Draft Legitimacy (Amendment) (Jersey) Law 200-.

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A decision made (06/12/2007) regarding: Draft Legitimacy (Amendment) (Jersey) Law 200-.

Decision Reference: MD-C-2007-0065
Decision Summary Title :	Draft Legitimacy (Amendment) (Jersey) Law 200-		Date of Decision Summary:	20th November 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:	-
Written Report Title :	The Presumption of Legitimacy		Date of Written Report:	1st October 2007 – as presented to the meeting of the Legislation Advisory Panel
Written Report Author:	Law Officers Department		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject: The proposed Draft Legitimacy (Amendment) (Jersey) Law 200-
Decision(s): The Chief Minister, acting on the recommendation of the Legislation Advisory Panel, agreed to lodge the draft Legitimacy (Amendment) (Jersey) Law 2000-
Reason(s) for Decision: The presumption of legitimacy is the presumption that the child of a married woman born during the marriage is taken automatically to be the husband’s child. The presumption, however, was not irrefutable. This is reflected in Article 2(2) of the 1973 Law under which the presumption may be rebutted by “strong and satisfactory evidence” that the husband was sexually impotent or was physically separated from the mother at the time of conception; or that the mother was guilty of adultery and that the father did not have marital intercourse with her at the time of conception. The draft Law would replace Article 2(2) with the following statement of the presumption of legitimacy and the single ground on which it would be able to be rebutted: “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.” This would not weaken the presumption of legitimacy as such, but would remove the list of specific grounds on which the presumption was able to be rebutted - because those grounds have to all intents and purposes become redundant with the advent of accurate blood and DNA testing. The draft Law would also amend Article 7 of the 1973 Law. Article 7 is concerned with who may apply to the Royal Court for a decree declaring that a child is illegitimate (i.e. rebutting the presumption of legitimacy). The draft Law would enable a man who claims to be the father of a child to make an application to the Court for a declaration of illegitimacy; and also to enable the mother of the child herself to make such an application.
Resource Implications: There are no financial or manpower implications.
Action required: Request the Greffier of the States to lodge the Draft Legitimacy (Amendment) (Jersey) Law 200- ‘au Greffe’ for consideration by the States in January 2008.
Signature:		Position: Chief Minister
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):