Civil Partnership Bill [HL]

House of Commons

Session 2002 - 03
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

Civil Partnership Bill [HL]

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

(3)
In section 51 (adoption by one person), in subsection (1), after “is not married”
insert “or a civil partner”.
(4)
After section 51(3) insert—
“(3A)
An adoption order may be made on the application of one person who
has attained the age of 21 years and is a civil partner if the court is
5
satisfied that—
(a)
the person’s civil partner cannot be found,
(b)
the civil partners have separated and are living apart, and the
separation is likely to be permanent, or
(c)
the person’s civil partner is by reason of ill-health, whether
10
physical or mental, incapable of making an application for an
adoption order.”
(5)
In section 64 (other provision to be made by regulations), in subsection (5) for
“or marriage” substitute “, marriage or civil partnership”.
(6)
In section 74(1) (enactments for whose purposes section 67 does not apply), for
15
paragraph (a) substitute—
“(a)
section 1 of and Schedule 1 to the Marriage Act 1949 or Schedule
2 to the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (prohibited degrees of
kindred and affinity),”.
(7)
In section 79 (connections between the register and birth records), in subsection
20
(7)—
(a)
in paragraph (b), after “intends to be married” insert “or form a civil
partnership”, and
(b)
for “the person whom the applicant intends to marry” substitute “the
intended spouse or civil partner”.
25
(8)
In section 81 (Adoption Contact Register: supplementary), in subsection (2) for
“or marriage” substitute “, marriage or civil partnership”.
(9)
In section 98 (pre-commencement adoptions: information), in subsection (7), in
the definition of “relative” for “or marriage” substitute “, marriage or civil
partnership”.
30
(10)
In section 144 (interpretation), in the definition of “relative” in subsection (1),
after “by marriage” insert “or civil partnership”.
(11)
In section 144(4) (meaning of “couple”), after paragraph (a) insert—
“(aa)
two people who are civil partners of each other, or”.
Chapter 6
35
Miscellaneous
79
False statements etc. with reference to civil partnerships
(1)
A person commits an offence if—
(a)
for the purpose of procuring the formation of a civil partnership, or a
document mentioned in subsection (2), he—
40
(i)
makes or signs a declaration required under this Part or Part 5,
or
(ii)
gives a notice or certificate so required,

Civil Partnership Bill [HL]
Part 2 — Civil partnership: England and Wales
Chapter 6 — Miscellaneous
37


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
10
Part or Part 5, knowing the representation to be false, or
(d)
with respect to a declaration made under paragraph 5(1) of Schedule 2
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—
15
(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 202 or 203
as an authority for two people to register as civil partners of each other;
(c)
a certificate of no impediment under section 232.
20
(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.
25
(4)
The Perjury Act 1911 (c. 6) has effect as if this section were contained in it.
80
Housing and tenancies
Schedule 9 amends certain enactments relating to housing and tenancies.
81
Family homes and domestic violence
Schedule 10 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.
82
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
35
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
40
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 partnership: Scotland
Chapter 1 — Formation and eligibility
38

(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.”
5
(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”.
10
Part 3
Civil partnership: Scotland
Chapter 1
Formation and eligibility
83
Formation of civil partnership by registration
15
(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
20
(c)
the authorised registrar,
(all being present at a registration office or at a place agreed under section 91).
(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
25
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.
84
Eligibility
(1)
Subject to subsection (2), two people are not eligible to register in Scotland as
30
civil partners of each other 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
35
(e)
either is incapable of understanding the nature of civil partnership.
(2)
Subsection (1)(a) and (b) shall not apply in the case of two people who wish to
register as civil partners under section 2.

Civil Partnership Bill [HL]
Part 3 — Civil partnership: Scotland
Chapter 1 — Formation and eligibility
39

(3)
Subject to subsections (4) and (5), a man is related in a forbidden degree to
another man if related to him in a degree specified in column 1 of Schedule 11
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.
(4)
A man and any man related to him in a degree specified in column 1 of
5
paragraph 2 of Schedule 11, or a woman and any woman related to her in a
degree specified in column 2 of that paragraph, are not related in a forbidden
degree 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
10
the same household as the elder and been treated by the elder as a child
of the elder’s family.
(5)
A man and any man related to him in a degree specified in column 1 of
paragraph 3 of Schedule 11, or a woman and any woman related to her in a
degree specified in column 2 of that paragraph, are not related in a forbidden
15
degree if—
(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
20
dead,
(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
25
daughter, both the daughter and the daughter’s mother are
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
30
former husband, both the former husband and the former
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,
35
(vii)
a woman entering civil partnership with the former wife of her
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.
40
(6)
Subsection (5) and paragraphs 2 and 3 of Schedule 11 have effect subject to the
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 (c. 7).
(7)
Any reference in those provisions to a former wife or former husband of the
45
relevant person includes (respectively) any former husband or former wife of
the relevant person.
(8)
And the reference—

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

(a)
in sub-paragraph (iii) of subsection (5)(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,
(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
5
the son’s mother,
(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
10
daughter’s father is to the relevant person’s daughter’s mother if the
relevant person is the daughter’s father.
(9)
References in this section and in Schedule 11 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).
15
Chapter 2
Registration
85
Appointment of authorised registrars
For the purpose of affording reasonable facilities throughout Scotland for
registration as civil partners, the Registrar General—
20
(a)
is to appoint such number of district registrars as he thinks necessary,
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
25
“authorised registrars”).
86
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
30
this Part referred to as a “notice of proposed civil partnership”).
(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
35
the decree of divorce or dissolution, or
(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
40
decree.
(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—

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

(a)
information in respect of the matters to which the certificate or
document would have related, and
(b)
documentary evidence in support of that information,
as the district registrar may require.
(4)
If a document submitted under subsection (2) or (3) is in a language other than
5
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
prescribed for the notice).
10
(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.
87
Civil partnership notice book
(1)
On receipt of a notice of proposed civil partnership, the district registrar is to
15
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.
88
Publicisation
20
(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
send it to the Registrar General who must also publicise it.
25
(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
registrar under subsection (1).
30
(3)
Paragraph (b) of subsection (2) is subject to section 89.
(4)
The manner in which and means by which relevant information is to be
publicised are to be prescribed.
89
Early registration
An authorised registrar who receives a request in writing from one or both of
35
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 88) may,
provided that he is authorised to do so by the Registrar General, fix that date
as the date for registration; and if a date is so fixed, paragraph (b) of subsection
40
(2) of that section is to be construed as if it were a reference to that date.