Civil Partnership Bill [HL]

House of Lords

Session 2003 - 04
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

Civil Partnership Bill [HL]

Civil Partnership Bill [HL]
Part 2 — Civil partnerships: England and Wales
Chapter 6 — Miscellaneous
36


knowing that the declaration, notice or certificate is false,
(b)
for the purpose of a record being made in any register relating to civil
partnerships, he—
(i)
makes a statement as to any information which is required to be
registered under this Part or Part 5, or
5
(ii)
causes such a statement to be made,

knowing that the statement is false,
(c)
he forbids the issue of a document mentioned in subsection (2)(a) or (b)
by representing himself to be a person whose consent to a civil
partnership between a child and another person is required under this
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Part or Part 5, knowing the representation to be false, or
(d)
with respect to a declaration made under paragraph 5(1) of Schedule 1
he makes a statement mentioned in paragraph 6 of that Schedule which
he knows to be false in a material particular.
(2)
The documents are—
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(a)
a civil partnership schedule or a Registrar General’s licence under
Chapter 1;
(b)
a document required by an Order in Council under section 150 or 151
as an authority for two people to register as civil partners of each other;
(c)
a certificate of no impediment under section 175.
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(3)
A person guilty of an offence under subsection (1) is liable—
(a)
on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding
7 years or to a fine (or both);
(b)
on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory
maximum.
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(4)
The Perjury Act 1911 (c. 6) has effect as if this section were contained in it.
78
Housing and tenancies
Schedule 8 amends certain enactments relating to housing and tenancies.
79
Family homes and domestic violence
Schedule 9 amends Part 4 of the Family Law Act 1996 (c. 27) and related
30
enactments so that they apply in relation to civil partnerships as they apply in
relation to marriages.
80
Fatal accidents claims
(1)
Amend the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 (c. 30) as follows.
(2)
In section 1(3) (meaning of “dependant” for purposes of right of action for
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wrongful act causing death), after paragraph (a) insert—
“(aa)
the civil partner or former civil partner of the deceased;”.
(3)
After paragraph (f) of section 1(3) insert—
“(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
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a civil partner, was treated by the deceased as a child of the
family in relation to that civil partnership;”.

Civil Partnership Bill [HL]
Part 3 — Civil partnerships: Scotland
Chapter 1 — Formation and eligibility
37

(4)
After section 1(4) insert—
“(4A)
The reference to the former civil partner of the deceased in subsection
(3)(aa) above 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.”
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(5)
In section 1(5)(a), for “by affinity” substitute “by marriage or civil partnership”.
(6)
In section 1A(2) (persons for whose benefit claim for bereavement damages
may be made)—
(a)
in paragraph (a), after “wife or husband” insert “or civil partner”, and
(b)
in paragraph (b), after “was never married” insert “or a civil partner”.
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Part 3
Civil partnerships: Scotland
Chapter 1
Formation and eligibility
81
Formation of civil partnership by registration
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(1)
For the purposes of section 1, two people are to be regarded as having
registered as civil partners of each other once each of them has signed the civil
partnership schedule, in the presence of—
(a)
each other,
(b)
two witnesses both of whom have attained the age of 16, and
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(c)
the authorised registrar,
(all being present at a registration office or at a place agreed under section 89).
(2)
But the two people must be eligible to be so registered.
(3)
Subsection (1) applies regardless of whether subsection (4) is complied with.
(4)
After the civil partnership schedule has been signed under subsection (1), it
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must also be signed, in the presence of the civil partners and each other by—
(a)
each of the two witnesses, and
(b)
the authorised registrar.
82
Eligibility
(1)
Two people are not eligible to register in Scotland as civil partners of each other
30
if—
(a)
they are not of the same sex,
(b)
they are related in a forbidden degree,
(c)
either has not attained the age of 16,
(d)
either is married or already in civil partnership, or
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(e)
either is incapable of understanding the nature of civil partnership.
(2)
Subject to subsections (3) and (4), a man is related in a forbidden degree to
another man if related to him in a degree specified in column 1 of Schedule 10
and a woman is related in a forbidden degree to another woman if related to
her in a degree specified in column 2 of that Schedule.
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Civil Partnership Bill [HL]
Part 3 — Civil partnerships: Scotland
Chapter 1 — Formation and eligibility
38

(3)
Subsection (1) does not apply to a man and any man related to him in a degree
specified in column 1 of paragraph 2 of Schedule 10, or to a woman and any
woman related to her in a degree specified in column 2 of that paragraph, if—
(a)
both persons have attained the age of 21, and
(b)
the younger has not at any time before attaining the age of 18 lived in
5
the same household as the elder and been treated by the elder as a child
of the elder’s family.
(4)
Subsection (1) does not apply to a man and any man related to him in a degree
specified in column 1 of paragraph 3 of Schedule 10, or to a woman and any
woman related to her in a degree specified in column 2 of that paragraph, if—
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(a)
both persons have attained the age of 21, and
(b)
in the case of—
(i)
a man entering civil partnership with the father of his former
wife, both the former wife and the former wife’s mother are
dead,
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(ii)
a man entering civil partnership with the father of his former
civil partner, both the former civil partner and the former civil
partner’s mother are dead,
(iii)
a man entering civil partnership with the former husband of his
daughter, both the daughter and the daughter’s mother are
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dead,
(iv)
a man entering civil partnership with the former civil partner of
his son, both the son and the son’s mother are dead,
(v)
a woman entering civil partnership with the mother of her
former husband, both the former husband and the former
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husband’s father are dead,
(vi)
a woman entering civil partnership with the mother of her
former civil partner, both the former civil partner and the
former civil partner’s father are dead,
(vii)
a woman entering civil partnership with the former wife of her
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son, both the son and the son’s father are dead, or
(viii)
a woman entering civil partnership with the former civil
partner of her daughter, both the daughter and the daughter’s
father are dead.
(5)
Subsection (4) and paragraphs 2 and 3 of Schedule 10 have effect subject to the
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following modifications in the case of a person (here the “relevant person”)
whose gender has become the acquired gender under the Gender Recognition
Act 2004.
(6)
Any reference in those provisions to a former wife or former husband of the
relevant person includes (respectively) any former husband or former wife of
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the relevant person.
(7)
And the reference—
(a)
in sub-paragraph (iii) of subsection (4)(b) to the relevant person’s
daughter’s mother is to the relevant person’s daughter’s father if the
relevant person is the daughter’s mother,
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(b)
in sub-paragraph (iv) of that subsection to the relevant person’s son’s
mother is to the relevant person’s son’s father if the relevant person is
the son’s mother,

Civil Partnership Bill [HL]
Part 3 — Civil partnerships: Scotland
Chapter 2 — Registration
39

(c)
in sub-paragraph (vii) of that subsection to the relevant person’s son’s
father is to the relevant person’s son’s mother if the relevant person is
the son’s father, and
(d)
in sub-paragraph (viii) of that subsection to the relevant person’s
daughter’s father is to the relevant person’s daughter’s mother if the
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relevant person is the daughter’s father.
(8)
References in this section and in Schedule 10 to relationships and degrees of
relationship are to be construed in accordance with section 1(1) of the Law
Reform (Parent and Child) (Scotland) Act 1986 (c. 9).
Chapter 2
10
Registration
83
Appointment of authorised registrars
For the purpose of affording reasonable facilities throughout Scotland for
registration as civil partners, the Registrar General—
(a)
is to appoint such number of district registrars as he thinks necessary,
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and
(b)
may, in respect of any district for which he has made an appointment
under paragraph (a), appoint one or more assistant registrars,
as persons who may carry out such registration (in this Part referred to as
“authorised registrars”).
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84
Notice of proposed civil partnership
(1)
In order to register as civil partners, each of the intended civil partners must
submit to the district registrar a notice, in the prescribed form and
accompanied by the prescribed fee, of intention to enter civil partnership (in
this Part referred to as a “notice of proposed civil partnership”).
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(2)
A notice submitted under subsection (1) must also be accompanied by—
(a)
the birth certificate of the person submitting it,
(b)
if that person has previously been married or in civil partnership and—
(i)
the marriage or civil partnership has been dissolved, a copy of
the decree of divorce or dissolution, or
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(ii)
the other party to that marriage or civil partnership has died,
the death certificate of that other party, and
(c)
if that person has previously ostensibly been married or in civil
partnership but decree of annulment has been obtained, a copy of that
decree.
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(3)
If a person is unable to submit a certificate or decree required by subsection (2)
he may instead make a declaration to that effect, stating what the reasons are;
and he must provide the district registrar with such—
(a)
information in respect of the matters to which the certificate or
document would have related, and
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(b)
documentary evidence in support of that information,
as the district registrar may require.

Civil Partnership Bill [HL]
Part 3 — Civil partnerships: Scotland
Chapter 2 — Registration
40

(4)
If a document submitted under subsection (2) or (3) is in a language other than
English, the person submitting it must attach to the document a translation of
it in English, certified by the translator as a correct translation.
(5)
A person submitting a notice under subsection (1) must make and sign the
necessary declaration (the form for which must be included in any form
5
prescribed for the notice).
(6)
The necessary declaration is a declaration that the person submitting the notice
believes that the intended civil partners are eligible to be in civil partnership
with each other.
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Civil partnership notice book
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(1)
On receipt of a notice of proposed civil partnership, the district registrar is to
enter in a book (to be known as “the civil partnership book”) supplied to him
for that purpose by the Registrar General such particulars, extracted from the
notice, as may be prescribed and the date of receipt by him of that notice.
(2)
The form and content of any page of that book is to be prescribed.
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86
Publicisation
(1)
Where notices of a proposed civil partnership are submitted to a district
registrar, he must, as soon as practicable after the day on which they are
submitted (or, if the two documents are not submitted on the same day, after
the day on which the first is submitted), publicise the relevant information and
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send it to the Registrar General who must also publicise it.
(2)
“The relevant information” means—
(a)
the names of the intended civil partners, and
(b)
the date on which it is intended to register them as civil partners of each
other, being a date more than 14 days after publicisation by the district
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registrar under subsection (1).
(3)
Paragraph (b) of subsection (2) is subject to section 87.
(4)
The manner in which and means by which relevant information is to be
publicised are to be prescribed.
87
Early registration
30
An authorised registrar who receives a request in writing from one or both of
two intended civil partners that they should be registered as civil partners of
each other on a date specified in the request (being a date 14 days or fewer after
publicisation by the district registrar under subsection (1) of section 86) may,
provided that he is authorised to do so by the Registrar General, fix that date
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as the date for registration; and if a date is so fixed, paragraph (b) of subsection
(2) of that section is to be construed as if it were a reference to that date.
88
Objections to registration
(1)
Any person may at any time before the registration in Scotland of two people
as civil partners of each other submit in writing an objection to such
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registration to the district registrar.

Civil Partnership Bill [HL]
Part 3 — Civil partnerships: Scotland
Chapter 2 — Registration
41

(2)
But where the objection is that the intended civil partners are not eligible to be
in civil partnership with each other because either is incapable of
understanding the nature of civil partnership, it shall be accompanied by a
supporting certificate signed by a registered medical practitioner.
(3)
A person claiming that he may have reason to submit such an objection may,
5
free of charge and at any time when the registration office at which a notice of
proposed civil partnership to which the objection would relate is open for
public business, inspect any relevant entry in the civil partnership book.
(4)
Where the district registrar receives an objection in accordance with subsection
(1) he must—
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(a)
in any case where he is satisfied that the objection relates to no more
than a misdescription or inaccuracy in a notice submitted under section
84(1)—
(i)
notify the intended civil partners of the nature of the objection
and make such enquiries into the matter mentioned in it as he
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thinks fit, and
(ii)
subject to the approval of the Registrar General, make any
necessary correction to any document relating to the proposed
civil partnership, or
(b)
in any other case—
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(i)
at once notify the Registrar General of the objection, and
(ii)
pending consideration of the objection by the Registrar General,
suspend the completion or issue of the civil partnership
schedule in respect of the proposed civil partnership.
(5)
If the Registrar General is satisfied, on consideration of an objection of which
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he has received notification under subsection(4)(b)(i) that—
(a)
there is a legal impediment to registration, he must direct the district
registrar not to register the intended civil partners and to notify them
accordingly, or
(b)
there is no such impediment, he must inform the district registrar to
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that effect.
(6)
For the purposes of this section and section 90, there is a legal impediment to
registration where the intended civil partners are not eligible to be in civil
partnership with each other.
89
Place of registration
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(1)
Two people may be registered as civil partners of each other at a registration
office or any other place which they and the local registration authority agree
is to be the place of registration.
(2)
But the place must not be one where persons are known to meet for public
worship or one known to be regarded by persons of a religious faith as a place
40
of reverence.
(3)
“Local registration authority” has the meaning given by section 5(3) of the 1965
Act; and “known” means known to the local registration authority.
90
The civil partnership schedule
Where—
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Civil Partnership Bill [HL]
Part 3 — Civil partnerships: Scotland
Chapter 2 — Registration
42

(a)
the district registrar has received a notice of proposed civil partnership
in respect of each of the intended civil partners and—
(i)
is satisfied that there is no legal impediment to their registration
as civil partners of each other, or
(ii)
as the case may be, is informed under section 88(5)(b) that there
5
is no such impediment,
(b)
the 14 days mentioned in paragraph (b) of section 86(2) have expired
(or as the case may be the date which, by virtue of section 87, that
paragraph is to be construed as a reference to has been reached), and
(c)
the period which has elapsed since the day of receipt of the notices by
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him (or, if the two notices were not received on the same day, since the
day of receipt of the later) does not exceed 3 months,
he is to complete a civil partnership schedule in the prescribed form.
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Further provision as to registration
(1)
Before the persons present sign in accordance with section 81 the authorised
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registrar is to require the intended civil partners to confirm that (to the best of
their knowledge) the particulars set out in the civil partnership schedule are
correct.
(2)
As soon as practicable after the civil partnership schedule has been signed, the
authorised registrar must cause those particulars to be entered in a register (to
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be known as the “civil partnership register”) supplied to him for that purpose
by the Registrar General.
(3)
The form and content of any page of that register is to be prescribed.
(4)
A fee payable by the intended civil partners for their registration as civil
partners of each other is to be prescribed.
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92
Civil partnership with former spouse
(1)
Where an intended civil partner has a full gender recognition certificate issued
under section 5(1) of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 and the other intended
civil partner was the other party in the proceedings in which the certificate was
issued, the procedures for their registration as civil partners of each other
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may—
(a)
if they so elect, and
(b)
if each of them submits a notice under section 84(1) within 30 days after
the certificate is issued,

be expedited as follows.
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(2)
The registration may take place on any of the 30 days immediately following—
(a)
that on which the notices are submitted, or
(b)
(if the two notices are not submitted on the same day) that on which the
later is submitted.
(3)
And accordingly there are to be disregarded—
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(a)
in section 86—
(i)
in subsection (2)(b), the words from “being” to the end, and
(ii)
subsection (3),
(b)
section 87, and
(c)
in section 90, paragraph (b).
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