Draft Burials and Exhumations (Amendment) Jersey Law 200-.

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A decision made (12/12/2007) regarding: Draft Burials and Exhumations (Amendment) Jersey Law 200-.

Decision Reference: MD-C-2007-0069
Decision Summary Title :	Draft Burials and Exhumations (Amendment) Jersey Law 200-		Date of Decision Summary:	11th December 2007
Decision Summary Author:	Julian Morris Policy and Research Manager		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	n/a
Written Report Title :	Draft Burials and Exhumations (Amendment) Jersey Law 200-		Date of Written Report:	November 2007
Written Report Author:	Legislation Advisory Panel		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject: Draft Burials and Exhumations (Amendment) Jersey Law 200-
Decision(s): The Chief Minister agreed, following the recommendation of the Legislation Advisory Panel, to ask the Greffier to lodge au Greffe the Draft Burials and Exhumations (Amendment) Jersey Law 200- and covering Report as soon as is practicable.
Reason(s) for Decision: The Legislation Advisory Panel, at its meeting on 3rd December 2007, considered the Draft Burials and Exhumations (Amendment) Jersey Law 200-, the purpose of which was to provide for the charging of fees by burial authorities; to widen the scope for the inspection and maintenance of burial grounds;’ and to replace the requirement to obtain the consent of the Harbour Master for burials at sea with a requirement only to obtain a licence from the Minister for Planning and Environment. The Advisory Panel accordingly approved the draft Bill, together with the accompanying Explanatory Note and Report, and agreed to recommend to the Chief Minister that the projet be lodged ‘au Greffe’ in due course.
Resource Implications: There are no financial or manpower implications.
Action required: For the Greffier to lodge au Greffe the Draft Burials and Exhumations (Amendment) Jersey Law 200- and covering Report as soon as is practicable.
Signature:		Position: Senator Frank Walker, Chief Minister
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Draft Burials and Exhumations (Amendment) Jersey Law 200-.

Draft Report

The Burials and Exhumations (Jersey) Law 2004 (“the 2004 Law”) was registered in the Royal Court on 3rd September 2004, but has yet to be brought into force. This is due, in part, to the fact that Regulations necessary to carry the Law into effect have yet to be finalized. Furthermore, in working on the draft Regulations, it has become clear that some adjustments of the 2004 Law are either necessary or desirable. The purpose of this draft Law is to effect those amendments.

The amendments cover the following matters.

Charging of fees by burial authorities

Article 2(1) of the 2004 Law empowers the States by Regulations to designate not only burial grounds, but a burial authority for each such burial ground. Such Regulations may, pursuant to Article 2(3) of the 2004 Law, make provision with respect to the management, regulation and control of any burial ground and provide for burial authorities to issue directions. Under Article 11(2)(b) of the 2004 Law, such Regulations may prescribe fees to be paid in respect of any matter arising under, provided for or authorized under the Law.

Burial authorities have always been able to charge fees, but Articles 2 and 11, rather than enable burial authorities to continue to do so, would result in a régime of fees in fixed amounts prescribed by the States. Rigid control of this sort was not intended. The draft Law therefore amends Articles 2 and 11 to make it clear that such Regulations will be able to provide for burial authorities to charge their own fees in respect of such matters as are prescribed in the Regulations.

Inspection and maintenance of burial grounds

Article 3 of the 2004 Law empowers a health inspector at any reasonable hour to inspect any burial ground to ascertain whether Regulations under the Law have been complied with.

The draft Law widens the scope of Article 3 so that any officer in an administration of the States for which the Minister for Health and Social Services is assigned responsibility will have such a power of inspection in order to ascertain whether the burial ground is being maintained so as to minimise any risk to health, safety or welfare of persons visiting it. The amendment also strengthens enforcement powers by empowering the officer to serve on the relevant burial authority a notice requiring steps to be taken to minimise such risk. If a burial authority fails to comply with such a notice, the Minister for Health and Social Services is empowered to take appropriate steps and recover the expenses involved from the burial authority.

Burials at sea - consent of the Harbour Master

Article 8(2)(b) of the 2004 Law makes it an offence to bury a body at sea without the consent of the Harbour Master. Running parallel with the need to obtain the consent of the Harbour Master under the 2004 Law is a requirement under section 5 of the Food and Environment Act 1985, as extended to Jersey by the Food and Environment Act 1985 (Jersey) Order 1987 (“the 1985 Act”) to obtain a licence from the Minister for Planning and Environment before any article may be deposited in the sea.

In order to avoid unnecessary duplication, the draft Law replaces the requirement in Article 8(2)(b) to obtain the consent of the Harbour Master with a requirement only to obtain a licence from the Minister for Planning and Environment under section 5 of the 1985 Act.

Conclusion

The amendments in the draft Law are essentially corrective adjustments of the 2004 Law. They do not involve substantive changes of policy from that put forward when the Law was passed by the States.

[There are no manpower or resource implications].

http://sojedmdav/livelinkdav/nodes/23705273/WR - Burials and Exhumations LEGLEGA-015 Draft Report 21 11 07.doc