Legality of court system under fire

Friday 19th October 2007, 12:00AM BST.

A STATES Deputy says Jersey should set up a public prosecution service before it finds itself taken to the European Court of Human Rights.

Deputy Bob Hill says that the opinion of a top human rights lawyer published last month makes clear that Jersey’s Magistrate’s Court system is violating the right of defendants to a fair trial. He has lodged a proposition today to postpone the introduction of the Criminal Justice Policy, due to be debated on 20 November, until independent legal opinion can be obtained into the legality of the Jersey system. Deputy Hill says it is only a matter of time before somebody convicted in the Magistrate’s Court appeals to the European Court and has their conviction overturned.

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