Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc) Act 2019

The Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc) Act 2019 (c. 12) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which changes civil partnerships to include heterosexual couples, the way in which stillbirths are recorded and how a Coroner's inquest into stillbirths are conducted.[1]

Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc) Act 2019
Act of Parliament
Long titleAn Act to make provision about the registration of marriage; to make provision for the extension of civil partnerships to couples not of the same sex; to make provision for a report on the registration of pregnancy loss; to make provision about the investigation of still-births; and for connected purposes.
Citation2019 c. 12
Introduced byTim Loughton (Commons)
Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Lords)
Territorial extentEngland & Wales
United Kingdom (Section 5)
Dates
Royal assent26 March 2019
Commencement26 May 2019
Other legislation
AmendsMarriage Act 1949, Civil Partnership Act 2004 , Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953, Marriage of British Subjects (Facilities) Act 1915 , Marriage of British Subjects (Facilities) Act 1916
Relates toCoroners and Justice Act 2009
Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013
Status: Current legislation
History of passage through Parliament
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended

Background

This Act was created in response to the unanimous judgement of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in the case R (on the application of Steinfeld and Keidan) v Secretary of State for International Development in 2018 that ruled after the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, the Government was not justified in spending years reviewing the inequality between hetrosexual and homosexual couples in relation to civil partnerships. The court made a declaration of incompatibility based on Article 14 (prohibition on discrimination) and Article 8 (right to respect for private life) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) on the basis that the Civil Partnership Act 2004 discriminates against heterosexual couples by precluding them from entering into civil partnerships.[2][3]

Before this Act, the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 required all still-births (where a baby is still-born after 24 weeks gestation) to be registered by a registrar. Parents of babies who were still-born receive a medical certificate certifying the still-birth and, upon registration, could register the baby's name and receive a certificate of registration of still-birth. When a pregnancy ended before 24 weeks gestation, however, there was no formal process for parents to legally register the loss.[4]

Provisions

The Act has the following effects:[2]

  • to allow opposite sex couples to enter a civil partnership to reform how marriages are registered, and register the names of the mother of each party in a marriage or civil partnership
  • to require the Secretary of State to report on whether the law should be changed to allow the registration of pregnancy losses which cannot be registered as still-births under the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953
  • to report on giving coroners powers to investigate stillborn deaths

See also

References
  1. "Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration Etc.) Act 2019 — UK Parliament". services.parliament.uk. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  2. Sterkaj, Filomena (2 April 2019). "Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths Act - Gepp Solicitors". Gepp Solicitors LLP. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  3. "Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc) Act 2019". Family Law Hub. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  4. Home Office (2019). CIVIL PARTNERSHIPS, MARRIAGES AND DEATHS (REGISTRATION ETC.) ACT 2019: EXPLANATORY NOTES (PDF). London. p. 4.
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