Draft Register of Names and Addresses (Jersey) Amendment Law 202-

STATES OF JERSEY

DRAFT REGISTER OF NAMES AND ADDRESSES (JERSEY) AMENDMENT LAW 202-

Lodged au Greffe on 2nd December 2025 by the Chief Minister

Earliest date for debate: 20th January 2026

STATES GREFFE

2025  P.109/2025

DRAFT REGISTER OF NAMES AND ADDRESSES (JERSEY) AMENDMENT LAW 202-

European Convention on Human Rights

In accordance with the provisions of Article 16 of the Human Rights (Jersey) Law 2000, the Chief Minister has made the following statement –

In the view of the Chief Minister, the provisions of the Draft Register of Names and Addresses (Jersey) Amendment Law 202- are compatible with the Convention Rights.

Signed:   Deputy L.J. Farnham of St. Mary , St. Ouen and St. Peter

Chief Minister

Dated:  21st November 2025

REPORT

The Draft Law proposes amendments to the Register of Names and Addresses (Jersey) Law 2012 ("RNA Law") to extend the permitted purposes under Article 5A(2) for which information supplied to credit reference agencies (CRAs) may be processed.

In 2023, the RNA Law was amended by the Register of Names and Addresses (Amendment) (Jersey) Law 2023 ("the 2023 Amendment") to allow the Minister to share information with CRAs. This change aimed to support checks typically carried out by credit providers and banking institutions.

During implementation of the necessary processes and agreements, it became clear that the restrictive provisions of Article 5A would prevent reasonable application of purposes under the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018 – specifically, processing for law enforcement purposes. This limitation would prevent the Minister from prescribing an agency as a CRA under the Law because the CRAs' systems automatically service law enforcement requests with access to their data. Adjusting these processes is not feasible; therefore, recognition of an additional permitted purpose within Article 5A(2) is necessary.

The 2023 Amendment was consulted on in Summer 2023, and a response paper was published. That paper acknowledged that UK regulators may have legitimate grounds for accessing CRA- held information. The current proposal is consistent with that position.

Financial and staffing implications

There are no additional resource implications arising.

Children's Rights Impact Assessment

A Children's Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA) screener has been prepared in relation to this proposition and is available to read on the States Assembly website.

Human Rights

The notes on the human rights aspects of the Draft Law have been included as an Appendix. They have been prepared by the Law Officers' Department for the information of States Members. They are not, and should not be taken as, legal advice.

APPENDIX TO REPORT

Human Rights Notes on the Draft Register of Names and Addresses (Jersey) Amendment Law 202-

These notes have been prepared in respect of the draft Register of Names and Addresses (Jersey) Amendment Law 202- (the "draft Law") by the Law Officers' Department.

These notes are included for the information of States Members. They are not, and should not be taken as, legal advice.

The draft Law has been reviewed by the Law Officers' Department to ensure compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights (the "Convention"/"ECHR"). Subject to the following observations, it has been determined that, due to the nature of the amendments made, the draft Law does not give rise to any additional human rights issues above and beyond those that exist under the current version of the Register of Names and Addresses (Jersey) Law 2012 (the "Principal Law").

Notwithstanding that the Law Officers' Department's view is that the draft Law does not give rise to additional human rights concerns per se, it is considered prudent to highlight the following new provision in the context of the previous human rights notes relating to the Register of Names and Addresses (Amendment) (Jersey) Law 2023 (the "2023 Amendment"):

1.  Amended Article 5A

Article 5A, which permits the Chief Minister to supply certain information about Jersey residents (referred to in Article 5A as "relevant information"), from the Register of Names and Addresses maintained under the Principal Law, to credit reference agencies (the "CRAs"), will be amended by the addition of a further "purpose", being "law enforcement purposes" (as such term is defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018). This amendment is required because, after the 2023 Amendment came into force, the CRAs indicated that the strict provisions of Jersey law could potentially hinder the processing of Jersey data within their existing systems. Following consideration of these potential barriers, it was determined that Article 5A of the Principal Law would need to be amended to ensure that the provisions do not unreasonably restrict processing by the CRAs.

From an Article 8(2) ECHR perspective, and as per the previous human rights notes on the 2023 Amendment, the above provision is considered to be justified as being in accordance with the law and proportionate to the legitimate aims set out in Article 8(2).

Draft Register of Names and Addresses (Jersey) Amendment Law 202-  Explanatory Note

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This Law, if passed, would amend the Register of Names and Addresses (Jersey) Law 2012 (the "2012 Law") to widen the circumstances in which information may be shared with and by prescribed credit reference agencies ("CRA").

Article 5A of the 2012 Law allows the Chief Minister to share an individual's name, residential address and date of birth with a CRA, but only for specified purposes. A CRA that receives that information may only use it for those specified purposes. This Law adds another specified purpose to Article 5A, so that information may be shared for a "law enforcement purpose", as defined in Article 1(1) of the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018.

Article 1 states that this Law amends the 2012 Law.

Article 2 amends Article 5A.

Article 3 gives the name of this Law and states that it comes into force 7 days after it is registered.

Draft Register of Names and Addresses (Jersey) Amendment Law 202-  Article 1

DRAFT REGISTER OF NAMES AND ADDRESSES (JERSEY) AMENDMENT LAW 202-

A LAW to amend the Register of Names and Addresses (Jersey) Law 2012.

Adopted by the States  [date to be inserted] Sanctioned by Order of His Majesty in Council  [date to be inserted] Registered by the Royal Court  [date to be inserted] Coming into force  [date to be inserted]

THE STATES, subject to the sanction of His Most Excellent Majesty in Council, have adopted the following Law –

1  Register of Names and Addresses (Jersey) Law 2012 amended

This Law amends the Register of Names and Addresses (Jersey) Law 2012.

2  Article 5A (Minister may supply relevant information to credit reference

agencies) amended

In Article 5A(2) –

1. in the opening words, "to enable" is deleted;
2. at the beginning of sub-paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) there is inserted "to enable";
3. after sub-paragraph (c) there is inserted –
   4. a law enforcement purpose (within the meaning given in Article 1(1) of the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018).

3  Citation and commencement

This Law may be cited as the Register of Names and Addresses (Jersey) Amendment Law 202- and comes into force 7 days after it is registered.