Clause 22 - Limitations of emergency regulations
Civil Contingencies Bill
11:15 am
Mr Richard Allan (Shadow Spokesperson for the Cabinet Office, Cabinet Office; Sheffield, Hallam, Liberal Democrat)
I beg to move amendment No. 104, in
clause 22, page 15, line 31, at end insert
'; or—
( ) require a person, or enable a person to be required, to undergo any medical test, examination, treatment or vaccination if that person objects on the basis of his or her religious beliefs, but a person who objects to such a requirement on religious grounds may be placed in isolation or quarantine.'.
The amendment raises an issue that was brought to my attention by the Christian Scientists, but it would equally apply to a number of religious groups. It is important in Committee to explore serious concerns that people raise and to seek ministerial comment on them so that people can respond to that. The amendment deals with situations that are much more imaginable than some of those that have been described. It deals with compulsory medical treatment in the context of biological attacks on the United Kingdom, any of the other extreme terrorism circumstances that we have imagined, or other emergencies such as avian flu or foot and mouth diseases that somehow transfer to humans. There are quite a lot of circumstances covered by the emergency regulations for which one can imagine medical treatment or intervention being the object of the regulations. Many religious groups may, for one reason or another, have problems with particular types of medical intervention.
Under article 9 of the European convention on human rights—the right to freedom of religion—people would have grounds to take action perhaps subsequent to an attempt to require them to receive compulsory medical treatment. However, in an emergency, we will not have time to process the court claims; that will happen post hoc rather than before the regulators come in.
We can imagine a situation in which a regulation is introduced that says that a certain form of vaccination is compulsory for the population in a certain area. An individual may refuse on religious grounds, and be taken through the system and prosecuted because of that. Worse still, there may be some attempt to forcibly administer medication. Six months down the track, the person might get to the court system and find that they were right, or that their rights had been breached by the Government. However, that will not help them if something has happened that fundamentally violated their religious principles.
It is important briefly to explore that, and I hope that the Minister can give some assurances about how any kind of medical intervention applied to humans would be dealt with when it impinges on any group's religious beliefs, whether they are Christian Scientists or anyone else.