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
37

(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”.
(9)
In section 81 (Adoption Contact Register: supplementary), in subsection (2) for
5
“or marriage” substitute “, marriage or civil partnership”.
(10)
In section 98 (pre-commencement adoptions: information), in subsection (7), in
the definition of “relative” for “or marriage” substitute “, marriage or civil
partnership”.
(11)
In section 144 (interpretation), in the definition of “relative” in subsection (1),
10
after “by marriage” insert “or civil partnership”.
(12)
In section 144(4) (meaning of “couple”), after paragraph (a) insert—
“(aa)
two people who are civil partners of each other, or”.
Chapter 6
Miscellaneous
15
80
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—
(i)
makes or signs a declaration required under this Part or Part 5,
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or
(ii)
gives a notice or certificate so required,

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—
25
(i)
makes a statement as to any information which is required to be
registered under this Part or Part 5, or
(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)
30
by representing himself to be a person whose consent to a civil
partnership between a child and another person is required under this
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
35
he knows to be false in a material particular.
(2)
The documents are—
(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 210 or 211
40
as an authority for two people to register as civil partners of each other;
(c)
a certificate of no impediment under section 240.
(3)
A person guilty of an offence under subsection (1) is liable—

Civil Partnership Bill [HL]
Part 2 — Civil partnership: England and Wales
Chapter 6 — Miscellaneous
38

(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.
(4)
The Perjury Act 1911 (c. 6) has effect as if this section were contained in it.
5
81
Housing and tenancies
Schedule 8 amends certain enactments relating to housing and tenancies.
82
Family homes and domestic violence
Schedule 9 amends Part 4 of the Family Law Act 1996 (c. 27) and related
enactments so that they apply in relation to civil partnerships as they apply in
10
relation to marriages.
83
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
wrongful act causing death), after paragraph (a) insert—
15
“(aa)
the civil partner or former civil partner of the deceased;”.
(3)
In paragraph (b)(iii) of section 1(3), after “wife” insert “or civil partner”.
(4)
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
20
a civil partner, was treated by the deceased as a child of the
family in relation to that civil partnership;”.
(5)
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
25
with the deceased has been annulled as well as a person whose civil
partnership with the deceased has been dissolved.”
(6)
In section 1(5)(a), for “by affinity” substitute “by marriage or civil partnership”.
(7)
In section 1A(2) (persons for whose benefit claim for bereavement damages
may be made)—
30
(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”.
(8)
In section 3 (assessment of damages), in subsection (4), after “wife” insert “or
civil partner”.
84
Evidence
35
(1)
Any enactment or rule of law relating to the giving of evidence by a spouse
applies in relation to a civil partner as it applies in relation to the spouse.
(2)
Subsection (1) is subject to any specific amendment made by or under this Act
which relates to the giving of evidence by a civil partner.

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

(3)
For the avoidance of doubt, in any such amendment, references to a person’s
civil partner do not include a former civil partner.
(4)
References in subsections (1) and (2) to giving evidence are to giving evidence
in any way (whether by supplying information, making discovery, producing
documents or otherwise).
5
(5)
Any rule of law—
(a)
which is preserved by section 7(3) of the Civil Evidence Act 1995 (c. 38)
or section 118(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (c. 44), and
(b)
under which in any proceedings evidence of reputation or family
tradition is admissible for the purpose of proving or disproving the
10
existence of a marriage,

is to be treated as applying in an equivalent way for the purpose of proving or
disproving the existence of a civil partnership.
Part 3
Civil partnership: Scotland
15
Chapter 1
Formation and eligibility
85
Formation of civil partnership by registration
(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
20
partnership schedule, in the presence of—
(a)
each other,
(b)
two witnesses both of whom have attained the age of 16, and
(c)
the authorised registrar,
(all being present at a registration office or at a place agreed under section 93).
25
(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
must also be signed, in the presence of the civil partners and each other by—
(a)
each of the two witnesses, and
30
(b)
the authorised registrar.
86
Eligibility
(1)
Two people are not eligible to register in Scotland as civil partners of each other
if—
(a)
they are not of the same sex,
35
(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
(e)
either is incapable of—
(i)
understanding the nature of civil partnership, or
40
(ii)
validly consenting to its formation.

Civil Partnership Bill [HL]
Part 3 — Civil partnership: Scotland
Chapter 1 — Formation and eligibility
40

(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.
(3)
A man and any man related to him in a degree specified in column 1 of
5
paragraph 2 of Schedule 10, 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.
(4)
A man and any man related to him in a degree specified in column 1 of
paragraph 3 of Schedule 10, 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
(5)
Subsection (4) and paragraphs 2 and 3 of Schedule 10 have effect subject to the
modifications specified in subsections (6) and (7) 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).
(6)
Any reference in subsection (4) or those paragraphs to a former wife or former
45
husband of the relevant person includes (respectively) any former husband or
former wife of the relevant person.
(7)
And the reference—

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

(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,
(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.
(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).
15
(9)
For the purposes of this section, a degree of relationship specified in paragraph
1 of Schedule 10 exists whether it is of the full blood or the half blood.
(10)
Amend section 41(1) of the Adoption (Scotland) Act 1978 (c. 28) (application to
determination of forbidden degrees of provisions of that Act relating to the
status conferred by adoption) as follows—
20
(a)
after first “marriage” insert “, to the eligibility of persons to register as
civil partners of each other”, and
(b)
for “and incest” substitute “, to such eligibility and to incest”.
Chapter 2
Registration
25
87
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,
and
30
(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”).
88
Notice of proposed civil partnership
35
(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”).
(2)
A notice submitted under subsection (1) must also be accompanied by—
40
(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

Civil Partnership Bill [HL]
Part 3 — Civil partnership: Scotland
Chapter 2 — Registration
42

(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.
5
(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
10
(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
English, the person submitting it must attach to the document a translation of
it in English, certified by the translator as a correct translation.
15
(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).
(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
20
with each other.
89
Civil partnership notice book
(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
25
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.
90
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
30
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.
(2)
“The relevant information” means—
(a)
the names of the intended civil partners, and
35
(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).
(3)
Paragraph (b) of subsection (2) is subject to section 91.
(4)
The manner in which and means by which relevant information is to be
40
publicised are to be prescribed.