Guernsey’s Policy & Resources Committee is continuing to explore options for how it can address cases of injustice where people were treated unfairly or disproportionately when justice was administered by the courts during the period of the German Occupation.
The matter was recently highlighted publicly by the families of a group of former Guernsey police officers, and by Occupation historian Dr Gilly Carr. Historic legal matters dating back to this period are complex and some issues have already been considered by the Bailiwick’s highest appeal court, so finding a resolution is not straightforward. However, the Committee will develop proposals to address the issue and intends to bring the matter before the States of Deliberation during this year.
Deputy Jonathan Le Tocq, member of the Policy & Resources Committee, said: “I feel very strongly that we must find a way to recognise publicly cases where Islanders who were put through the judicial system during the Occupation faced injustice in process, sentencing or both. Many people today consider that they were wrongly punished and their reputations wrongly tarnished for the rest of their lives and some were caused physical harm.
“I’m grateful to the families of the police officers who have recently shone a light on this part of our Occupation history. It doesn’t matter that decades have passed: for those families, and for many other Islanders, the passage of time does not undo the wrongs that took place and if there is still an opportunity to right them in some way, we should make every effort to do that”.
