending, conveyance and delivery
otherwise than by post of any documents issuing out of any court of justice
within Jersey or of any return or answers thereto;
(e) the sending and conveyance of letters from
merchants who are owners of a merchant ship or commercial aircraft, or of goods
carried in such a ship or aircraft, by means of that ship or aircraft and the
delivery thereof to the addressee by any person employed for the purpose by
those merchants so, however, that no payment or reward, profit or advantage
whatsoever is given or received for the conveyance or delivery of those
letters;
(f) the sending, conveyance and delivery
of letters by hand by means of a common carrier, being letters concerning and
for delivery with goods carried by the carrier, so however, that no payment or
reward, profit or advantage whatsoever is given or received for the conveyance
and delivery of those letters:
Provided that nothing in this paragraph
shall authorize any person to make a collection of letters for the purpose of
their being sent or conveyed otherwise than by post.
(2) The
following persons are expressly forbidden to carry a letter or to receive,
collect or deliver a letter, even if they receive no payment for doing so,
namely –
(a) except for such letters as are mentioned in paragraph (1)(e),
owners of, or any person on board, any ship or aircraft on a voyage or flight
between, to or from places within Jersey;
(b) except for such letters as are mentioned in paragraph (1)(f),
common carriers by land or their servants or agents;
(c) owners, drivers or conductors of public
service vehicles:
Provided that this paragraph
shall not make unlawful the receipt, carriage or delivery of letters by any person
which would otherwise be lawful by virtue of sub-paragraph (a) or, if that
person is a passenger, paragraph (1)(b) or (c).
(3) Notwithstanding
anything in paragraph (1) the Minister may by Order either generally, or
in the case of any particular person, authorize –
(a) letters to be sent, conveyed or delivered
otherwise than by post;
(b) the collection of letters otherwise than by
a postal officer whether to be despatched by post or otherwise,
and may specify the terms,
conditions and prohibitions on or subject to which the authorization is given.
(4) Save
as permitted by or under this Law any person who –
(a) sends or causes to be sent, or conveys or
performs any service incidental to conveying, otherwise than by post; or
(b) collects for the purpose of conveying or
despatching, whether by post or otherwise,
any letters within the exclusive
privilege of the States shall be guilty of an offence under this Law and shall
be liable to a fine not exceeding £20 in respect of every letter to which
the breach relates.
(5) In
any proceedings for the recovery of a fine under paragraph (4), it shall
lie on the person proceeded against to prove that the act in respect of which
the fine was alleged to have been incurred was done lawfully.
(6) For
the purposes of this Article the expression “letter” includes a packet, so, however, as
not to include a newspaper or a parcel unless a communication not forming part
of a newspaper is contained therein.
3 Exclusion
of liability
(1) Except
as otherwise provided by this Law, no proceedings in tort shall lie against the
Minister in respect of any loss or damage suffered by any person by reason of
anything done or omitted to be done in relation to anything in the post or
omission to carry out arrangements for the collection of anything to be
conveyed by post.
(2) No
postal officer or sub-postmaster shall be subject, except at the suit of the Minister,
to any civil liability for any loss or damage in the case of which liability of
the Minister is excluded by paragraph (1).
PART 2
ADMINISTRATION
4 Committee
for Postal Administration[5]
5 Officers
and servants of the Minister
There shall be appointed a
sufficient number of officers and servants to assist the Minister in the
exercise of his or her functions under this Law and generally for the purpose
of carrying this Law into effect.
6 General
powers of the Minister and of the States[6]
(1) In
addition to the powers specifically conferred and the duties imposed on the
Minister by this Law, the Minister may, from time to time –
(a) make provision for such post offices within
Jersey as the Minister thinks expedient;
(b) collect, receive, forward, convey and
deliver in such manner as the Minister thinks expedient all postal packets
transmitted within, to or from Jersey;
(c) perform services for the States or for any
Minister or for the government of the United Kingdom or for the government of
any country or territory outside Jersey or for any foreign postal administration
on such terms and conditions as the Minister may think fit;
(d) perform
such services on behalf of the bodies set out in the Schedule to this Law as
the Minister thinks fit;
(e) enter into contracts with any person for or
in respect of the carriage of postal packets by such means and on such terms
and conditions as the Minister may think fit;
(f) generally do all other things which,
in the Minister’s opinion, are necessary or desirable to facilitate the
proper administration of the postal service in Jersey.
(2) The
States may by Regulations add to or delete from the list of bodies set out in
the Schedule to this Law.[7]
7 Power
to acquire land
(1) Where
it appears to the States that any land should be acquired by the public of Jersey
for postal purposes, it shall be lawful for the States to acquire such land by
compulsory purchase on behalf of the public in accordance with the provisions
of the Compulsory Purchase of Land
(Procedure) (Jersey) Law 1961,[8] and, in relation to the acquisition of any land as aforesaid, the Minister
shall be the acquiring authority within the meaning of the said Law.
(2) In
assessing the amount of compensation payable to any person in relation to a
compulsory purchase under this Article, the Board of Arbitrators, in addition
to acting in accordance with the Rules set out in Article 10 of the Compulsory Purchase of Land (Procedure) (Jersey)
Law 1961,[9] shall have regard to the following further Rule, namely, that where
the Board is satisfied that the value of the land to be acquired has been or
will be enhanced by reason of the expenditure of public monies the Board shall
set off against the value any increase thereof which is attributable to the
expenditure aforesaid.
PART 3
TRANSMISSION OF POSTAL PACKETS
8 Postage
to be charged on postal packets
(1) The
Minister shall prescribe –
(a) the postage and other sums required to be
paid on all postal packets which are conveyed, or delivered for conveyance, by
post under the authority of the States;
(b) the manner in which such postage and other
sums shall be paid.
(2) Orders
made under this Article may also –
(a) fix the rates of postage and such other
sums, if any, to be charged in respect of postal packets –
(i) sent
by post from one place to another within Jersey,
(ii) posted
within Jersey for delivery outside Jersey;
(b) specify the scale of size and weights
according or subject to which those rates are to be charged;
(c) empower the Minister –
(i) to
remit in whole or in part any postage or other sums chargeable in such cases or
classes of case as the Minister may determine,
(ii) to
make arrangements for the collection, conveyance and delivery free of postage
of any letters emanating from the States, or any Minister or Department thereof
for delivery to any place on such conditions and the payment of such annual sum
as the Minister may determine.
(3) In
prescribing or otherwise determining postage and other sums payable under this
Law, the Minister may take into consideration such matters as he or she thinks
fit, and such postage and other sums may be prescribed or otherwise determined
so as to raise income in excess of the amount necessary to cover the expenses
of the Minister in discharging his or her functions under this Law.[10]
(4) All
postage and other sums payable under this Law may be recovered as a debt due
to, and shall be credited to, the Annual Income of the States.
9 General
provisions relating to postage etc.
(1) Subject
to the provisions of this Law relating to postage stamps, the Minister may from
time to time cause to be made and sold postcards, envelopes, lettercards,
wrappers and other postal stationery.
(2) The
Minister may make repayments or give other stamps in return for any spoiled,
unused or misused stamps either of a value equal to the face value thereof or,
if the Minister thinks fit, of any less value.
(3) For
the purpose of cancelling stamps used for the payment of postage on postal
packets, the Minister may cause to be used such words or devices as he or she
thinks fit and, where the words or devices so used constitute an advertisement,
may charge the sponsor of the advertisement for the use thereof.
10 Liability
for payment of postage etc.
(1) Where
a postal packet, in respect of which any postage or other sum is chargeable has
not been prepaid at the appropriate rate prescribed under Article 8, is
delivered to the addressee and he or she has accepted delivery, the addressee
shall be liable to pay the deficiency and a surcharge of such an amount as the Minister
shall prescribe.[11]
(2) Where
a postal packet, in respect of which any postage or other sum chargeable has
not been prepaid at the appropriate rate prescribed under Article 8, has
failed in delivery or has been refused or rejected by the addressee, the sender
shall be liable to pay the deficiency, the prescribed surcharge and also any
additional charge incurred in returning the article to the sender.[12]
(3) The
official mark or stamp on a postal packet denoting that any postage or other
sum is due in respect thereof to the States, or the government or postal
administration of any country or territory outside Jersey, shall be sufficient
proof that the sum denoted as aforesaid is due.
(4) In
any proceedings for the recovery of postage or other sums due in respect of
postal packets, the production of the packet in respect of which any such
postage or sum is sought to be recovered having thereon an official mark,
stamp, or endorsement indicating that the packet has been refused or rejected
or is unclaimed or cannot for any other reason be delivered, shall be
sufficient proof of the fact indicated unless the contrary is shown.
(5) In
any such proceedings as aforesaid, a certificate signed for or on behalf of the
Minister that any mark, stamp or endorsement is such a mark, stamp or
endorsement as is mentioned in the preceding paragraphs of this Article shall
be sufficient proof thereof unless the contrary is shown.
(6) In
any such proceedings as aforesaid, the person from whom any postal packet in
respect of which any postage or other sum is sought to be recovered purports to
have come shall, until the contrary is proved, be deemed to be the sender of
the packet.
11 Registration
of newspapers
(1) The
proprietor or printer of any publication such as is specified in this Article
may register it in a register of newspapers kept for that purpose by the Minister
in such form and with such particulars as the Minister may direct:
Provided that the Minister may
refuse to permit the registration under this Article of any publication printed
and published outside Jersey unless arrangements have been made to the
satisfaction of the Minister for maintaining a responsible representative of
the publication in Jersey.
(2) Any
such registration shall be in respect of a period of 12 months commencing on
such date in each year as the Minister may direct, and there shall be payable
on each registration such fee as may be prescribed.
(3) A
publication for the time being on the said register –
(a) shall be a registered newspaper within the
meaning of this Law and of any Order made thereunder; and
(b) shall be a newspaper within the meaning of
any arrangement with the government of any country or territory outside Jersey
or any foreign postal administration for securing advantages for newspapers
sent by post.
(4) The
Minister may from time to time revise the register kept under this Article and
remove any publication not registrable by virtue thereof.
(5) The
decision of the Minister on the admission to or removal from the said register
of a publication shall be final.
(6) A
publication shall be registrable under this Article as a newspaper
if –
(a) it consists wholly of political or other
news, or of articles relating thereto or to other current topics, or mainly of
such news or articles and partly of advertisements;
(b) it is printed and published in the British
Islands, or some other part of Her Majesty’s dominions, or in a British
protectorate or protected state, a mandated territory or a trust territory, or
in India or the Republic of Ireland;
(c) it is published in numbers at intervals of
not more than 7 days; and
(d) it has the full title and the date of
publication printed at the top of the first page, and the whole or part of the
title and the date of publication printed at the top of every subsequent page.
(7) A
publication which is not registrable by virtue of paragraph (6) by reason
only of the proportion of advertisements to other matter therein shall
nevertheless be registrable if it was stamped as a newspaper in the United
Kingdom before 15 June 1855.
(8) A
publication shall be deemed to be a supplement to, and be transmissible by post
as, a registered newspaper if –
(a) it is published with a registered newspaper;
(b) it consists wholly or mainly of matter like
that of the newspaper, or of advertisements, printed on paper, or wholly or
partly of pictorial matter illustrative of articles in the newspaper;
(c) the whole or part of the title of the
newspaper is printed at the top of every page or at the top of every sheet or
side on which any such pictorial matter appears; and
(d) all sheets of the publication are put
together in some one part of the newspaper, whether gummed or stitched up with
the newspaper or not:
Provided that the Minister may by
Order modify the provisions of this paragraph so far as they apply to a
publication which consists wholly of pictorial matter illustrative of articles
in the newspaper.
12 Power
to make Orders relating to supplementary services etc. in connection with the
transit of postal packets
The Minister may by Order make
provision for –
(a) the
time and mode of posting and delivery of postal packets and of the payment of
postage and other sums payable in respect thereof under this Law;
(b) the
registration of, giving of receipts for, or giving or obtaining of certificates
of posting or delivery of, any postal packet and any sums to be paid in
addition to postage for that registration, receipt or certificate;
(c) the
redirection of postal packets, and the transmission by post of postal packets
so redirected, either free of charge or subject to such postage or other
charges as may be specified in the Order;
(d) the
operation of a cash on delivery service (including the recovery of sums payable
in respect thereof), in respect of –
(i) inland postal packets, and
(ii) postal packets transmitted between Jersey
and any other country or place the postal administration of which has made an
arrangement with the States for the purposes of this sub-paragraph,
subject to such terms, conditions
and charges as may be specified in the Order;
(e) the
payment of compensation for the loss of or damage to postal packets in course
of transmission by post and the conditions and limitations subject to which such
compensation shall be paid;
(f) special
conditions to apply in respect of the transmission by post of postal packets
consisting of books or papers (including letters to or from blind persons)
impressed or otherwise prepared for the use of the blind, or of paper posted to
any person for the purpose of being so impressed or prepared, or of any article
specially adapted for the use of the blind;
(g) the
disposal of postal packets which for any reason cannot be delivered;
(h) the
form, dimensions and maximum weight of postal packets;
(i) the
extent to which written matter may be permitted on the covers of postal packets
and the character and position of that written matter.
13 Postal
arrangements with other countries
The States may by Act make such
provisions as seem to them to be necessary for the purpose of giving effect to
any arrangement with the government of the United Kingdom, or the government of
any country or territory outside Jersey or any foreign postal administration
with respect to the conveyance by post of any postal packets between Jersey and
places outside Jersey, and may make provision as to the charges for the transit
of postal packets, the form, dimensions and maximum weight of postal packets,
the scale of weights to be adopted, and the accounting for and paying over to
any other postal administration of any money received by the Minister.
14 Prohibition
on sending by post of certain articles
(1) Any
person who posts or causes to be posted any postal packet which –
(a) contains any filthy, noxious or deleterious
substance, or any creature or thing which is noxious, or any creature, article
or thing whatsoever which is likely to injure either other postal packets in
course of conveyance by post or any postal officer;
(b) contains anything which is indecent or
obscene;
(c) bears thereon or on its cover, any word,
mark, design or representation of an indecent, obscene, libellous or grossly
offensive character;
(d) contains any proposal, circular or ticket
relating to a lottery other than a public lottery promoted and conducted under
the Gambling (Channel Islands Lottery)
(Jersey) Regulations 1975;[13]
(e) contains any sharp article, not properly
protected, or any fluid or other injurious thing not properly packed; or
(f) contains any explosive, dangerous or
destructive substance or fluid,
shall be guilty of an offence.
(2) The
transmission of any postal packet which is posted or sent by post in
contravention of this Article may be refused and the packet may, if necessary,
be detained and opened in the post office and returned to the sender thereof or
forwarded to its destination, subject in either case to such additional postage
or other charges as may be specified in any Order made under Article 10,
or may be destroyed or otherwise disposed of as the Minister may direct.
(3) The
detention in the post office of any postal packet on the grounds of a
contravention of this Article shall not exempt the sender thereof from any proceedings
which might have been taken if the packet had been delivered in due course of
post.
PART 4
POSTAGE STAMPS
15 Provision
of postage stamps
(1) Subject
to the provisions of this Part, the Minister shall from time to time cause
postage stamps to be provided of such kinds and denoting such values as may be
deemed necessary for the purposes of this Law and may by Order make Rules for
the custody, supply, sale and use of postage stamps.
(2) The
Minister may by notice published in the Jersey Gazette direct that any postage
stamps in use in Jersey at the time of such notice shall be no longer valid for
the prepayment of postage and, from and after any day to be stated in the
notice, any postal packet stamped with postage stamps so invalidated shall be
deemed to be not duly stamped for the purposes of this Law and of any Order
made thereunder:
Provided that any person having
in his or her possession any postage stamps invalidated by the Minister may, at
any time within 6 months after the date stated in the notice, surrender the
same to a postal officer who shall exchange them for other valid postage stamps
of an equivalent value.
16 Stamping
machines
(1) The
Minister may from time to time, on receiving such security as he or she thinks
fit and on such terms and conditions as he or she thinks fit, cause or permit
to be issued to any person stamping machines for making impressions denoting
the sign of postage and the amount of stamp values and for recording any such
amounts.
(2) Impressions
made by any such machine lawfully used shall be valid for the payment of
postage and of charges on telegrams in the same manner as if adhesive stamps
were used.
17 Fictitious
or used postage stamps
(1) A
person shall not, except for such purposes and subject to such conditions as
may be prescribed –
(a) make, knowingly utter, deal in or sell any
fictitious stamp;
(b) have in his or her possession, unless he or
she shows a lawful excuse, any fictitious stamp;
(c) make or, unless he or she shows a lawful
excuse, have in his or her possession any die, plate, instrument or materials
for making any fictitious stamp.
(2) A
person shall not for the purposes of paying postal charges in respect of a
packet transmitted by post, knowingly use –
(a) a defaced or fictitious stamp; or
(b) any postage stamp which has been previously
used to prepay any other postal packet.
(3) Any
person who acts in contravention of the foregoing provisions of this Article
shall be guilty of an offence.
(4) Any
stamp, die, plate, instrument or materials found in the possession of any person
in contravention of paragraph (1) may be seized and shall be forfeited.
(5) Any
postal officer who has reason to suspect in respect of any postal packet that
the proper postage has been fraudulently evaded by the use of any defaced,
fictitious or previously used stamp, shall refuse to deliver the packet unless
the addressee agrees to disclose the name and address of the sender and, after
opening the packet and retaining the enclosures, to deliver up the wrapper
bearing the defaced, fictitious or previously used stamps.
(6) In
this Article the expression “fictitious stamp” means any facsimile,
imitation or representation, whether on paper or otherwise, of any postage
stamp or other mark, sign or impression for the time being authorized or
required to be used for denoting a current rate of postage or other charge
prescribed under Article 8 or of any stamp or other mark, sign or
impression for denoting a current rate of postage of any postal authority
outside Jersey.
PART 5
CONVEYANCE OF MAILS BY
SHIPS AND AIRCRAFT
18 Outward
bound ships
(1) The
master of every ship not being a mail ship, outward bound from a harbour within
Jersey to any port or place beyond the limits of Jersey shall –
(a) receive on board any mail bag tendered to him
or her by a postal officer;
(b) give a written receipt for the mails;
(c) cause a description of the mails to be
entered upon the ship’s manifest;
(d) deposit and keep the mails in a secure, dry
place, and carry them apart from all other things;
(e) deliver the mails without delay on arrival
at the port or place of his or her destination.
(2) Any
master of a ship who fails to comply with the provisions of this Article shall
be guilty of an offence.
(3) In
the absence of a contract between the Minister and the owner of the ship
concerning the carriage of mails aboard the ship, there shall be paid to the
owner of any ship which carries mails in accordance with the provisions of this
Article such fees or allowances as may be agreed between the owner and the Minister.
19 Delivery
of mail from inward bound ships or aircraft
(1) On
the arrival of a ship in a harbour or an aircraft at an airport within Jersey
the master or commander, as the case may be, or any other person belonging to such
a ship or aircraft who has charge of any such mails, shall –
(a) collect all mails on board such ship or
aircraft which are intended for delivery within Jersey; and
(b) deliver them without delay to a postal
officer duly authorized to receive the same.
(2) The
officer shall on demand give a receipt for any such mails received by him or
her and the receipt shall discharge the master or commander, as the case may
be, from all further responsibility in respect of the mails.
(3) If
the master of the ship or commander of the aircraft or any other person
belonging to any such vessel or aircraft who has charge of any such mails
refuses or neglects to deliver the mail as aforesaid, or detains or permits the
detention of the mails on board, or does not use due diligence in the delivery
of the mails, or does not take due care for the secure and dry custody of the
mails so long as they are in his or her charge, he or she shall be guilty of an
offence.
(4) If
the master of the ship or commander of the aircraft breaks bulk on board his or
her ship or aircraft in any part or place before he or she has complied with
the provisions of paragraphs (1) and (2) he or she shall be guilty of an
offence.
(5) Any
person, being the master or commander, one of the officers or crew, or a
passenger, of a ship or aircraft arriving at any place within Jersey, who,
after the mails on board, or any of them, have been handed over to a postal
officer, knowingly has in his or her baggage or in his or her possession or
custody any postal packet within the exclusive privilege conferred on the
States by Article 2 shall be guilty of an offence and shall for every such
packet be liable to a fine not exceeding £10.
(6) If
the master of a ship or the commander of an aircraft, or any other person
belonging to such ship or aircraft who has charge of any such
mails –
(a) opens a sealed mail bag with which he or she
is entrusted for conveyance; or
(b) takes out of a mail bag with which he or she
is entrusted for conveyance any postal packet or other thing,
he or she shall be guilty of an
offence.
(7) An
officer of the Impôts may refuse to permit bulk to be broken on board any
inward bound ship or aircraft until he or she is satisfied that any postal
packets brought in that ship or aircraft which are required to be delivered
under paragraph (1) have been so delivered.
(8) An
officer of the Impôts may search any inward bound ship or aircraft for,
and seize, any postal packets within the exclusive privilege of the States and
may forward any such packets seized to the nearest post office.
PART 6
MONEY ORDERS AND POSTAL
ORDERS
20 Money
orders
(1) The
Minister may by Order provide for the remitting of small sums of money through
the post by means of money orders and may make provision for the issue and
payment of such orders and, in particular and without prejudice to the
generality of the foregoing, may prescribe –
(a) the limit of amount for which money orders
may be issued;
(b) the persons by whom money orders are to be
paid;
(c) the times and places at which money orders
are to be paid;
(d) the period during which money orders shall
remain valid;
(e) the rates of poundage and any other fees to
be charged in respect of money orders; and
(f) the mode of payment of money orders.
(2) Subject
to such conditions and to the payment of such additional charges as may be
prescribed, the Minister may, on the direction of the person to whom a money order
has been issued or his or her executors or administrators, repay to such person
or to such executors or administrators the amount of such order whether or not
the order remains in the possession of that person and on that repayment all
liability on the part of the Minister in respect of the money order shall, as
against the payee of the money order and the holder thereof and every other person
whomsoever, cease.
(3) Where,
after payment by the Minister to a banker to whom it has been delivered for
collection of a money order issued on behalf of the States or a foreign postal
administration, it is found that it ought not to have been paid, the sum paid
may be deducted from sums subsequently falling to be paid by the Minister to that
banker by way of payment of money orders so issued that have been delivered to him
or her for collection.
21 Postal
orders
(1) The
Minister may by Order authorize the issue, in such special form as may from
time to time be prescribed, of postal orders and in particular and without
prejudice to the generality of the foregoing may prescribe –
(a) the amounts for which postal orders may be
issued;
(b) the manner in which and the conditions
subject to which postal orders are to be issued, paid and cancelled;
(c) the period during which postal orders shall
remain valid;
(d) the poundage payable in respect thereof.
(2) Any
person acting as a banker in Jersey who, in collecting in that capacity for any
principal, has received payment or been allowed by the Minister in account in
respect of any postal order, or of any document purporting to be a postal order,
shall not incur liability to anyone except that principal by reason of having
received the payment or allowance or having held or presented the order or
document for payment; but this paragraph shall not relieve any principal for
whom any such order or document has been so held or presented of any liability
in respect of his or her possession of the order or document or of the proceeds
thereof.
22 Discharge
of money orders and postal orders
(1) Where
a money order or postal order issued on behalf of the States is presented for
payment in Jersey by a banker to whom it has been delivered for collection,
payment of it to him or her discharges it.
(2) Where –
(a) an uncrossed money order or postal order
issued on behalf of the States, being an order expressed to be payable to a person
specified or described therein and being, or purporting to be, signed by him or
her or on his or her behalf; or
(b) an uncrossed postal order so issued, being
an order not expressed to be payable to such a person,
is presented for payment in Jersey
otherwise than by a banker to whom it has been delivered for collection,
payment of the order to the person by whom it is presented discharges it.
(3) A
money order or postal order issued on behalf of the States is discharged by the
payment thereof outside Jersey in accordance with arrangements made by the Minister
under Article 25.
(4) Where
a money order or postal order issued by a foreign administration is paid by the
Minister to a banker to whom it has been delivered for collection on behalf of
a person other than the true owner of the order, the Minister shall not be
liable to the true owner of the order by reason of having paid it to that
banker.
(5) Where –
(a) an uncrossed money order or postal order
issued by a foreign postal administration, being an order expressed to be
payable to a person specified or described therein and purporting to be signed
by him or her or on his or her behalf; or
(b) an uncrossed postal order so issued, being
an order not expressed to be payable to such a person,
is presented to the Minister for
payment otherwise than by a banker to whom it has been delivered for collection
or the true owner of the order, payment of the order by the Minister to the person
presenting it shall not render the Minister liable to the true owner of the order.
23 Exemption
from liability in respect of money orders and postal orders
No proceedings shall lie against
the States or against any postal officer in respect of –
(a) anything
done in accordance with any order made under this Part;
(b) the
wrong payment of a money order or postal order;
(c) any
loss or damage due to refusal to pay or delay in paying a money order or postal
order issued on behalf of the States or by a foreign postal administration;
(d) accidental
neglect, omission or mistake by or on the part of any postal officer in connection
with a money order or postal order.
24 Offences
in connection with money orders and postal orders
(1) Any
postal officer who with intent to defraud grants or issues any money order or
postal order shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to imprisonment
for a term not exceeding 7 years.
(2) Any
postal officer who reissues a money order or postal order which has previously
been paid shall for the purposes of this Article be deemed to have issued the order
with intent to defraud.
(3) Any
person who with intent to defraud obliterates, adds to or alters any such lines
or words on a money order or postal order as would, in the case of a cheque, be
a crossing of that cheque or knowingly offers, utters or disposes of any money order
or postal order with such fraudulent obliteration, addition or alteration shall
be guilty of an offence and be liable to the like punishment as if the order
were a cheque.
25 Arrangements
with other countries as to money orders and postal orders
The States may by Act make such
provisions as seem to them to be necessary for the purpose of giving effect to
any arrangement with the government of the United Kingdom or the government of
any other country or territory or any foreign postal administration with
respect to the transmission of small sums through post offices under the charge
of the States and the government of the other country by means of money orders
and postal orders and the provisions of this Part shall, subject to any
modifications specified in such Act, apply to any order issued in pursuance of
the arrangement.
PART 7
GENERAL OFFENCES
26 Stealing
mail bag or postal packet
Any person who steals or attempts
to steal –
(a) any
mail bag;
(b) any
postal packet in course of transmission by post; or
(c) any
of the contents of such mail bag or postal packet,
shall be guilty of an offence and
shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years.
27 Unlawfully
taking away or opening mail bag
Any person who unlawfully takes
away or opens a mail bag sent by any ship, vehicle or aircraft employed for the
transmission of postal packets in pursuance of an agreement made by the Minister
under Article 6 or unlawfully takes a postal packet in course of
transmission by post out of a mail bag so sent shall be guilty of an offence
and shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years.
28 Receiving
stolen mail bag or postal packet
Any person who receives any mail
bag, or any postal packet or any chattel or money or valuable security, the
stealing or secreting of which amounts to an offence under this Law, knowing it
to have been so stolen or secreted and to have been sent, or to have been
intended to be sent, by post shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable
to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years.
29 Retention
of mail bag or postal packet
Any person who fraudulently
retains, or wilfully secretes or keeps, or detains, or who, when required by a
postal officer, neglects or refuses to deliver up –
(a) any
postal packet which is in course of transmission by post and which ought to
have been delivered to any other person; or
(b) any
postal packet in course of transmission by post or any mail bag which has been
found by him or her or by any other person,
shall be guilty of an offence and
shall be liable to a fine not exceeding £100 and to imprisonment for a
term not exceeding 2 years.
30 Unlawful
opening of postal packet
(1) Any
person who unlawfully opens or causes to be opened any postal packet which
ought to have been delivered to another person or does any act or thing whereby
the due delivery of the packet to that other person is prevented or delayed
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding £50
or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months.
(2) Nothing
in this Article shall apply to a person who does any act to which this Article
applies where he or she is parent, or in the position of parent or curator or
tutor, of the person to whom the postal packet is addressed.
(3) In
this Article the expression “postal packet” means a postal packet
which is in course of transmission by post or which has been delivered by post.
31 Taking
of postal packet by postal officer
Any postal officer who takes,
secretes or destroys a postal packet in course of transmission by post shall be
guilty of an offence and shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not
exceeding 7 years.
32 Opening
or delaying of postal packet by postal officer
Any postal officer who, contrary to
his or her duty, opens, or procures or suffers to be opened, any postal packet
in course of transmission by post, or wilfully detains or delays, or procures
or suffers to be detained or delayed, any such postal packet shall be guilty of
an offence and shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years
or to a fine not exceeding £100 or to both such fine and such
imprisonment:
Provided that nothing in this Article
shall extend to the opening, detaining or delaying of a postal packet returned
for want of a true direction, or returned by reason that the person to whom it
is directed has refused it, or has refused or neglected to pay the postage thereof,
or that the packet cannot for any other reason be delivered, or to the opening,
detaining or delaying of a postal packet under the authority of this Law or in
obedience to a warrant issued by the Attorney General under Article 3 of
the Interception of Communications (Jersey)
Law 1993.[14]
33 Carelessness,
negligence or misconduct of persons employed in carrying or delivering mail
bags, postal packets etc.
Any person employed to convey or
deliver a mail bag, or a postal packet in course of transmission by post, or to
perform any other duty in respect of a mail bag or such a postal packet
who –
(a) without
authority whilst so employed, or whilst the mail bag or postal packet is in his
or her custody or possession, leaves it, or suffers any person, not being the person
in charge thereof, to ride in the place appointed for the person in charge thereof
in or upon any vehicle used for the conveyance thereof, or to ride in or upon a
vehicle so used and not licensed to carry passengers;
(b) is
guilty of any act of drunkenness whilst so employed;
(c) is
guilty of carelessness, negligence or other misconduct whereby the safety of
the mail bag or postal packet is endangered;
(d) without
authority collects, receives, conveys or delivers a postal packet otherwise
than in the ordinary course of post;
(e) gives
any false information of an assault or attempt at robbery upon him or her; or
(f) loiters
on the road or passage, or wilfully misspends his or her time so as to retard
the progress or delay the arrival of a mail bag or postal packet in the course
of transmission by post, or does not use due care and diligence safely to
convey a mail bag or postal packet at the due rate of speed,
shall be guilty of an offence and
shall be liable to a fine not exceeding £50.
34 Prohibition
of placing injurious substances in or against post office letter boxes
Any person who –
(a) places
or attempts to place in or against any post office letter box any fire, match,
light, explosive substance, dangerous substance, filth, noxious or deleterious
substance or fluid;
(b) commits
a nuisance in or against any post office letter box; or
(c) does
or attempts to do anything likely to injure a post office letter box or its
appurtenances or contents,
shall be guilty of an offence and
shall be liable to a fine not exceeding £50 or to imprisonment for a term
not exceeding 3 months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.
35 Prohibition
of affixing things on post offices etc.
Any person who without due
authority affixes or attempts to affix any placard, advertisement, notice,
list, document, board or thing in or on, or paints or tars, any post office,
post office letter box or other property belonging to or used by or on behalf
of the Minister for postal purposes or in any way disfigures any such office,
box, post or property shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to a
fine not exceeding £5.
36 Prohibition
of imitation of stamps, envelopes, forms and marks
Any person who without due
authority makes, issues or sends by post or otherwise any envelope, wrapper,
card, form or paper in imitation of one issued by or under the authority of the
Minister or of any other postal administration, or having thereon any words,
letters or marks which signify or imply or reasonably lead the recipient thereof
to believe that it emanates from a Minister or Department of the States with
whom the Minister has made an arrangement under Article 8, shall be guilty
of an offence and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding £10.
37 Obstruction
and molestation of postal officer
(1) Any
person who wilfully obstructs or molests, or incites anyone to obstruct or
molest, a postal officer in the execution of his or her duty or, whilst in any
post office, obstructs the course of business of that office shall be guilty of
an offence and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding £10 or to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding one month or to both such fine and such
imprisonment.
(2) A
postal officer may require any person who commits any of the acts mentioned in paragraph (1)
to leave a post office and, if the person so required refuses or fails to
comply with the requirement, he or she may be removed by the officer and shall
be liable to a further fine of £5.
(3) Any
police officer shall, at the request of a postal officer, help to expel from a
post office any person liable to be expelled under the provisions of this Article
and may use such force as may be required for the purpose.
38 Penalties
for offences
A person guilty of an offence under
this Law for which no penalty is otherwise provided shall be liable to the
penalties prescribed in this Article, that is to say –
(a) in
respect of an offence under Article 14 to a fine not exceeding £50
or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 6 months;
(b) in
respect of an offence under Article 17 to a fine not exceeding £50;
(c) in
respect of an offence under Part 5 to a fine not exceeding £200.
PART 8
MISCELLANEOUS
39 Surrender
of clothing by postal officer
(1) Where
a postal officer ceases to be employed in that capacity he or she, or if he or
she is dead, his or her personal representative shall deliver to the Minister
all articles of uniform, equipment or other necessaries issued to the postal
officer by the Minister in connection with the performance of his or her duties
as such officer.
(2) Any
person who fails to comply with the provisions of this Article shall be liable
to a fine not exceeding £5 and to pay such further sum not exceeding £5
as the court may determine to be the value of the articles not delivered or, if
the articles have been delivered but not in good order and condition, of the
damage done to the articles.
40 Provisions
as to Orders
(1) The
Minister may by Order prescribe anything which the Minister may under this Law
prescribe.
(2) The
Subordinate Legislation (Jersey)
Law 1960,[15] shall apply to Orders made under this Law.
41 Citation
This Law may be cited as the Post
Office (Jersey) Law 1969.