A SCRUTINY request to delay the landmark States debate on assisted dying until late-February has been rejected by the Health Minister over concerns around timing pressures before next summer’s election.
The Health and Social Security Scrutiny Panel is currently carrying out a review into the draft legislation which, if approved, would set out the framework for terminally ill adults living in Jersey to end their lives.
The debate had initially been due to take place in November, but was pushed back to the 20 January sitting following a request from the panel. Last month, the panel wrote to Health Minister Tom Binet to request a further delay until the 24 February sitting to carry out the final stages of its review and bring forward amendments.
However, Deputy Binet said that doing so risked the Assembly running out of the time to hold the debate before Members break for the pre-election purdah period.
Speaking to the JEP, he said: “I intend to hold the debate as planned in January.
“My big worry is that if I don’t insist on the debate happening now then we may run out of time.”
Under States standing orders, the panel is able to call the legislation in for further scrutiny following the opening of the debate.
Deputy Binet added: “I would hope that wouldn’t be necessary but if we go ahead on 20 January and they decide to call it in, we would still have to debate it before the end of parliament, which is what I promised the public we would do.
“If we don’t debate until the February sitting and scrutiny decides to call it in then, then there would be a chance we would run out of time and that would be unacceptable.
“We need to pin this down – the public expect it. I don’t want to let the electorate down.”
The legislation come after a 2024 Assembly vote in favour of setting up a service for Islanders with terminal illnesses and neurodegenerative diseases, which built on a 2021 decision in which the Assembly supported assisted dying “in principle”.
The minister added that the previous debates had a “comfortable majority” within the Chamber, which removed the need for further delay.
If it is adopted, Jersey would become just the second place in the British Isles to introduce such a law, after proposals to give terminally ill adults the option in the Isle of Man were agreed by the Manx parliament in March.
If approved, the draft law will require an 18-month implementation period, meaning the earliest the law could come into force in Jersey is mid-2027.
What is happening elsewhere?
In England and Wales, the Assisted Dying Bill is currently under scrutiny in the House of Lords after being passed by the House of Commons in June. Scotland is considering its own legislation.
The Isle of Man has already passed an Assisted Dying Bill. Tynwald approved the legislation on 25 March 2025. The service is planned to be in place by 2027.
In Guernsey, States Members explored assisted dying in 2018 but voted against progressing proposals at that time. Before the Island’s general election last June, plans for a debate were stood down, and the new Assembly has not yet approved legislation.
