Draft Criminal Justice (Procedures) (Jersey) Amendment Law 202- (P.38/2026) – Children’s Rights Impact Assessment

1)  Name and brief description of the proposed decision

The subject of your CRIA may be a proposed law, policy or proposition and in accordance with the Law is referred to in this template as the decision'

• What is the problem or issue the decision is trying to address?

• Do children experience this problem differently from adults?

The Draft Criminal Justice (Procedures) (Jersey) Amendment Law 202– is a set of amendments to the Criminal Procedure (Jersey) Law 2018, the Bail Law, Police Procedures and Criminal Evidence Law, and the Royal Court Law.

The amendments make changes to criminal procedure including:

• clarifications to summons processes

• case management powers

• correction of errors ("slip rule")

• expansion of jury list powers

• increased reserve juror numbers for long trials

• changes to defence case statement rules

• adjustments to attendance at sentencing rules

• expanded prohibitions on cross examination by unrepresented defendants in certain offences

• bail procedure reforms

• reintroduction of retrials following a hung jury

• reduction of the Superior Number quorum from 5 jurats to 3

What is the problem or issue the decision is trying to address?

The Law seeks to improve efficiency, clarity and fairness within the criminal justice system. Key issues include:

• operational inconsistencies and minor defects in the 2018 Law

• the inability to retry a case after a hung jury, which has resulted in confusion and distress in recent real world cases

• the need to streamline scheduling and administrative burdens within the courts

Do children experience this problem differently from adults?

These amendments affect system wide procedure rather than matters specific to children. However:

• children may be defendants, victims, or witnesses in criminal cases;

• changes affecting jury processes, retrials, cross examination restrictions, and bail management can affect children indirectly through these roles.

2)  Which groups of children and young people are likely to be affected?

Groups of children could include early years, primary or secondary education; young adults; children with additional learning needs; disabled children; children living in poverty; children from particular ethnic backgrounds; migrants; refugees; care experienced children and LGBTQ+ children

While effects are indirect and procedural, the following groups might be affected:

• Child victims of violent, sexual, or neglect-related offences (particularly due to expanded restrictions on cross-examination by defendants in person)

• Children who are witnesses, especially in serious cases

• Children who are defendants, particularly in relation to bail processes, retrial provisions, or jury-related procedural issues

• Care-experienced or vulnerable children, who are statistically more likely to be involved in criminal proceedings as victims or witnesses

• Children affected by court delays, as longer processes can extend uncertainty in family life

3)  What is the likely impact of the proposed decision on children and on their rights?

• Identify any potential positive OR negative impacts and include indirect impacts on children and their rights as described in the UNCRC

• Will different groups of children be affected differently by this decision?

• Improved protection for child victims

The expansion of offences for which unrepresented defendants cannot cross-examine child victims strengthens protections for children involved in sexual, violent, or exploitative offences. While it is possible that retrials following a hung juries would prolong proceedings for child victims or witnesses, the law permits only one retrial, and the uncertainty from a hung jury could potentially be much more harmful.

Relevant rights: UNCRC Articles 19, 34, 36, 39, and fair-trial safeguards under Article 40.

• Greater certainty and finality in proceedings involving children Allowing retrial after a hung jury avoids outcomes where child victims

receive no resolution, which the Report notes can be distressing and confusing.

Relevant rights: Articles 3, 12, 19, 39.

• Increased efficiency in scheduling trials

Reducing the quorum of the Superior Number from 5 to 3 jurats is intended to improve scheduling efficiency without compromising justice.

This may indirectly reduce delays that affect child victims and witnesses.

• Clearer procedures for bail, attendance, and case management

These can reduce delays and improve procedural fairness, which indirectly benefits children involved in proceedings either as defendants or victims.

Will different groups of children be affected differently by this decision? Yes:

• Child victims of serious crime are most positively impacted by the enhancement of protection against cross examination.

• Child defendants may be impacted by retrial provisions due to extended uncertainty, but they retain all existing fair-trial protections and cannot be retried more than once.

• Child victims and witnesses may be affected by long trial processes, and measures reducing collapse or delay mitigate this.

4)  Is a full Children's Rights Impact Assessment required?

If you have identified impacts on children and their rights, a full CRIA should be completed. If no impacts are identified then a Full CRIA is not required, but please explain your rationale and how you reached this conclusion

No.

• No provision in the Amendment Law directly changes rights, entitlements, duties, thresholds, or interventions specific to children.

• If there is any impact on children the effects will be indirect, procedural, and largely positive, particularly regarding protections for child victims and witnesses.

• Any negative impacts from potentially re-trying proceedings are limited, mitigated, and balanced by the explicit intention to reduce uncertainty and harm caused by unresolved trials.

• Changes do not alter the Youth Justice system, sentencing of children, or the legal status of children in criminal proceedings.