Jersey discrimination law postponed due to budget cuts

Jersey's home affairs minister said his department lacked the relevant expertise

Jersey's planned discrimination law has been shelved after £100,000 was cut from funding for the legislation.

The Home Affairs Minister, Senator Ian Le Marquand, said he will not be bringing the law to the States before the elections in autumn.

Last year he said he did not see sense in introducing a law and setting up a tribunal while funding was at risk.

But the Jersey Community Relations Trust said there was no excuse to delay the legislation.

The States first began to budget money for the new law four years ago.

Senator Le Marquand said they were going to start with racial discrimination, before moving on to issues of age or gender discrimination.

But he claimed there are still issues that need to be sorted out before the law is ready for debate.

The minister said his department does not have the expertise for this area of legislation and it has become a lower priority than a new police force law, a young offenders law, and a law to send foreigners back to their own country to serve a prison sentence.

He said it was unlikely the department will be able to get more funding for discrimination legislation during the current spending review process.

Dr Elena Moran, the chairperson of the Jersey Community Relations Trust, said there is no excuse, Jersey ought to introduce the law.