Legitimacy (Jersey)
Law 1973
A LAW regarding the legitimacy of children, to make
provision for the determination of questions of the legitimacy or illegitimacy
of children, and the validity of marriages, to confer rights on illegitimate
children and their mothers to succeed to each other’s estate, and to make
provision for related matters
Commencement [see endnotes]
1 Interpretation
(1) In this Law, unless the
context otherwise requires –
“Court” means the Inferior Number of the Royal Court;
“legitimated child” means a child legitimated per subsequens matrimonium;
“Superintendent Registrar” means the Superintendent
Registrar appointed in pursuance of the Marriage and Civil Status
(Jersey) Law 2001.
(2) References in this Law
to children are references to children as issue of their parents and references
to children and persons are not to be interpreted by reference to age.
2 Children
who are legitimate by birth
(1) A child who is
legitimate by birth is a child born or conceived during the subsistence of a
lawful marriage of whom the father is the husband of the mother.
(2) The fact that a child
is born or conceived during the subsistence of a lawful marriage raises a
presumption that the husband is the father of the child which may be rebutted
only by strong and satisfactory evidence to the contrary.[1]
(3) For the avoidance of
doubt, it is declared that the fact that the birth of a child has been
registered or re-registered pursuant to Article 55 or 56 of the Marriage and Civil Status
(Jersey) Law 2001 is prima facie evidence that the child is not legitimate by birth
but, in the case of a child in respect of whom the presumption in paragraph (2)
applies, is not, of itself, sufficient evidence to rebut that presumption.[2]
3 Children
who are illegitimate
An illegitimate child is a child who is not legitimate by birth as
defined in Article 2(1) or who has not become a legitimate child in the
circumstances described in Article 4(1).
4 Legitimation
per subsequens matrimonium
(1) An illegitimate child
becomes a legitimate child if, during the lifetime of the child, the father and
the mother are lawfully married and the father, either before, at the time of
or after the marriage, acknowledges himself to be the father of the child.
(2) A child who becomes a
legitimate child in the circumstances described in paragraph (1) is a
child legitimated per subsequens
matrimonium.
5 Determination
of questions of legitimacy
The question whether a child is legitimate or illegitimate may be
raised as an issue in any proceedings in which it may be relevant, or
proceedings may be taken for the express purpose of determining it in
accordance with Article 6 or 7.
6 Declaration
of legitimacy etc.
(1) Any person who is
domiciled in Jersey or claims any immovable or movable estate situate in Jersey
may apply by petition to the Court for a decree declaring that he or she is the
legitimate child of his or her parents, or that the marriage of the person’s
father and mother or of the person’s grandfather and grandmother was a
valid marriage, or that the person’s own marriage was a valid marriage.
(2) Any person claiming
that he or she or his or her parent or any remoter ancestor became or has
become a legitimated child may apply by petition to the Court for a decree
declaring that the person or his or her parent or remoter ancestor, as the case
may be, became or has become a legitimated child.
(3) Notwithstanding the
limitation imposed by Article 7 on the classes of person who may apply for
a decree under that Article, a person who applies to the Court under paragraph (2)
for a decree declaring that he or she became or has become a legitimated child
may apply by the same petition for a decree under Article 7 declaring that
he or she was born illegitimate.
(4) Applications to the
Court under the foregoing provisions of this Article may be included in the
same petition, and on any such application the Court shall make such decree as
it thinks just, and the decree shall be binding on all persons whatsoever, so
however that the decree shall not prejudice any person –
(a) if it
is subsequently proved to have been obtained by fraud or collusion; or
(b) unless
that person has been given notice of the application in the manner prescribed
by rules of court or made a party to the proceedings
or claims through a person so given notice or made a party.
(5) A copy of every
application under this Article and of any affidavit accompanying it shall be
delivered to the Attorney General at least one month before the application is
made, and the Attorney General shall be made a respondent on the hearing of the
application and on any subsequent proceedings relating thereto.
(6) Where any application
is made under this Article, such persons as the Court thinks fit shall, subject
to rules of court, be given notice of the application in the manner prescribed
by rules of court, and any such persons may be permitted to become parties to
the proceedings and to oppose the application.
(7) No proceedings under
this Article shall affect any final judgment or decree already pronounced or
made by any court of competent jurisdiction.
7 Declarations
of illegitimacy
(1) Any of the following
persons may apply by petition to the Court for a decree declaring that a child
who was born in Jersey, or who was born abroad of a mother who was domiciled in
Jersey at the time of the birth, is illegitimate –
(a) a
man who, in accordance with Article 2, is presumed to be the father of the
child;
(b) the
mother of the child;
(c) a
man who claims to be the father of the child.[3]
(1A) Any person whose right to any
immovable or movable estate situate in Jersey is affected by the legitimacy of
a child, whether the child was born in Jersey or elsewhere, may apply by
petition to the Court for a decree declaring that the child is illegitimate.[4]
(2) On any application
under this Article the Court shall make such decree as it thinks just:
Provided that the Court may dismiss the petition if in its opinion
the petitioner has been guilty of unreasonable delay in presenting or prosecuting
the petition.
(3) A decree under this Article
shall be binding on all persons whatsoever, so however that the decree shall
not prejudice any person –
(a) if it
is subsequently proved to have been obtained by fraud or collusion; or
(b) unless
that person has been given notice of the application in the manner prescribed
by rules of court or made a party to the proceedings
or claims through a person so given notice or made a party.
(4) A copy of every
application under this Article and of any affidavit accompanying it shall be
delivered to the Attorney General at least one month before the application is
made, and the Attorney General shall be made a respondent on the hearing of the
application and on any subsequent proceedings relating thereto.
(5) Where any application
is made under this Article, such persons as the Court thinks fit shall, subject
to rules of court, be given notice of the application in the manner prescribed
by rules of court, and any such persons may be permitted to become parties to
the proceedings and to oppose the application.
(6) Where in any
proceedings under this Article the petitioner dies or abandons the proceedings,
the Court, on the application of any other person entitled to institute those
proceedings, may make such order as it thinks fit so that the proceedings may
be continued in the name of that other person as petitioner.
(7) No proceedings under
this Article shall affect any final judgment or decree already pronounced or
made by any court of competent jurisdiction.
8 Evidence
(1) In any proceedings in
which it is sought to prove that a child is illegitimate or legitimate, no
witness, whether a party to the proceedings or not, shall be liable to be asked
or be bound to answer any question tending to show that the witness has been
guilty of adultery unless he or she has already given evidence in the same
proceedings in disproof of the alleged adultery.
(2) In any proceedings
under this Law in which any evidence of an indecent character is about to be
tendered, the Court may, if it thinks it necessary in the administration of
justice or of public decency, direct that all or any persons, not being members
or officers of the Court or parties to the proceedings or other persons
directly concerned in the proceedings, shall be excluded from the Court during
the taking of that evidence.
9 Regulation
of reports
(1) It shall not be lawful
to print or publish or cause or procure to be printed or published, in relation
to any proceedings in which it is sought to prove that a child is illegitimate,
any particulars other than the following –
(a) a
concise statement of the charges, defences and countercharges
in support of which evidence has been given;
(b) submissions
on any point of law arising in the course of the proceedings and the decision
of the Court thereon;
(c) the
judgment of the Court and observations made by members of the Court in giving
judgment:
Provided that nothing in this paragraph shall be held to permit the
publication of any details or other matter likely to injure public morals.
(2) If any person acts in
contravention of the provisions of this Article, the person shall be liable in
respect of each offence to imprisonment for a term of 4 months and to a
fine:
Provided that no person, other than a proprietor, editor, master
printer or publisher of the newspaper or other vehicle of publication of the
matter in respect of which a prosecution is instituted shall be liable to be
convicted under this Article.[5]
(3) No prosecution for an
offence under this Article shall be instituted without the consent of the
Attorney General.
(4) Nothing in this Article
shall apply to the printing of any pleading, transcript of evidence or other
document for use in connection with any judicial proceedings or the
communication thereof to persons concerned in the proceedings, or to the
printing or publishing of any notice or report in pursuance of the directions
of the Court or of the Court of Appeal or of His Majesty or of the Lords of His
Privy Council, or to the printing or publication of any matter in any separate
volume or part of any bona fide series of law reports which does not form part
of any other publication and consists solely of reports of proceedings in
courts of law, or in any publication of a technical character bona fide
intended for circulation among members of the legal or medical professions.[6]
10 Re-registration
of births
(1) Where a decree has been
pronounced under Article 6 or 7 in relation to a child whose birth has
been registered under the Marriage and Civil Status
(Jersey) Law 2001 and as a result the registration is erroneous, the Judicial Greffier shall, at the expiration of the period (if any) in
which proceedings may be taken for the rescission of the decree, transmit a
certified copy of the decree to the Superintendent Registrar, and the
Superintendent Registrar shall re-register the birth of the child in such
manner as may be prescribed by Regulations.
(2) No fee shall be charged
for the re-registration of a birth in pursuance of this Article.
(3) Regulations for the
purposes of this Article may be made by the States and may contain provisions
relating to the supply of certified copies of the original entry of the birth
of any child whose birth has been re-registered in pursuance of this Article or
of Article 16 of the Declarations of Illegitimacy (Jersey) Law 1947[7], and prohibiting the supply
of any such certified copy except under such authority as may be prescribed by
the Regulations.
11 [8]
12 Limitation
on application
Nothing in this Law shall operate to render illegitimate a child
born before 1st January 1941, who, in accordance with the law in force at
the time of the child’s birth, is a legitimate child.
13 Consequential
effect
In so far as an entry, or a certified copy of an entry, in a
register of births kept in pursuance of the Marriage and Civil Status
(Jersey) Law 2001 is, by virtue of that Law, evidence of the facts contained in the
entry, such evidence is prima facie evidence and not conclusive evidence of
those facts.[9]
14 Savings
(1) The provisions of this Law
are without prejudice to the provisions of Article 18(2) of the Matrimonial Causes (Jersey)
Law 1949, of the Legitimacy (Jersey)
Law 1963, and of any other enactment which provides that a child who but for
those provisions would be an illegitimate child shall be deemed to be a
legitimate child.[10]
(2) Notwithstanding the
repeal of Article 11 of this Law by the Wills and Successions (Amendment)
(Jersey) Law 2010, that Article shall continue to apply to confer rights of
succession in a deceased person’s estate if and to the extent that Part 3A
of the Wills and Successions
(Jersey) Law 1993 does not, by virtue of Article 8B of that Law, apply to the
estate.[11]
15 Citation
This Law may be cited as the Legitimacy (Jersey) Law 1973.