In 2017, the Court of Appeal held the Act incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights as it denied bereavement damages to co-habiting partners who had been living together for at least two years before one of the partners died, in Smith v Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2017] EWCA Civ 1916.
The government laid the draft Fatal Accidents Act 1976 (Remedial) Order 2020 remedying the incompatibility on 12 February. It proposes to make bereavement damages available to co-habitants who lived with the deceased for at least two years prior to the death, and, where the deceased is separated but not divorced, to divide the award equally between the cohabitant and spouse.
The Joint Committee on Human Rights has to report to Parliament on whether the draft Order should be approved. It invites submissions from interested parties of no more than 1,500 words by 3 April.
To respond please visit: https://bit.ly/3bijby4
