Deputy warns of serious failures in criminal justice policies

Wednesday 29 August 2018

Deputy Emilie Yerby has raised concerns about Guernsey's criminal justice policy, saying there could be serious failures ahead if more isn't done to stem the number of people being sent to prison in the island.

Deputy Yerby first asked a number of questions about the issue earlier in the summer after being worried by the President of Home Affairs who said her committee was considering options for extending Les Nicolles Prison in light of growing numbers of inmates.

Deputy Mary Lowe made those comments during her routine update to the States on behalf of Home Affairs. Since then, Deputy Yerby asked a number of Rule 14 written questions which Deputy Lowe had to answer, although her political colleague hasn't been satisfied by the answers.

Deputy Yerby's questions included asking does the Home Affairs Committee see the increasing number of inmates as "an urgent sign of the need to take further steps to tackle the causes of crime" and "what role will the new laws play in helping to reduce rates of reoffending."

She also asked what crimes does the Home Affairs Committee give the most urgent focus of attempts to prevent or reduce and "how soon will the new Sexual Offences, Parole and Probation laws be brought to the States?"

Pictured: Deputy Emily Yerby has asked a number of questions about crime and justice in Guernsey and she is less than satisfied with some of the answers 

Deputy Yerby also challenged Home Affairs by saying that "as justice policy is fundamental to the work of government, and all Committees need to be aware of the role they can play in helping to tackle the causes of crime, will the Committee please undertake to lay its Justice Framework before the States for debate and approval before the end of 2018?"

She has now said she is not satisfied with the answers she has received to these questions and others. Deputy Lowe replied publicly with all of her answers posted on the States website here. 

Among Deputy Lowe's answers she said a number of different agencies, including her committee, are all working together to ensure the prison population doesn't increase unnecessarily.

"There are a number of factors which might influence an increase in prison numbers," she said, "including improved detection and prosecution of offences which may attract a longer sentence and the careful judgement by the Courts of what the appropriate sentence needs to be in each case. Caution always needs to be exercised when drawing conclusions from relatively small data sets and it would arguably be premature to conclude that the current upward trend in the prison population is an urgent sign of a problem with the community or the justice system. Nonetheless it is equally not something to be ignored and in this respect the Committee remains focussed on ensuring that Guernsey remains a safe and secure place to live where crime rates are low. Tackling the root causes of crime is a key factor in seeking to keep the Bailiwick safe and secure in the long term. This requires multi-agency activity and cross Committee working."

Deputy Lowe said Home Affairs recognises that the victim should be at the centre of criminal justice policy and "it values and supports the excellent work of the Bailiwick of Guernsey Victim Support and Witness Service" with regular dialogue between a number of services to ensure the right outcomes are achieved.

Deputy Lowe also confirmed that her committee considers all crime to be serious and one of its main aims is to "ensure that Guernsey remains a safe place to live and do business."

Pictured: Deputy Mary Lowe, who as President of Home Affairs, has political responsiblity for crime and justice in Guernsey 

The Vale politician also said that Home Affairs is working jointly with the Policy & Resources Committee "to progress the transformation of justice and establish appropriate governance and support for the Justice Framework initiative by December 2018," which will mean a number of changes are likely to be introduced in the future but that won't be a quick job. 

"The potential gains for the Island are well worth the energy and effort which will be required but it is already clear that reviewing and further developing the whole justice package will not be a case of agreeing it by December 2018 and implementing it in 2019. It is about the myriad of interconnected issues," she said. 

She said the Home Affairs Committee's responses "did not reveal a clear and focused agenda for tackling the causes of crime. In fact, its inability to provide data on the range of sentences issued by the Courts for different types of crime suggest it may not even be keeping track of fundamental data about the rate and nature of crime in the community."

Deputy Yerby also said that although the Committee acknowledged that poverty, unemployment, fractured family relationships and early life experiences are serious risk factors for crime, "it has not demonstrated that it has a plan for addressing these alone or in partnership with other States' Committees. It is doing important work on reoffending and rehabilitation, but does not appear to have matched this with a focus on the prevention of crime in the first place."

The current prison population of 106 inmates, out of an island wide population of just under 63,000 is "concerning" according to Deputy Yerby who said that "we need to be asking what's happening with sentencing locally, and whether there are any areas where we may need to reconsider our approach."

Pictured: Guernsey's prison isn't currently full but there are concerns over increasing numbers of inmates generally 

A number of inmates at Les Nicolles Prison are jailed for less than a year and Deputy Yerby is concerned that many of them are young men and women, so she would like to see fewer short prison sentences handed out with new alternatives which would aid rehabilitation instead.

Deputy Yerby said that Home Affairs should be "much more focused on the root causes of offending, and of keeping victims safe" and that she is disappointed that Home Affairs has not yet made a commitment to bring its Justice Framework to the States as speedily as she would like.

"I will continue to call on the Committee to do so, so that we can be confident that Guernsey will remain the safe and peaceful place it's been for generations," she said.