The experts employed by the States of Guernsey rejected the Jersey legislation in the early stages of their review.
The GDA’s own review of the Discrimination (Jersey) Law concludes:
“The disability related provisions of the Discrimination (Jersey) Law, 2013 (the Jersey Law) have been in operation for less than two years and some provisions are not yet in force. Jersey’s definition of disability (a hybrid version of the UK Equality Act definition) employs a restricted medical model approach – an approach that the GDA believes is unique.
It is too early, and there is not yet the case history, to judge the effectiveness of the Jersey Law in practice.
However, it is neither the uniqueness of the definition, nor how untested the Law is, that is of greatest concern to the GDA.
At the heart of our concerns is that the Jersey Law provides inferior legislation on the ground of disability. The Jersey Law does not comply with vital principles of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and is structurally incapable of challenging all forms of discrimination on the ground of disability, as required by the CRPD.”
The GDA full opinion on the Jersey (Discrimination) Law and why it was not suitable for Guernsey is available here.