Background and summary
Background
3.Under the previous law, a marriage could only be between a man and a woman. Marriage law in England and Wales is based on where the marriage ceremony takes place. The Marriage Act 1949 (the “Marriage Act”) sets out that a marriage can be solemnized (solemnization is the legal ceremony which gives effect to the marriage) either in religious buildings, through a religious ceremony, or on secular (non-religious) premises, through a civil ceremony. The law makes particular provision relating to marriage according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England and the Church in Wales, and to marriages according to the rites and usages of the Jewish religion and the Quakers (Society of Friends).
4.Same sex couples may register a civil partnership under the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (the “Civil Partnership Act”). A civil partnership is only available to same sex couples and can only be conducted through a civil ceremony, although following legislative change in 2011 this may be held in a religious building.
5.The position of the Church of England is different from that of other religious organisations for three main reasons:
as the established Church, its Canons (church laws) form part of the law of the land;
as the established Church, it can amend or repeal primary legislation through a Measure passed by its Synod, provided the Measure is subsequently approved by both Houses of Parliament and receives Royal Assent;
its clergy are under a common law duty to marry a parishioner in his or her parish church. The Church in Wales has a similar duty by virtue of it previously being established (it became disestablished in 1920).
6.In March 2012 the Government Equalities Office published a consultation on “Equal Civil Marriage”, which looked at how to enable same sex couples to marry. The consultation made clear that no religious organisation or its ministers would be forced to conduct marriage ceremonies for same sex couples. The consultation ran for 13 weeks, closing on 14 June 2012. Just over 228,000 responses were received, together with 19 petitions. This is the largest response ever received to a Government consultation, highlighting that this is an important issue to a great many people. This was followed on 11 December 2012 by the Government’s response to the consultation, which confirmed that the Government would proceed with its proposal to introduce marriage for same sex couples. The Government also decided that it would permit religious marriage ceremonies for same sex couples according to the rites of religious organisations that wished to opt in to this provision, whilst providing protection for religious organisations and their representatives who do not wish marry same sex couples.
