JERSEY could soon scrap a “discriminatory” and “outdated” law that labels children born outside of marriage or to same-sex couples as “illegitimate” at birth, if politicians back a new law proposed by the Home Affairs Minister.
The Draft Civil Status (Abolition of Legitimacy) Law, put forward this week by Mary Le Hegarat, would remove all legal distinctions based on whether a child’s parents are married or not.
If approved by States Members this summer, it would also abolish the use of terms like “illegitimate” and “bâtard” from Jersey law.
Currently, only children born to married, opposite-sex couples are recognised as “legitimate” in law.
This means around half of children born in Jersey each year are assigned a legal status that the government now describes as “outdated”, “discriminatory” and incompatible with “modern families or attitudes”.
The change is being proposed as part of a wider “package of legislation to modernise family law” that is being led by Children’s Minister Richard Vibert.
It comes after the Children, Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Panel recommended a review of legitimacy laws and their compatibility with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the European Convention on Human Rights.
It concluded that the concept of legitimacy serves “limited practical implications” today.
A report accompanying the proposition said: “Research indicated that the statuses were outdated, discriminatory to children, and out of step with the modern family units.”
The government explained that the change to the legitimacy will also allow previously approved reforms around same-sex parental rights to take place.
In 2024, politicians approved the Children and Civil Status Law – which allows same-sex couples and civil partners to be recognised on a child’s birth certificate.
The report stated: “The Draft Legitimacy Law is key to enabling the 2024 Law to be brought into force in an equitable manner, to ensure that children of same-sex parents would not be discriminated against and registered as illegitimate at birth.”
If passed, the legislation is expected to come into force in the autumn.
States Members are due to debate it on 8 July.
