I have updated my resources page on the Bill to include the most recent statements from expert bodies that I can find (if I have missed any, do please contact me at alex.ruckkeene@39essex.com).
Parliamentarians grappling with the Bill ahead of the last day of Report Stage in the House of Commons and Third Reading on Friday 20 June may also want to see how Jersey is going about making good law in this area. For those in a hurry, of particular interest / importance might be thought to be the 9 pages of detailed analysis of risks with potential responses, mitigations and controls to be found starting at page 159 of the proposals put before the States Assembly in Jersey in March 2024 by the Council of Ministers: a question for Parliamentarians in London is as to whether they are satisfied with any equivalent exercise done for purposes of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.
More broadly, and (with due apologies for harping on a theme that I have harped on about before), Parliamentarians may wish to contrast the process of a Private Member’s Bill seeking to legislate for the provision of physician assisted dying / suicide with the process led by Government. As a reminder:
- The proposals put before the States Assembly in Jersey in March 2024 by the Council of Ministers ran to 245 pages setting out what was required for the States Assembly to be able to decide whether to take the proposals forward. As the Council of Ministers noted at paragraph 582, “[g]iven the detail and complexity of these proposals, it is anticipated that the law drafting process will take 12-18 months.”
- The instructions to the equivalent of Parliamentary Counsel can be found here, running to some 200 pages.
For the avoidance of any doubt, any views I have set out on this page, or on pages linked to it which express views on the Bill, are mine alone, and do not represent the views of organisations I am affiliated with or working with an ongoing basis.
