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New non-punitive approaches for the possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use don’t need to be introduced because they already exist, according to Home Affairs.
The Committee was directed by the States, as part of its wider review into the justice system, to investigate whether non-custodial measures could be used in low-level drug possession cases in July 2020.
A community survey was sent out in February 2022 to gauge public opinion to help inform the work of a group, which included members from Health & Social Care. It concluded it’s studies recently.
“The group found that people whose only offence before the court was the possession of a small amount of illegal drugs were not experiencing custodial outcomes… it therefore established that non-punitive approaches are already available,” Home Affairs President, Deputy Rob Prow said.
Home Affairs acknowledged that these approaches may not be “used consistently and to the extent that they could” by the island’s courts, however.
That comes after an independent report into Guernsey’s justice system found that there is no overarching strategy defining what the island’s criminal sentencing regime is attempting to achieve, and why.
The previous States took no action on any of the review's recommendations at the time.
Pictured: The investigation into non-punitive approaches came after a successful motion from former deputy Emilie McSwiggan.
The Committee previously ruled out decriminalising or legalising drugs as part of the initial review.
Nevertheless, Home Affairs has agreed to “provide a clear and transparent political direction on divergence away from the criminal justice system regarding small quantities of all illegal drugs together with a robust strategy with regard to drug trafficking offences”.
That would see the possession of all illegal drugs remaining a criminal offence but involves an investigation into yet to be defined “divergence options”, which usually feature interventions without changes to the law.
Deputy Prow admitted that this work has all but paused, though.
“Unfortunately, it has not been immediately possible to progress this work as quickly as the Committee would have hoped due to competing priorities,” he said.
The Committees’ preparations for the island’s Monveyval inspection next year is eating up significant human resources and public money. But Deputy Prow has made assurances that work to improve the justice system, not just drug policy, is ongoing.
“It is regrettable that in the current fiscal situation that the States has had to reprioritise within the GWP refresh. While the Assembly prioritised the work on Moneyval, the funding earmarked for resources to develop the Justice Framework Action Plan remains the same.
“The Committee is also continuing to progress work under the Justice Framework, such as prioritising a review of domestic abuse legislation in line with the objectives of the Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence Strategy.”
Pictured: Cannabis is one the most prevalent illegal drugs in the Bailiwick. Credit: Bailiwick Law Enforcement.
The value of cannabis seized by the Guernsey Border Agency alone far exceeded the value of all other illicit drugs intercepted last year, according to Bailiwick Law Enforcement’s latest annual report.
This trend goes back years.
In July 2022 HSC were directed to scope a review looking at the legal status of cannabis and how a legal framework for it could be established locally, reporting back this year.
But that work was shelved for the remainder of this States by Policy & Resources a few months ago as they looked to strip back on government business due to budgetary pressures.
Health President Al Brouard said this “important workstream” cannot be completed now, something agreed by other committee members.
The Committee “hopes” the next States Assembly “picks it up as a priority”.
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