1

Blue Knight

Maybe the time has come for the Home Affairs Minister to introduce a system they have recently adopted in England and Wales. All fines for criminal offences now carry an additional “victims surcharge” of £15.

The levy is added on top of every fine handed out following a conviction in court, for a criminal offence.

This is paid into a fund aimed at helping improve services for victims of crime and is fixed at a flat rate, regardless of the size of the fine.

So much is done to look after the welfare of wrongdoers; it’s about time the States looked at helping victims.

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3

martin

Here is yet another headline story ( following the one on the woman’s refuge recently),of a worthy organisation which should be recieving help from the fund, set up by our government to make good use of the proceeds of the “drugs and criminal confiscation law”.Instead the fund was raided by the law offices department to augment their own budget.The Auditor and Controller General’s report into this sorry story is worth reading,(on the C.A.G. web site). What was left of the funds millions was sunk into the general expenditure. Our government have an obligation to help any of these vital services if they are in trouble.
Your moderator refused my posting on the previous story ( woman’s refuge), lets try again.

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5

Overpopulated

If the States were not paying about £30 million per year into the pockets of wealthy property oweners by way of the rent rebate scheme there would be money for this and other things

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7

J Lamborrari

@ Blue Knight #1
I agree that a system such as this should be in place, and I’d happily see a system where instead of a fixed £15 the amount the amount matched the cost to the victim. If they criminal can’t afford it, it should be put on account and paid off over time.

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9

Blue Knight

PJG # 6. It wasn’t my idea and I am not too bothered who gets the credit, so long as something is done to help Victim Support et al. Maybe Elaine Byrne the JEP journalist, who wrote the original article, could research the situation in England and Wales and do a feature on the system there. This would bring it to the attention of the States, in particular Home Affairs, for the consideration of introducing it in Jersey.

J Lamborrari # 7. In the U.K., criminals can be ordered to pay compensation as well as having to pay the £15 surcharge. The compensation is paid to the victim via H.M.Courts Service once a convicted person has paid the money to them. My understanding is, the £15 surcharge is paid into the coffers of the Victim Support Service to help them do their vital work.

As I’ve said, relating to other topics on the JEP discussion board, the ‘Jersey way’ isn’t always the best. There is a lot to be learnt from other jurisdictions that would be beneficial to the Island. Why for instance doesn’t the Island just plagiarise much of the legislation that already exists in the U.K.? It would save a lot of money that the States can ill afford.

Come on the JEP’s Elaine Byrne; get on your computer and Google victim surcharges. Journalists aren’t just there to bring the news, they are there to bring about changes and reveal injustices too…….Good luck !

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