Jersey’s first Deferred Prosecution Agreement – publication of related documents

On 18 December 2024 the Royal Court made a declaration that it is in the interests of justice for the Attorney General to enter into a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with Afex Offshore (Jersey) Limited and that the terms of the DPA are fair, reasonable and proportionate. 

Under Article 7 (8) of the DPA Law the Attorney General is now required to publish certain information and documents in connection with the DPA proceedings with respect to Afex Offshore (Jersey) Limited.

The Attorney General has decided to the publish the following documents:

1) The indictment;

2) The statement of facts; and

3) The DPA.

These documents are published in this form in compliance with and subject to the Order of the Court made under Article 13 (1) of the DPA Law.

Links to those documents can be found here:

https://www.gov.je/Government/NonexecLegal/LawOfficers/Pages/EconomicCrimeConfiscationUnit.aspx

Attorney General Mark Temple KC said: “A DPA is a valuable tool that is intended to incentivise self-reporting of wrongdoing by companies in similar situations to Afex Offshore (Jersey) Limited.  As the judgment in this case shows, the Royal Court approved this DPA after rigorous scrutiny of all the facts and circumstances placed before it by the parties.  

This first DPA shows that the interests of companies (and their employees and/or shareholders) are better served by self-reporting. When a company does so, a DPA will be carefully considered in accordance with the issued Guidance and, as in this case, be of significant benefit to an Entity that agrees to the proposed terms and requirements in the DPA.  By concluding a DPA in this case, the Economic Crime and Confiscation Unit (ECCU) has again demonstrated the importance of having specialist financial crime prosecutors based in the Law Officers’ Department.  These prosecutors are instrumental in bringing these difficult cases to a just conclusion.” 

10 January 2025