Jersey approves assisted dying law amid concerns over legislation backlog
Jersey has become the second British Isles jurisdiction to approve legislation on assisted dying, but concerns remain over the slow pace of such legislation reaching the statute books.
The island’s Parliament of States passed the draft Assisted Dying Bill on Thursday, a crucial step before royal assent moves forward to formalize it into law. The move follows the Isle of Man, where Tynwald became the first parliament in the British Isles to agree a framework for assisted dying in March last year.
However, supporters of the change have expressed concern about the almost year-long wait for the Isle of Man Bill to receive royal assent, highlighting possible delays in implementing similar legislation.
As Crown Dependencies, for primary legislation relating to the Isle of Man and Jersey to receive royal assent and therefore become formally law, the lord chancellor (currently David Lammy) must recommend it.
Analysis by the Press Association showed that the Isle of Man’s statute book for assistance in death takes almost four times longer than other bills on the island.
After 338 days, the UK Ministry of Justice has yet to process the bill for royal assent.
The PA’s freedom of information request shows that since the start of 2020 it has taken the Ministry of Justice an average of 88 days to process Isle of Man legislation.
After the Assisted Dying Bill, the next slowest review process occurred in 2021, when the Chancellor received the Climate Change Bill 194 days before it was approved.
During Wednesday’s debate, Jersey’s attorney general, Matthew Jowitt, said he would be “surprised” if the assisted dying bill was not given royal assent if passed in his island’s parliament.
He told the State Assembly after the Isle of Man delay was raised: “If that were not the case we would be faced with a huge constitutional challenge.”
He described Jersey’s “constitutional relationship” as a Crown Dependency as “something like ballet and it requires us all to avoid stepping on each other’s toes”.
Jersey’s parliament voted in favor of drafting legislation for assisted dying in May 2024.
On Thursday, after three days of debate, the legislation was approved with 32 State Assembly members voting in favor and 16 against.
Under the law, eligibility for assisted dying requires a person to have resided in Jersey for at least 12 months, have a voluntary, established and informed desire to end their own life, and be terminally ill with a life expectancy of six months or 12 months if they have a neurodegenerative disease.
Unlike the bill being tabled in Westminster, which states that terminally ill adults must take an approved substance themselves, Jersey’s legislation allows a doctor or registered nurse to administer lethal drugs.
Campaigners backing the legalization of assisted dying hope a service could be in place in Jersey by the end of summer 2027.
But Alex Allinson, who is behind the Isle of Man legislation, expressed concern about the lengthy delay the bill has experienced in receiving royal assent and therefore finally becoming law.
He warned that “a lot of work” was still needed before a service could be rolled out following royal approval, including setting up support systems for patients, families and healthcare staff on the island.
A UK Government spokesman said the length of processing time “depends on the complexities and sensitivities of the Bill, as well as legal and constitutional issues”.
There is no target deadline for Whitehall to process the legislation approved in Douglas and Dr. Alex Allinson told PA it was “interesting” that there was no deadline.
The GP and independent member of the House of Keys said Whitehall had failed to raise “fundamental” questions about the principles behind the Bill and insisted it was “really a matter of giving royal assent so that we can continue with the significant amount of additional consultation we need to do to introduce this”.
The bill, passed on March 25 last year, will provide assisted dying for terminally ill adults who are “reasonably expected to die” within 12 months and must have lived in the Isle of Man for at least five years.
An Isle of Man government spokesman said the legislation “will not be introduced until all necessary secondary legislation and implementing rules have been developed and consulted and approved by Tynwald”.
It is thought that the implementation period for an assisted dying service could be up to two years after royal approval.
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which will apply to England and Wales, continues to be considered in the House of Lords; supporters accuse some opponents of trying to “voice over” the controversial law; but many of his colleagues insist that they are merely doing the job of reviewing a Bill that they argue is unsafe in its current form and needs to be strengthened.
Lord Falconer said attempts at fraud by his Press Association colleagues were “not the end of the road” for the bill as they plan to invoke the Act of Parliament.
The former Labor minister, who sponsored the bill in the upper house, said: “The Lords pride themselves on focusing on the things that matter, and that is certainly not what is going on here. So the tragedy is that a small number of people in the Lords are blocking a bill from passing the Commons.”
“The House of Commons, the Jersey Parliament and the Isle of Man Parliament all pass this legislation and it is the House of Lords who are blocking it in England and Wales,” he added.
On Tuesday, Welsh MPs in the Senedd voted to give their legislative approval for the UK Parliament to pass the bill.
The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill is expected to be voted on at Holyrood in March.
