Government has initiated a wide-ranging legislative change which will remove any distinction between children born inside or outside of marriage from Island laws.

The Children Amendment Bill 2002 was tabled in the House of Assembly on Friday and will be debated in two weeks.

In addition to eliminating the concept of illegitimacy altogether, the bill will enshrine in law that both parents have an obligation to provide financial support for their children regardless of whether they are, or were, married.

The Act will amend a number of pieces of legislation and repeals both the Legitimacy Act 1933 and the Affiliation Act 1976.

The status of illegitimacy is abolished as the bill's explanatory memorandum notes: "The underlying philosophy is that the stigma of illegitimacy is undeserved, discriminatory, punitive and wrong."

The act is retroactive in that it applies equally to children born before it comes into operation and regardless of whether they were born in Bermuda or not.

There are provisions within the bill for blood tests to be conducted to establish parentage.

"Where a person refuses to submit to a blood test the court may draw an adverse inference," the legislation notes.

Substantively much of the legislation deals with equal rights to access for both parents and equal obligation for financial maintenance of children.

"Except where otherwise ordered by a court, the father and mother have parental responsibility for a child, are joint guardians and are equally entitled to custody," the explanatory memorandum states.

"This differs from the law of England where the unmarried father enjoys parental responsibility only with the agreement of the mother or by order of the court."

It also enables to court to obtain information with regard to wages or salary from employers and to require persons or public authorities to provide addresses for suspected parents.

It continues: "(W)here the parents live apart, and the child lives with one parent with the consent, implied consent or acquiescence of the other the right of that other to custody, but not access is suspended."

The court is also given new powers to ensure rights of access are honoured.

Parliament yesterday passed the Chiropractors Act, a law providing for the regulation of chiropractors.

Health Minister Nelson Bascome noted that while there are currently only six chiropractors in Bermuda, the profession has been unregulated.

The six chiropractors had formed a professional association, he said. "It is important to establish standards to protect the Bermuda public."

There were no objections to passage of the bill which sets up a Chiropractic Registration Council and requires chiropractors to be registered.

"Lots of people are unaware of what chiropractors do," said the United Bermuda Party's (UBP) Michael Dunkley. "This bill will go a long way to educating the public about what chiropractors can and cannot do."

But, pointing to the fact that promised regulations on defibrillators had still not appeared although they were expected last summer, the UBP questioned whether the regulations will be drafted in good time and properly enforced.

"We don't need to pass this today and don't have regulations," Mr. Dunkley said.

He was backed by his colleague Kim Young who also noted that regulations for nursing homes were not being strictly enforced.

Mr. Bascome said that the regulations on defibrillators were at the final stages of drafting and will be tabled in the House shortly.

He added that Government was not being "heavy handed" in enforcing nursing home regulations but were working with them to bring them up to standards where needed because Bermuda had been in the "dark ages" for some time until the regulations were brought by his Government.

A bill intended to create an additional hurdle to marriages of convenience was tabled in the House of Assembly on Friday.

The bill, entitled the Marriage Amendment Act 2002, will require that a certificate of marriage be issued by the Registrar for all island marriages.

At the moment, there is no requirement to publish a notice of intended marriage for religious marriages.

"In order to prevent marriages of convenience and to ensure that immigration requirements are observed, the bill provides that a certificate of marriage be issued by the Registrar for all marriages and that notice of the intended marriage be published in local newspapers," the bill's explanatory memorandum reads.

Parliament yesterday updated Bermuda's merchant shipping laws with the passage of an all encompassing Merchant Shipping Act which enhances the Transport Minister's powers to regulate ships flying the Bermuda flag.

The Act brings legislation into line with international conventions and improves Bermuda's competitiveness as a shipping register.

Transport Minister Ewart Brown, in introducing the legislation, said that Bermuda would no longer have to rely on UK laws being extended to the Island. And, he said a number of secondary legislation will have to be brought because the Island was now seven years behind the United Kingdom.

The law also allows the Minister to come up with registration regulations, and the Minister said that regulations in the pipeline will extend ownership eligibility to include corporate bodies of the European Economic Area.

And the British ensign will be replaced by the Bermuda ensign.

The Minister noted that a shipping register carried with it some risks and Government would have greater authority over ships flying the flag.

Benefits to Bermuda include increased Government revenue from new ships coming on to the register and greater income to the private sector for providing support services to ship owners. Dr. Brown told his colleagues that the measure had no cost implications because the Department of Maritime Administration, already in existence, will support the Minister in exercising his duties under the legislation.

"The bill will also provide the basis for future development of merchant shipping regulation in an independent Bermuda," he said in closing.

Speaking for the United Bermuda Party (UBP) Trevor Moniz supported the legislation and agreed that while it allows for a good source of income a shipping register carried with it "inherent risks" like oil spills, onboard viral epidemics and the threat of war. "It's extremely difficult and challenging for us to ensure that Bermuda registered vessels which are carrying cargo all around the world, most of whom have not been to Bermuda, that those ships and people are certified."

He questioned whether the Maritime Administration department had the resources to effectively regulate the ships on the register and asked for a status report of how well the registry is doing.

Dr. Brown assured his colleagues that the Department was very well staffed and the registry is at its "healthiest in its history".