Words : Advocate Chris Hillier, Head of Family Law at Ingram Advocates.

Advocate Chris Hillier, Head of Family Law, Ingram Advocates, discusses safeguarding and the impact of the Children and Young People (Jersey) Law 2022.

The Children and Young People (Jersey) Law 2022 (the Law) was enacted in March this year. Overall, the Law promotes and strengthens accountability for the protection  of children and young people in Jersey.

What is safeguarding?

The NSPCC defines safeguarding as “the action that is taken to promote the welfare of children and protect them from harm.”

What does the Law do?

The Law forms part of the Government’s response to the final report of the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry, and its purpose ( the “overriding objective”) is to promote and support the wellbeing, and to safeguard the welfare of children and young people in the Island.  Taking a step back to 2017 when the Inquiry’s final report was published, it was the experience of children within the care system that was at the heart of the Inquiry’s work.  That report identified individual and systemic failings and made recommendations for the future management and operation of Jersey’s residential and foster homes, to ensure the island provided a safe and secure environment for the children in its care.  

The Children’s Commissioner

Running throughout the Law is a duty to consult the Children’s Commissioner, whose role is to promote and protect children’s rights in Jersey, when Ministers publish or revise guidance.

New responsibilities

The Law invokes a duty on the Minister for Children and Education to assess the requirements of children with health or development needs, children in care and care leavers, along with placing a duty on the Minister to provide a range and level of services appropriate to meet the assessed needs of these groups of children and care leavers. 

There is a further duty to:  

• promote wellbeing and to publish a children and young people’s strategic plan every four years. 

• review child deaths. 

• provide a framework of support for children in care and care leavers, and

• to make arrangements for independent advocacy for certain groups and establish a procedure for complaints and representation.

Responsible Ministers and ‘Safeguarding Partners’ must also ensure that:

• children and young people are protected against all forms of unlawful discrimination;

• they have the best interests of children and young people as a primary consideration.

Who are the Safeguarding Partners?

The Law confirms certain Chief Officer roles in the States of Jersey as ‘Safeguarding Partners’ (Article 5), to ensure individual accountability and to maintain  a consistent approach by children and adult services. 

Safeguarding Partners include the Chief Officer, States of Jersey Police, the Chief Executive and Head of the Public Service, as well as the Chief Officers of CYPES, Health and Community Services and the Justice and Home Affairs Departments. 

A Safeguarding Ministerial Group is responsible for ensuring that Ministers understand their duties, and to consider priorities for reform, as well as to ensure a collaborative style of working.

Conclusion 

Some seven years after the conclusions of the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry, the new Law is a statutory effort to avoid previous failings relating to children in care and care experienced people. It is hoped that the specific accountabilities of Ministers and Safeguarding Partners will create a consistent, high-level approach, and greatly improve the experience of looked after children and young people in Jersey. 

 Words: Claire Davies, Principal of Claire Davies, Advocate

Since 2000, the courts of both England and Jersey have recognised the principle of equality when resolving financial applications on divorce. In some cases, we achieve equality by dividing assets down the middle. 

In others, one party will need either a bit more of the assets or some additional income for a period of time. In essence the court will look at the available resources and do their best to find a solution that meets the reasonable needs of both parties – particularly their need for housing.  In simple terms, most cases begin and end with those needs, rather than wants.

In cases where there is more than enough to go around, wealth will generally be shared equally. Sometimes a divorcing couple will have entered into a nuptial agreement, which may (or may not) alter the outcome. Very occasionally, particularly where a marriage has been short, the court will ring-fence an asset or some funds because they were generated outside the marriage. However, as a general rule, all assets are in the pot – wherever they come from. In 2024, it still comes as a nasty surprise to many spouses that their businesses, pensions and share options are matrimonial assets that will be taken into account on divorce.  

For higher earners, the law can feel particularly unfair. They will not get special credit for their efforts in the office or the boardroom. Arguments of special contribution, as it is known, are now limited to truly exceptional cases, described by one English Judge as “white leopards”.  The moral of this story? Consider whether a nuptial agreement will help you to feel more secure in your position. There are couples who both feel that the current legal position is less than fair. Otherwise, understand that when courts speak of equality – they mean it.

Words: Matthew Godden, Partner and Advocate at Le Gallais & Luce

The wedding dress, the venue, the guest list, the photographer, the cake, these are just some of the many things that need to be organised before the big day and now it is becoming more commonplace to add another to that list –  the prenuptial agreement.  According to the New Marriage Foundation research one in five weddings in the UK now start with a prenup and a YouGov poll in 2023 found that 42% of British people consider prenups a good idea, compared with 13% who consider them a bad idea.

A pre-nuptial agreement is an agreement made by a couple before they marry or enter into a civil partnership, which sets out how they wish their assets to be divided if they should divorce or have their civil partnership dissolved. The agreement sets out what will happen to assets that were purchased both before and after the marriage and assets held in both sole and joint names in the unfortunate event the marriage breaks down and ends in divorce.

Prenuptial Agreements are understandably viewed by many as unromantic and contrary to the very notion of marriage.  Talking about the possibility of breaking up is a conversation that many people don’t want to have before they are about to tie the knot but the reality is that on marriage as well as the loving commitment you are making to each other you are also making a contractual commitment – yes that makes marriage sound like a business arrangements which of course it’s not but fact is that it is estimated that the divorce rate in the UK is around 42%; nobody gets married to get divorced but it is sadly something that happens.

The happiness of a wedding day could be followed in years to come by arguments about finances and financial disclosure, about what should happen with the monies that were inherited or gifted to one party by a grandparent or parent and for some couples they may rather set out clearly at the outset what will happen in that eventuality.  With a prenup in place you can determine how your wealth should be split yourself, rather than, should you get divorced and be unable to reach an amicable agreement, leave it in the hands of the Court.  A pre-nup can reduce potential conflict.

Prenuptial agreements are most common when people are getting married for the second or third time as they may want to protect assets they have acquired as part of their divorce or when they have inherited or may inherit from their family.  Prenups can cover anything from money to property to belongings, they can include pre-marriage assets, inherited wealth and also future assets such as expected inheritance.  It doesn’t matter whether the value is millions, thousands or just sentimental.

A few key points to consider in relation to pre-nuptial agreements:

You should ideally enter your prenup at least 28 days before your wedding day.

You will both need to get legal advice so you understand what you are signing.

The agreement must be entered of your own free will.

Both parties will need to disclose all their finances.

What is fair at the time you enter the pre-nup may not be fair in the future so you should keep it under review.  The most obvious example of this is children, a pre-nup that does not take into account children may well not be upheld by the Courts. 

Pre-nuptial agreements are not automatically enforceable in the Jersey court, the fairness of upholding any particular agreement will be considered by the court on a case by case basis. In the absence of circumstances which would make it unfair, it may well be upheld.

If you want to know more about pre-nuptial agreements including the fixed fee packages Le Gallais & Luce offer, or have any questions about any family law issues, please contact Matthew Godden at family@lgl.je or by phone on 01534 760760.