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Mr. Chope: In order to try to shorten matters, I agree with the hon. Gentleman that we are talking about evidence. The Minister was saying that adultery is evidence of the irretrievable breakdown of a marriage, but she does not think that sexual infidelity should be. If adultery is specifically identified as evidence of the irretrievable breakdown of a marriage in Scotland, why should sexual infidelity not be acknowledged in relation to the breakdown of a civil partnership?
Technical points have been made about the definition of sexual infidelity. I am sure that the details of the sexual infidelity would be set out in any pleadings and that the court would be able to reach a judgment. I am disappointed that the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland thinks that that will create a gravy train for lawyers. To say that is to suggest that he expects a lot of civil partnerships to be the subject of legal proceedings for their dissolution. I did not think that that was the case being put forward by the promoters of the Bill.
Amendment No. 237 is the most fundamental of this group of amendments. Amendment No. 236 would insert the word ''cessation'' because that is different language from dissolution. It is also the language that was adopted by Lord Lester in his Bill, which was designed to differentiate between marriage and relationships outside marriage, which have a looser bond. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Amendment proposed: No. 237, in clause 115, page 60, line 3, leave out paragraphs (a) to (d) and insert—
'(a) the defender consents to the granting of decree of dissolution of the civil partnership,
(b) the defender has committed an act of sexual infidelity, or
(c) there has been no cohabitation between the civil partners at any time during a continuous period of six months immediately preceding the bringing of the action.'.—[Mr. Chope.]
Column Number: 152
Question put, That the amendment be made:—
The Committee divided: Ayes 1, Noes 13.
Division No. 59]
AYES
Chope, Mr. Christopher
NOES
Abbott, Ms Diane
Bercow, Mr. John
Borrow, Mr. David
Bryant, Chris
Carmichael, Mr. Alistair
Duncan, Mr. Alan
Love, Mr. Andrew
McGuire, Mrs. Anne
McKechin, Ann
Simon, Mr. Sion
Smith, Jacqui
Stewart, Mr. David
Watson, Mr. Tom
Question accordingly negatived.
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
The Committee divided: Ayes 13, Noes 1.
Division No. 60]
AYES
Abbott, Ms Diane
Bercow, Mr. John
Borrow, Mr. David
Bryant, Chris
Carmichael, Mr. Alistair
Duncan, Mr. Alan
Love, Mr. Andrew
McGuire, Mrs. Anne
McKechin, Ann
Simon, Mr. Sion
Smith, Jacqui
Stewart, Mr. David
Watson, Mr. Tom
NOES
Chope, Mr. Christopher
Question accordingly agreed to.
Clause 115 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clause 116 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clause 117
Effect of resumption of cohabitation
Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.
Mr. Chope: I had tabled an amendment to omit the clause because I take the view that the process of dissolving a partnership should be a lot easier than is currently contemplated. That fits in with the argument that I was making earlier, although that has been rejected by the Committee. The effect of clause 117 would be:
''In an action to which . . . section 115(3) relates, the irretrievable breakdown of a civil partnership is not taken to be established if, after the expiry of the period mentioned . . . the pursuer resumes cohabitation''.
That would not have made any sense at all with my earlier amendments, which dealt with a cessation after a short number of months. However, in the light of the fact that my earlier amendments were defeated, I will not press clause 117 to a vote.
Question put and agreed to.
Clause 117 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clauses 118 and 119 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clause 120
Nullity
Amendment made: No. 57, in clause 120, page 62, line 8, leave out from 'other' to end of line 9 and insert
', the civil partnership is void if, and only if—
Column Number: 153
(a) they were not eligible to do so, or
(b) though they were so eligible, either of them did not validly consent to its formation.'.—[Jacqui Smith.]
Clause 120, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Mrs. McGuire: I beg to move amendment No. 58, in clause 121, page 62, line 16, leave out '50' and insert
'50(1)(a), (b), (c) or (e)'.
The Chairman: With this it will be convenient to discuss the following:
Government amendments Nos. 59 to 64.
Government new clause 5—Validity of civil partnerships registered outside Northern Ireland.
10.45 am
Mrs. McGuire: This group of amendments refers to clause 121, which deals with the circumstances in which a civil partnership registered abroad is void or voidable in Scotland. A new clause to provide equivalent provisions for Northern Ireland consistent with clause 54 for England and Wales and clause 121 for Scotland, as amended, is also included in the group. The amendments are largely consequential on the addition of specific provisions for Northern Ireland following Government amendments to the Bill in another place.
Clause 121 concerns the circumstances in which a civil partnership is to be treated as void or voidable in Scotland when the parties originally registered as civil partners outside Scotland. That could be an issue when partners have subsequently moved to Scotland and the validity of the partnership fails to be determined by a court in Scotland.
Amendments Nos. 58 and 63 remove references to clause 50(1)(d), which refers to the issuing of an interim gender recognition certificate as a basis on which a civil partnership is voidable in England and Wales. In Scotland, the issuing of such a certificate is treated as grounds for dissolution of the partnership under clause 115(2)(b). Dissolution is to be treated under the Bill as a matter to which the law of the forum applies. For that reason, courts in England and Wales will not dissolve a partnership registered in Scotland on the basis that a gender recognition certificate has been issued as that is a basis for annulment, not a ground for dissolution there. By the same token, Scottish courts should not annul a civil partnership registered in England and Wales on the basis of such a certificate, but should maintain the Scottish approach of treating that as a ground on which a partnership may be dissolved.
Amendments Nos. 59 and 60 reflect the insertion into the Bill of new Northern Ireland provisions and correct the text of clause 121 to accommodate those. Amendment No. 62 creates the same effect as the text removed by amendment No. 58, but does so, dare I say it, in a more economic way.
The first part of amendment No. 64 is made for the same reasons as amendments Nos. 58 and 63. The new subsection (8A) is designed to apply English and Northern Irish procedural bars to annulment of a voidable partnership when the partnership is to be treated as voidable in Scotland on the basis that it was
Column Number: 154
registered in England and Wales or Northern Ireland, or that English or Northern Irish law otherwise applies to the case. It would be wrong for a party to have the benefit of English or Northern Irish rules on nullity without having to surmount the procedural obstacles that would apply if bringing an action to have the partnership annulled in either of those two jurisdictions.
New subsections (8B) and (8C) are consequential on the other changes to the text already made by amendment No. 64.
The new clause inserted after clause 172 provides an equivalent provision for Northern Ireland and is, again, consistent with clause 54 and clause 121, as amended.
Amendment agreed to.
Amendments made: No. 59, in clause 121, page 62, line 19, leave out
No. 60, in clause 121, page 62, line 21, leave out
No. 61, in clause 121, page 62, line 29, leave out sub-paragraph (i).
No. 62, in clause 121, page 62, line 32, after '(2)(a)' insert 'or (b)'.
No. 63, in clause 121, page 62, line 37, leave out from first 'voidable' to end of line 42 and insert 'if—
(i) the appropriate part of the United Kingdom is England and Wales and the circumstances fall within section 50(1)(a), (b), (c) or (e), or
(ii) the appropriate part of the United Kingdom is Northern Ireland and the circumstances fall within section 170(1)(a), (b), (c) or (e).
(5) The appropriate part of the United Kingdom is the part by reference to which the condition in subsection (2)(b) of the relevant section is met.'.
No. 64, in clause 121, page 63, line 7, leave out from 'law,' to end of line 15 and insert—
'(b) where either of the parties was domiciled in England and Wales at the time when the overseas relationship was registered, the circumstances fall within section 50(1)(a), (b), (c) or (e), or
(c) where either of the parties was domiciled in Northern Ireland at the time when the overseas relationship was registered, the circumstances fall within section 170(1)(a), (b), (c) or (e).
(8A) Section 51 or (as the case may be) section 171 applies for the purposes of—
(a) subsections (1)(b), (2)(b) and (4)(b),
(b) subsection (8)(a), in so far as applicable in accordance with the relevant law, and
(c) subsection (8)(b) and (c).
(8B) In subsections (8)(a) and (8A)(b) ''the relevant law'' means the law of the country or territory where the overseas relationship was registered (including its rules of private international law).
(8C) For the purposes of subsections (8) and (8A)(b) and (c), references in sections 50 and 51 or (as the case may be) sections 170 and 171 to the formation of the civil partnership are to be read as references to the registration of the overseas relationship.'.—[Jacqui Smith.]
Column Number: 155
Clause 121, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clause 122 ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Schedule 12 agreed to.
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