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States Members are due to debate proposals for assisted dying in May under a new timetable published by the Health Minister.
Deputy Tom Binet will lodge a report and proposition on 22 March with an extended nine-week period before the debate on 21 May.
He said this recognised calls made by a number of States Members to bring forward the legislation as soon as possible.
Deputy Binet said: “I feel that this strikes the appropriate balance between offering States Members sufficient time to consider the proposals without creating any further delays to progress this piece of work.”
However, the new Health Minister's proposals only slightly speed up the timeline suggested by his predecessor.
Former Health Minister Karen Wilson announced the following timeline in October 2023 when she delayed the assisted dying debate by around six months:
Q4 2023 – Ethics review on proposals to be published.
Q1 2024 – Proposals to be further refined using ethics review and lodged for debate.
Q3 2024 – States Assembly debate.
Jersey became the first place in the British Isles to approve the principle of assisted dying in November 2021 – States Members voted by 36-10 in favour of the principle.
An ethical review was published in November last year, with three specialists expressing "serious reservations" about allowing assisted dying in cases of "unbearable suffering".
They argued that any proposals which allowed assisted dying outside cases of terminal illness were "not ethically appropriate".
Assisted dying proposals delayed to avoid end-of-year rush (October 2023)
Health Minister pledges to put forward assisted dying plan by end of year (April 2023)
Gov needs more time to consider public feedback on assisted dying (February 2023)
EXPLAINED: How assisted dying is proposed to work in Jersey
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