Decimal Currency (Jersey) Law 1971

Jersey Law 4/1971 DECIMAL CURRENCY (JERSEY) LAW, 1971, CONFIRMED BY Order of Her Majesty in Council dated 10th February, 1971. ____________ ( Registered on 13 th February, 1971). ARRANGEMENT OF ARTICLES. 1. Interpretation 2. The new decimal currency 3. Coinage of the new currency 4. Legal tender 5. Bills of exchange and promissory notes 6. Amendment of references to shillings and pence in enactments 7. Supplementary power to amend enactments referring to shillings and pence 8. Conversion of references to shillings and pence in certain instruments 9. Conversion of bank balances 10. Payment of certain periodical payments 11. Application of regulations made by the Industrial Assurance Commissioner and the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies 12. Registered stock transferable in multiples of one penny 13. Payments after end of transitional period 14. Modification of forms 15. Special modifications of enactments relating to bills of exchange, promissory notes and other instruments 16. Restrictions on melting or breaking of metal coins 17. Repeals 18. Citation and commencement First Schedule Second Schedule DECIMAL CURRENCY (JERSEY) LAW, 1971. ____________ A LAW to make provision in connexion with the introduction of decimal currency, to specify the extent to which coins shall be legal tender, to impose restrictions on the melting or breaking of metal coins and to provide for matters connected therewith, sanctioned by Order of Her Majesty in Council of the 10th day of FEBRUARY, 1971. ____________ ( Registered on the 12 th day of February, 1971). ____________ STATES OF JERSEY. ____________ The 15th day of December, 1970. ____________ T HE STATES, subject to the sanction of Her Most Excellent Majesty in Council, have adopted the following Law : - ARTICLE 1 INTERPRETATION (1) In this Law, unless the context otherwise requires – “appointed day” means the fifteenth day of February, 1971; “the Committee” means the Finance and Economics Committee; “enactment” includes an enactment of the United Kingdom; “the Mint” means Her Majesty’s Royal Mint in the United Kingdom; “the new currency” means the new currency provided for by this Law; “the old currency” means the currency in force before the appointed day; “the transitional period” means the period beginning with the appointed day and ending with such day as the States shall by Act appoint. (2) Any reference in this Law to any other enactment shall be construed as including a reference to that enactment as amended by any subsequent enactment. ARTICLE 2 THE NEW DECIMAL CURRENCY On and after the appointed day the denominations of money in the currency of the Island shall be the pound sterling and the new penny, the new penny being one-hundredth part of a pound sterling. ARTICLE 3 COINAGE OF THE NEW CURRENCY (1) The Committee is hereby authorized to issue coinage of the new currency of a denominational value not exceeding in any one year such sum as the Committee may determine. (2) Coins issued in pursuance of this Article shall be of such denomination or denominations as the Committee shall determine. (3) Coins issued in pursuance of this Article shall be issued under the direction of the Committee which shall determine the design, weight and composition thereof. ARTICLE 4 LEGAL TENDER (1) Coins issued by the Mint in accordance with the provisions of section two of the Decimal Currency Act, 1967 or in accordance with the provisions of the Coinage Acts, 1870 to 1946, and not called in by proclamation under paragraph (5) of section eleven of the Coinage Act, 1870, or coins issued by the Committee shall be legal tender as follows, that is to say – ( a ) coins of cupro-nickel or silver of denominations of more than ten new pence or two shillings, for payment of any amount not exceeding ten pounds; ( b ) coins of cupro-nickel or silver of denominations of not more than ten new pence or two shillings, for payment of any amount not exceeding five pounds; ( c ) coins of bronze, for payment of any amount not exceeding twenty new pence or four shillings. (2) In this Article “coins of bronze” includes threepences of mixed metal. (3) Coins of the old currency other than gold coins and coins in respect of which proclamation is made in the United Kingdom under paragraph (5) of section fifteen of the Decimal Currency Act, 1969, shall not be legal tender after the end of the transitional period. (4) For the purposes of being used for any payment in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this Article a coin of either the old or the new currency may be treated as being a current coin of the other currency of equal value. ARTICLE 5 BILLS OF EXCHANGE AND PROMISSORY NOTES (1) A bill of exchange or promissory note drawn or made on or after the appointed day shall be invalid if the sum payable is an amount of money wholly or partly in shillings or pence. (2) A bill of exchange or promissory note for an amount wholly or partly in shillings or pence dated the fifteenth day of February, 1971, or later, shall be deemed to have been drawn or made before the fifteenth day of February, 1971, if it bears a certificate in writing by a banker that it was so drawn or made. ARTICLE 6 AMENDMENT OF REFERENCES TO SHILLINGS AND PENCE IN ENACTMENTS (1) Subject to the provisions of this Article and of any order under Article 7 of this Law, where an enactment passed or made before the appointed day contains a reference to an amount of money in the old currency which is not a whole number of pounds, that reference shall, in so far as it refers to an amount in shillings or pence, be read on and after that day as referring to the equivalent of that amount in the new currency. (2) Paragraph (1) of this Article shall not apply to any reference contained in this Law or any Order made thereunder or in any other enactment relating to coinage or currency, whenever passed or made. ARTICLE 7 SUPPLEMENTARY POWER TO AMEND ENACTMENTS REFERRING TO SHILLINGS AND PENCE (1) Where an enactment passed or made before the appointed day contains a reference to an amount of money in the old currency which is not a whole number of pounds, the Committee may by order – ( a ) if the equivalent of that amount in the new currency is not a new penny or a multiple thereof, substitute for that reference a reference to such amount in the new currency as in the opinion of the Committee is the appropriate multiple of a new half-penny (or if the case so requires a reference to a new half-penny); ( b ) make such other amendment in that enactment as in the opinion of the Committee is appropriate for securing either that any amount payable thereunder will be a new half-penny or a multiple thereof or that any amount payable thereunder will be a new penny or a multiple thereof; ( c ) if that reference is part of a rate, percentage, proportion, formula or other basis of calculation, make such amendment in the enactment as in the opinion of the Committee is appropriate for securing that the basis of calculation is expressed in the new currency and in convenient terms. (2) An order under this Article – ( a ) may include such consequential, supplementary or transitional provisions as the Committee thinks fit; and ( b ) may be revoked or varied by a subsequent order. (3) An order made under this Article shall not come into force before the appointed day. (4) No order altering the rate of any tax shall be made under this Article. (5) The amendment of any provision by an order made under this Article shall not prejudice any power to amend or vary that provision conferred by any other enactment. (6) The Subordinate Legislation (Jersey) Law, 1960, 1 shall apply to orders made under this Law. ARTICLE 8 CONVERSION OF REFERENCES TO SHILLINGS AND PENCE IN CERTAIN INSTRUMENTS (1) On and after the appointed day any reference to an amount of money in the old currency contained in an instrument to which this Article applies shall, in so far as it refers to an amount in shillings or pence, be read as referring to the corresponding amount in the new currency calculated in accordance with the provisions of the First Schedule to this Law. (2) If a reference to an amount of money in the old currency contained in an instrument to which this Article applies is altered so as to make it read as it would otherwise fall to be read in accordance with paragraph (1) of this Article, the alteration shall not affect the validity of the instrument. (3) This Article applies to instruments of any of the following descriptions drawn, made or issued before the appointed day, namely – ( a ) cheques and other instruments to which Article 4 of the Cheques (Jersey) Law, 1957 2 applies; ( b ) bills of exchange other than cheques; ( c ) promissory notes; ( d ) money orders and postal orders; ( e ) any warrant issued by or on behalf of the Director of Savings for the payment of a sum of money; ( f ) any document issued by or on behalf of the Social Security Committee which is intended to enable a person to obtain payment of the sum mentioned in the document but which is not a bill of exchange; ( g ) any other document which is intended to enable a person to obtain through a banker payment of any sum mentioned in the document. ARTICLE 9 CONVERSION OF BANK BALANCES (1) Where the amount of the balance standing to the credit or debit of an amount at a bank on or after the appointed day is not a whole number of pounds, so much of that amount as is in shillings or pence may be treated as the corresponding amount in the new currency calculated in accordance with the provisions of the First Schedule to this Law. (2) In this Article, “bank” includes the National Savings Bank and the Jersey Savings Bank. ARTICLE 10 PAYMENT OF CERTAIN PERIODICAL PAYMENTS (1) This Article applies to any amount of money in the old currency payable on or after the appointed day as one of a series of payments of the same amount payable periodically, whether pursuant to an instrument or otherwise, not being an amount mentioned in paragraph (3) of this Article. (2) Subject to the provisions of this Law, where an amount of money to which this Article applies is not a whole number of pounds, so much of it as is in shillings or pence may be paid by paying the corresponding amount in the new currency calculated in accordance with the provisions of the First Schedule to this Law. (3) This Article does not apply to – ( a ) an amount payable to an employee or the holder of any office by way of wages, salary or other remuneration; or ( b ) the amount of any payment payable to or by a registered friendly society or industrial assurance company under a friendly society or industrial assurance company contract made before the appointed day. (4) In sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph (3) of this Article – “contract” in relation to a friendly society means a contract made by a registered friendly society with a member of the society in the course of its business in the Bailiwick of Jersey whether contained in the rules of the society or not; and in relation to an industrial assurance company, means a contract of assurance made by an industrial assurance company in the course of its industrial assurance business in the Bailiwick of Jersey; “industrial assurance company” and “industrial assurance business” have the meanings assigned to them by section one of the Industrial Assurance Act, 1923 as amended by Part II of Schedule 6 to the Companies Act, 1967; “registered friendly society” means a friendly society registered in any part of the United Kingdom under the Friendly Societies Act, 1896 or a branch so registered under that Act of a friendly society so registered. ARTICLE 11 APPLICATION OF REGULATIONS MADE BY THE INDUSTRIAL ASSURANCE COMMISSIONER AND THE CHIEF REGISTRAR OF FRIENDLY SOCIETIES Any regulations made by the appropriate authority under subsection (2) or subsection (6) of section six or by the Industrial Assurance Commissioner by virtue of subsection (5) of section seven of the Decimal Currency Act, 1969 (payments under friendly society and industrial assurance company contracts) shall extend to payments to which sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph (3) of Article 10 refers and to the records of such payments. ARTICLE 12 REGISTERED STOCK TRANSFERABLE IN MULTIPLES OF ONE PENNY (1) Any registered stock which immediately before the appointed day is transferable in multiples of one penny shall on and after the appointed day be transferable instead in multiples of one new penny except in so far as, in the exercise of any power in that behalf, other provision is or has been made as to the amounts in which that stock is to be transferable as from that or any later day. (2) In any prospectus or other document issued before the appointed day that sets out the terms on which any such registered stock is to be issued or held, any reference to one penny as the amount in multiples of which that stock is to be transferable shall on and after that day be read as a reference to one new penny. (3) Where the amount of the balance of any such registered stock standing in the name of any person immediately before the appointed day in an account in the register is not a whole number of pounds, so much of that amount as is in shillings or pence shall on and after that day be treated as the corresponding amount in the new currency calculated in accordance with the provisions of the First Schedule to this Law. (4) In this Article “registered stock” includes inscribed stock, and “the register”, in relation to any registered stock, means any register or book in which that stock is registered or inscribed. ARTICLE 13 PAYMENTS AFTER END OF TRANSITIONAL PERIOD Where an amount of money in the old currency which is not a whole number of pounds falls to be paid after the end of the transitional period, the amount payable in respect of so much of it as is in shillings or pence shall be the corresponding amount in the new currency calculated in accordance with the provisions of the First Schedule to this Law. ARTICLE 14 MODIFICATION OF FORMS (1) Where any form set out in an enactment passed or made before the appointed day is designed to accommodate references to sums of money wholly or partly in shillings or pence, the form may be used with such modifications as are necessary to enable it to accommodate references to sums of money wholly or partly in new pence. (2) Paragraph (1) of this Article is without prejudice to any other provision authorizing the modification of any such form. ARTICLE 15 SPECIAL MODIFICATIONS OF ENACTMENTS RELATING TO BILLS OF EXCHANGE, PROMISSORY NOTES AND OTHER INSTRUMENTS (1) For the purposes of any enactment relating to bills of exchange, promissory notes and other instruments, the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth days of February, 1971 shall be non business days; but on those days – ( a ) a cheque or other instrument to which Article 4 of the Cheques (Jersey) Law, 1957 3 applies may be presented by a banker (whether or not he is the person on whom it is drawn) to a banker for payment; and ( b ) a banker to whom such a cheque or other instrument has at any time been so presented for payment may pay it and may debit the account of his customer with the amount thereof, as if those days were business days. (2) Notwithstanding any provision in any enactment to the contrary, a bill of exchange or promissory note – ( a ) shall be due and payable on the tenth day of February 1971 if the last day of grace for it under any such provision falls on the eleventh or twelfth day of February, 1971; and ( b ) shall be due and payable on the fifteenth day of February, 1971, if that last day of grace falls on the thirteenth or fourteenth day of February, 1971. ARTICLE 16 RESTRICTIONS ON MELTING OR BREAKING OF METAL COINS (1) No person shall, except under the authority of a licence granted by the Committee, melt down or break up any metal coin which is for the time being current in the British Islands or which, having been current there, has at any time after the passing of this Law ceased to be so. (2) Any person who contravenes paragraph (1) of this Article shall be liable – ( a ) in the case of a first offence, to a fine not exceeding £400; ( b ) in the case of a subsequent conviction, to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or both. (3) If any condition attached to a licence granted under paragraph (1) of this Article is contravened or not complied with, the person to whom the licence was granted shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding £400: Provided that where a person is charged with an offence under this paragraph it shall be a defence to prove that the contravention or non-compliance occurred without his consent or connivance and that he exercised all due diligence to prevent it. (4) Where any person is convicted of an offence under this Article, the Royal Court may, whether or not it imposes any other punishment, order the articles in respect of which the offence was committed to be forfeited. (5) Where an offence under this Article committed by a body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of any director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate or any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, he as well as the body corporate shall be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly. ARTICLE 17 REPEALS The enactments specified in the Second Schedule to this Law are hereby repealed. ARTICLE 18 CITATION AND COMMENCEMENT This Law may be cited as the Decimal Currency (Jersey) Law, 1971, and shall come into force on the fifteenth day of February, 1971. FIRST SCHEDULE (Articles 8, 9, 10, 12 and 13) METHOD OF CALCULATING IN CERTAIN CASES THE AMOUNT IN NEW PENCE CORRESPONDING TO AN AMOUNT IN SHILLINGS AND PENCE The amount in the new currency corresponding to an amount in shillings, shillings and pence, or pence shall be calculated as follows – ( a ) for any whole two shillings or multiple thereof the corresponding amount in the new currency shall be taken to be ten new pence or that multiple thereof; and ( b ) for any amount or remaining amount of less than two shillings shown in column 1 of the following Table the corresponding amount in the new currency shall be taken to be the amount (if any) in new pence shown opposite that amount in column 2 of that Table (and accordingly an amount or remaining amount of one penny shall be disregarded). TABLE. Amount in old currency Corresponding amount in new pence. 1d – 2d. 1P 3d. 1P 4d. 2P 5d. 2P 6d. 3P 7d. 3P 8d. 3P 9d. 4P 10d. 4P 11d. 5P IS. 0d. 5P IS. 1d. 5P IS. 2d. 6P IS. 3d. 6P IS. 4d. 7P IS. 5d. 7P IS. 6d. 7P IS. 7d. 8P IS. 8d. 8P IS. 9d. 9P IS. 10d. 9P IS. 11d. 10P SECOND SCHEDULE (Article 17) ENACTMENTS REPEALED Legal Tender (Jersey) Law, 1957. 4 Decimal Currency (Jersey) Law, 1969. 5 A.D. LE BROCQ, Greffier of the States. 1 Tome 1957–1960, page 519. 2 Tome 1957–1960, page 180. 3 Tome 1957–1960, page 180. 4 Tome 1957–1960, page 135. 5 Tome 1968–1969, page 197.