Jersey Law 4/1997
TERMINATION OF
PREGNANCY (JERSEY) LAW 1997
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ARRANGEMENT OF
ARTICLES
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1.
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Interpretation
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2.
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Circumstances
in which termination is not to be unlawful
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3.
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Requirement
for consultation
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4.
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Referral
following compliance with requirement for consultation
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5.
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Conscientious
objection to participation in treatment
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6.
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Approved
registered medical practitioners
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7.
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Approved
places
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8.
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Supplementary
provisions
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9.
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Duty
of the Medical Officer of Health
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10.
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Orders
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11.
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Citation
and commencement
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SCHEDULE
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Amendments
to Nursing and Residential Homes (Jersey) Law 1994
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TERMINATION OF
PREGNANCY (JERSEY) LAW 1997
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A LAW to codify and amend the customary law of the Island relating to
the termination of pregnancy by registered medical practitioners, sanctioned by
Order of Her Majesty in Council of the
19th day of DECEMBER 1996
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(Registered on the
24th day of January 1997)
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STATES OF JERSEY
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The 23rd day of July 1996
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THE
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 requires otherwise –
“approved
place” shall be construed in accordance with Article 7;
“approved
registered medical practitioner” shall be construed in accordance with
paragraph (1) of Article 6;
“the
Committee” means the Health and Social Services Committee;
“consult”
means consult in person, and cognate terms shall be construed accordingly;
“the first
consultation” shall be construed in accordance with paragraph (1) of
Article 3;
“the
Medical Officer of Health” means the Inspecteur Médical appointed
under Article 10 of the Loi (1934) sur la Santé Publique;
“prescribed”
means prescribed by Order of the Committee;
“registered
medical practitioner” has the same meaning as in the Medical
Practitioners (Registration) (Jersey) Law 1960;
“the second
consultation” shall be construed in accordance with paragraph (3) of
Article 3;
“termination”
means termination of pregnancy.
(2) In
this Law, any reference to an approved registered medical practitioner who is
authorized to carry out terminations means a person authorized under paragraph
(2) of Article 6.
(3) In
this Law, any reference to carrying out a termination includes administering
any drug for the purpose of inducing a termination.
(4) For
the purposes of this Law, the extent of advancement of a pregnancy shall be
calculated from the beginning of the woman’s last menstrual period.
(5) A
reference in this Law to an Article by number only and without further
identification is a reference to the Article of that number in this Law.
(6) A
reference in an Article or any other division of this Law to a paragraph,
sub-paragraph or clause by number or letter only and without further
identification, is a reference to the paragraph, sub-paragraph or clause of
that number or letter contained in the Article or other sub-division of this
Law in which the reference occurs.
(7) Unless
the context requires otherwise, a reference in this Law to any enactment is a
reference to that enactment as amended, and includes a reference to that
enactment as extended or applied by or under any other enactment, including any
other provision of that enactment.
ARTICLE 2
Circumstances in
which termination is not to be unlawful
(1) A
person shall not be guilty of an offence under the law relating to abortion
where a termination is carried out by a registered medical practitioner who is
of the opinion, formed in good faith, that the termination is immediately
necessary to save the life of the woman.
(2) A
person shall not be guilty of an offence under the law relating to abortion
where a termination is carried out in an approved place by an approved
registered medical practitioner who is authorized to carry out terminations and
either –
(a) two approved registered
medical practitioners (one of whom practises in obstetrics and gynaecology and
one of whom practises in an area of medicine relevant to any medical condition
of the woman which necessitates the termination) having examined the woman, are
each of the opinion, formed in good faith, that the termination is necessary to
save her life or to prevent grave permanent injury to her physical or mental
health; or
(b) (i) two
approved registered medical practitioners (one of whom practises in obstetrics
and gynaecology and one of whom practises in paediatrics), having examined the
woman, are each of the opinion, formed in good faith, that, at the time of the
examination, the foetus is suffering from an incurable abnormality of such
seriousness that, if born at full term, it would be likely to have an
exceedingly poor quality of life, and
(ii) the
termination is carried out before the end of the twenty-fourth week of the
pregnancy; or
(c) (i) the
woman’s condition causes her distress and the requirements for
consultation in Article 3 have been complied with,
(ii) the termination is
carried out before the end of the twelfth week of the pregnancy, and
(iii) on the day the termination
is carried out, the woman is ordinarily resident in the Island or has been
resident in the Island for the period of 90 days immediately preceding that
day.
ARTICLE 3
Requirement for
consultation
(1) A
pregnant woman whose condition causes her distress and who wishes to have a
termination authorized by paragraph (2) of Article 2, in the circumstances
described in sub-paragraph (c) of that paragraph, must consult a registered
medical practitioner (“the first consultation”).
(2) At
the first consultation, the registered medical practitioner shall –
(a) inform the woman of the
medical risks connected with termination;
(b) give the woman such
written information as the Committee may have published for the purpose or, if
none, written information about –
(i) the statutory
rights and entitlements of, and benefits available to, families, mothers and
children,
(ii) the counselling
services available to a pregnant woman wishing to have a termination,
(iii) the opportunities for
adoption of the child, if born, and
(iv) the names and addresses of
approved places; and
(c) give the woman a
certificate, in such form as may be prescribed, confirming that the
requirements of this paragraph have been complied with.
(3) If,
following the first consultation, the pregnant woman still wishes to have a
termination she must, not less than seven days after that consultation, consult
an approved registered medical practitioner who is authorized to carry out
terminations (“the second consultation”) and –
(a) produce the certificate
described in sub-paragraph (c) of paragraph (2); and
(b) confirm her wish to
have a termination.
(4) Production
of a certificate given under sub-paragraph (c) of paragraph (2) to the approved
registered medical practitioner with whom the second consultation takes place
shall be sufficient proof that paragraph (1) has been complied with.
ARTICLE 4
Referral
following compliance with requirement for consultation
(1) Where
Article 3 has been complied with and the approved registered medical
practitioner with whom the second consultation takes place will not carry out
the termination he shall –
(a) give the woman a
certificate of such compliance, in such form as may be prescribed; and
(b) refer the woman to
another approved registered medical practitioner who is authorized to carry out
terminations.
(2) Production
of a certificate given under paragraph (1) to an approved registered medical
practitioner who is authorized to carry out terminations shall be sufficient
proof that Article 3 has been complied with.
ARTICLE 5
Conscientious
objection to participation in treatment
(1) Subject
to paragraph (2), no person shall be under a duty, whether by contract or by
any requirement imposed by any enactment or by any other legal requirement, to
participate in any treatment authorized by this Law to which he has a
conscientious objection.
(2) Nothing
in paragraph (1) shall affect any duty to participate in treatment which is
necessary to save the life of or prevent grave permanent injury to the physical
or mental health of a pregnant woman.
(3) In
any legal proceedings, the burden of proof of conscientious objection shall
rest on the person claiming to rely on it.
ARTICLE 6
Approved
registered medical practitioners
(1) The
Committee may, from time to time, approve any registered medical practitioner
for the purposes of this Law.
(2) The
Committee may, from time to time, authorize any approved registered medical
practitioner to carry out terminations of pregnancy in accordance with this
Law.
(3) The
Committee shall maintain a list of registered medical practitioners for the
time being approved under paragraph (1) indicating which of them is authorized
under paragraph (2).
ARTICLE 7
Approved places
(1) “Approved
place” means –
(a) any hospital maintained
or controlled by the States or any administration thereof; and
(b) any institution for the
time being registered under the Nursing and Residential Homes (Jersey) Law 1994 as a nursing home where
terminations may be carried out.
(2) The
Nursing and Residential Homes (Jersey) Law 1994 shall be amended in accordance
with the Schedule.
ARTICLE 8
Supplementary
provisions
(1) A
person shall not be guilty of an offence under the law relating to abortion
where anything is done with intent to procure a termination authorized by Article
2.
(2) In
a case where a woman is carrying more than one foetus, any treatment carried
out with intent to procure the miscarriage of any foetus is authorized by
Article 2 if –
(a) the ground for
termination specified in sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph (2) of that Article
applies in relation to any foetus and the treatment is carried out for the
purpose of procuring the miscarriage of that foetus; or
(b) any of the other
grounds for termination specified in that Article apply.
(3) A
person shall not be guilty of an offence under the law relating to abortion by
virtue of the fact that, when a termination is carried out, the pregnancy has
advanced beyond the end of its twenty-fourth or twelfth week, as the case may
be, if the approved registered medical practitioner who carries out the
termination is of the opinion, formed in good faith, that the pregnancy has not
so advanced.
ARTICLE 9
Duty of the
Medical Officer of Health
The Medical
Officer of Health shall lay before the States, every calendar year, a report
upon the operation of this Law in the preceding calendar year which shall
include such information as may be prescribed.
ARTICLE 10
Orders
(1) Subject
to paragraph (2), the Committee may by Order make provision for carrying this
Law into effect and in particular, but without prejudice to the generality of
the foregoing, may –
(a) prescribe any matter
which may be prescribed under this Law;
(b) require any medical
opinion referred to in Article 2 to be certified in writing by the registered
medical practitioner concerned;
(c) regulate the form,
content and publishing of any information to be given under sub-paragraph (b)
of paragraph (2) of Article 3 where no information has been published by the
Committee for the purpose;
(d) regulate the provision
of counselling services for pregnant women wishing to have a termination;
(e) require payment of a
fee where a termination is carried out in a hospital maintained or controlled
by the States or any administration thereof in the circumstances described in
sub-paragraph (c) of paragraph (2) of Article 2;
(f) regulate the fees
charged where a termination is carried out in any institution described in
sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph (1) of Article 7 in the circumstances described
in sub-paragraph (c) of paragraph (2) of Article 2;
(g) require notice that a
termination has been carried out to be given to the Medical Officer of Health
and such information relating to the termination as may be specified to be
supplied to him;
(h) specify the form in
which and the time within which any medical opinion must be certified, any
notice given, or any information supplied;
(j) require the
keeping and disposal of any certified medical opinion or certificate required
under this Law;
(k) provide that a
contravention of or failure to comply with any specified provision of the Order
shall be an offence and that a person guilty of such an offence shall be liable
to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.
(2) No
provision of an Order made under paragraph (1) shall require a registered
medical practitioner to give any notice or supply any information to the
Medical Officer of Health which would identify the woman whose pregnancy is
terminated.
(3) An
Order made under paragraph (1) may –
(a) make different
provision in relation to different cases or circumstances; and
(b) contain such
incidental, supplemental and transitional provision as the Committee considers
necessary or expedient.
(4) The
Subordinate Legislation (Jersey) Law 1960 shall apply to any Order made
under this Law.
ARTICLE 11
Citation and commencement
(1) This
Law may be cited as the Termination of Pregnancy (Jersey) Law 1997.
(2) This
Law shall come into force on the seventh day following its registration.
C.M. NEWCOMBE
Deputy Greffier
of the States.
SCHEDULE
(Article 7(2))
Amendments to
the Nursing and Residential Homes (Jersey) Law 1994
1. In
Article 1 of the Nursing and Residential Homes (Jersey) Law 1994 (in this
Schedule referred to as “the 1994 Law”), after paragraph (1) there
shall be inserted the following paragraph –
“(1A) In this Law, any reference to
carrying out a termination of pregnancy includes administering any drug for the
purpose of inducing a termination.”.
2. In
Article 3 of the principal Law, in paragraph (6), after sub-paragraph (a) there
shall be inserted the following sub-paragraph –
“(aa) the carrying out of terminations of
pregnancy;”.
3. In
Article 4 of the 1994 Law –
(a) in paragraph (5), for
sub-paragraph (d) there shall be substituted the following sub-paragraph
–
“(d) in the case of a nursing home,
shall state –
(i) whether or not it
is proposed to receive in the home pregnant women or women immediately after
childbirth, and
(ii) whether or not it is
proposed to carry out terminations of pregnancy in the home.”;
(b) in paragraph (8), after
the words “after childbirth” there shall be inserted the words
“or that it is proposed to carry out terminations of pregnancy in the
home”.
4. In
Article 6 of the 1994 Law, after paragraph (2) there shall be inserted the
following paragraph –
“(2A) The registration of any
person in respect of a home to which this Law applies and in which it is
proposed to carry out terminations of pregnancy may be effected subject to such
conditions as the Committee may consider appropriate.”.