{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/fatal-accidents-northern-ireland-order-1977/article-2",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/fatal-accidents-northern-ireland-order-1977/article-2.json",
  "legislation": "nisi/1977/1251",
  "legislation_title": "Fatal Accidents (Northern Ireland) Order 1977",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/fatal-accidents-northern-ireland-order-1977",
  "path": "article/2",
  "kind": "article",
  "number": "2",
  "heading": "Interpretation",
  "text": "(1) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 1954 c.33 shall apply to Article 1 and the following provisions of this Order as it applies to a Measure of the Northern Ireland Assembly.\n(2) In this Order “dependant” means—\n(a) the wife or husband or former wife or husband of the deceased;\n(aa) the civil partner or former civil partner of the deceased;\n(b) any person who—\n(i) was living with the deceased in the same household immediately before the date of the death; and\n(ii) had been living with the deceased in the same household for at least two years before that date; and\n(iii) was living during the whole of that period as the husband or wife or civil partner of the deceased;\n(c) any parent or other ascendant of the deceased;\n(d) any person who was treated by the deceased as his parent;\n(e) a child or other descendant of the deceased;\n(f) any person (not being a child of the deceased) who, in the case of any marriage to which the deceased was at any time a party, was treated by the deceased as a child of the family in relation to that marriage;\n(fa) any person (not being a child of the deceased) who, in the case of any civil partnership in which the deceased was at any time a civil partner, was treated by the deceased as a child of the family in relation to that civil partnership;\n(g) any person who is, or is the issue of, a brother, sister, uncle or aunt of the deceased;\nand “the deceased” has the meaning given by Article 3(2).\n(2A) The reference to the former wife or husband of the deceased in paragraph (2)(a) includes a reference to a person whose marriage to the deceased has been annulled or declared void as well as a person whose marriage to the deceased has been dissolved.\n(2B) The reference to the former civil partner of the deceased in paragraph (2)(aa) includes a reference to a person whose civil partnership with the deceased has been annulled as well as a person whose civil partnership with the deceased has been dissolved.\n(3) In deducing any relationship for the purposes of paragraph (2)—\nSub-para.(a) rep. by 1987 NI 22\n(b) any relationship by marriage or civil partnership shall be treated as a relationship by consanguinity, any relationship of the half blood as a relationship of the whole blood, and the stepchild of any person as his child; and\n(c) an illegitimate person shall be treated as the legitimate child of his mother and reputed father.\nPara. (4) rep. by 1987 NI 22\n(5) Any reference in this Order to injury includes any disease and any impairment of a person's physical or mental condition.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F1",
      "text": "1982 c. 53"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F2",
      "text": "2004 c.33"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisi/1977/1251/article/2",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T04:53:26.497243+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}