Civil Partnership Act 2004

Chapter 6 N.I. Miscellaneous

204 False statements etc. with reference to civil partnerships N.I.

(1) Amend Article 8 of the Perjury (Northern Ireland) Order 1979 (S.I. 1979/1714 (N.I. 19)) (false statements etc. with reference to marriage) as follows.

(2) After paragraph (1) insert—

“(1A) Any person who—

(a) for the purpose of procuring the formation of a civil partnership or a document mentioned in paragraph (1B)—

(i) makes or signs a declaration required under Part 4 or 5 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004; or

(ii) gives a notice or certificate required under Part 4 or 5 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004,

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—

(i) makes a statement as to any information which is required to be registered under Part 4 or 5 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004; or

(ii) causes such a statement to be made,

knowing that the statement is false;

(c) forbids the issue of a document mentioned in paragraph (1B)(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 Part 4 or 5 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004, knowing the representation to be false,

shall be guilty of an offence.

(1B) The documents are[en rule]

(a) a civil partnership schedule;

(b) a document required by an Order in Council under section 210 or 211 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 as an authority for two people to register as civil partners of each other;

(c) a certificate of no impediment under section 240 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004.”

(3) In paragraph (2), after “paragraph (1)” insert “ or (1A) ”.

(4) In the heading to Article 8, after “marriage” insert “ or civil partnership ”.

[F1 204A. Ceremonies and events to mark civil partnerships: protection from compulsion N.I.

(1) A religious body, or a person acting on behalf of or under the auspices of a religious body, may not be compelled—

(a) to provide, arrange or facilitate a ceremony or event to mark the formation of a civil partnership,

(b) to allow religious premises to be used as the place at which such a ceremony or event is held, or

(c) to participate in, or be present at, such a ceremony or event,

where the reason for not doing that thing is that the body or person does not wish to do things of that sort in relation to civil partnerships generally, in relation to civil partnerships between parties who are of the same sex or in relation to civil partnerships between parties who are not of the same sex.

(2) In this section—

• “compelled” means compelled by any means (including by the enforcement of a contract or a statutory or other legal requirement);

• “religious body” means an organised group of people meeting regularly for common religious worship;

• “religious premises” means premises which—

  (a)

  are owned, or controlled, by a religious body or a person acting on behalf of or under the auspices of a religious body, and

  (b)

  are not premises where the sole or main purpose for which they are used is commercial.]

Textual Amendments

F1 S. 204A inserted (N.I.) (1.9.2020) by The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020 (S.I. 2020/742), regs. 1(2), 12

205 Housing and tenancies N.I.

Schedule 18 amends certain enactments relating to housing and tenancies.

206 Family homes and domestic violence N.I.

Schedule 19 amends the Family Homes and Domestic Violence (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 (S.I. 1998/1071 (N.I. 6)) and related enactments so that they apply in relation to civil partnerships as they apply in relation to marriages.

207 Fatal accidents claims N.I.

(1) Amend the Fatal Accidents (Northern Ireland) Order 1977 (S.I. 1977/1251 (N.I. 18)) as follows.

(2) In Article 2(2) (meaning of “dependant”), after sub-paragraph (a) insert—

“(aa) the civil partner or former civil partner of the deceased;”.

(3) In sub-paragraph (b)(iii) of Article 2(2), after “wife” insert “ or civil partner ”.

(4) After sub-paragraph (f) of Article 2(2) 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 a civil partner, was treated by the deceased as a child of the family in relation to that civil partnership;”.

(5) After Article 2(2A) insert—

“(2B) The reference to the former civil partner of the deceased in paragraph (2)(aa) 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.”

(6) In Article 2(3)(b), for “by affinity” substitute “ by marriage or civil partnership ”.

(7) In Article 3A(2) (persons for whose benefit claim for bereavement damages may be made)—

(a) in sub-paragraph (a), after “wife or husband” insert “ or civil partner ”, and

(b) in sub-paragraph (b), after “was never married” insert “ or a civil partner ”.

(8) In Article 5 (assessment of damages), in paragraph (3A), after “wife” insert “ or civil partner ”.

208 Evidence N.I.

(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.

(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) Any rule of law—

(a) which is preserved by Article 22(1) of the Criminal Justice (Evidence) (Northern Ireland) Order 2004 (S.I. 2004/1501 (N.I. 10)), and

(b) under which in any proceedings evidence of reputation or family tradition is admissible for the purpose of proving or disproving the 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.

209 Restriction on publicity of reports of proceedings N.I.

Section 1 of the Matrimonial Causes (Reports) Act (Northern Ireland) 1966 (c. 29 (N.I.)) (restriction on publication of reports of proceedings) shall extend to proceedings—

(a) for the dissolution or annulment of a civil partnership or for the legal separation of civil partners,

(b) under section 181,

(c) under Part 8 of Schedule 15, or

(d) under Part 10 of Schedule 15 in relation to an order under Part 8 of that Schedule.