The Health and Personal Social Services(Northern Ireland) Order 1991

Removal of Crown immunities

7.—(1) Subject to the following provisions of this Article, on and after the day appointed for the coming into operation of this paragraph, no health and social services body shall be regarded as the servant or agent of the Crown or as enjoying any status, immunity or privilege of the Crown; and so far as concerns land in which the Department has an interest, at any time when—

(a)by virtue of directions under any provision of the principal Order, the Health and Medicines (Northern Ireland) Order 1988(1) or the Health and Personal Social Services (Special Agencies) (Northern Ireland) Order 1990(2) , powers of management with respect to the land are conferred on a health and social services body, or

(b)the land is otherwise used or occupied by a health and social services body, the interest of the Department shall be treated for the purposes of any statutory provision or rule of law relating to Crown land or interests as if it were an interest held otherwise than by the Department (or any other emanation of the Crown).

(2) In Schedule 2—

(a)Part I has effect to continue certain exemptions for health and social services bodies and property held, used or occupied by such bodies; and

(b)the transitional provisions in Part II have effect in connection with the operation of paragraph (1).

(3) Where, as a result of the provisions of paragraph (1), by virtue of his employment during any period after the day appointed for the coming into operation of that paragraph—

(a)an employee has contractual rights against a health and social services body to benefits in the event of his redundancy, and

(b)he also has statutory rights against the health and social services body under Parts II to IV of the Contracts of Employment and Redundancy Payments Act (Northern Ireland) 1965(3) (redundancy payments), any benefits provided to him by virtue of the contractual rights referred to in sub-paragraph (a) shall be taken as satisfying his entitlement to benefits under the said Parts II to IV.

(4) Nothing in paragraph (1) affects the extent of the expression “the services of the Crown” where it appears in—

(a)Schedule 1 to the Registered Designs Act 1949(4) (provisions as to the use of registered designs for the services of the Crown etc.); and

(b)sections 55 to 59 of the Patents Act 1977(5) (use of patented inventions for services of the Crown); and, accordingly, services provided in pursuance of any power or duty of the Department under Part II or V of the principal Order shall continue to be regarded as included in that expression, whether the services are in fact provided by a health and social services body, an HSS trust or any other person.

(5) The Department may by order made subject to affirmative resolution provide that, in relation to any provision contained in a local Act and specified in the order, the operation of paragraph (1) shall be excluded or modified to the extent specified in the order.

(6) In this Article “health and social services body” means—

(a)a Health and Social Services Board;

(b)the Agency; and

(c)a special agency.