Гражданское партнерство в Соединенном Королевстве: история и изменения

Form of civil union granted under the Civil Partnership Act 2004
the UK relationship status

Civil partnership in the United Kingdom is a form of civil union between couples open to both same sex couples and opposite sex couples. It was introduced via the Civil Partnership Act 2004 by the Labour government. The Act initially permitted only same sex couples to form civil partnerships, but the law was expanded to include opposite sex couples in 2019.

Civil partnerships were introduced for same sex couples under the terms of the Civil Partnership Act 2004. Before this, an informal London Partnership Register had been set up in 2001 by then Mayor of London Ken Livingstone but without any legal recognition. In February 2018, the United Kingdom and Scottish governments began reviewing civil partnerships, potentially to expand them to include opposite sex couples. In June 2018, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom ruled that restricting civil partnerships to same sex couples was incompatible with the rights guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights as enacted in Schedule 1 to the Human Rights Act 1998. The UK Government was obliged to change the law to allow opposite sex couples in England and Wales to enter into civil partnerships. This change was unsuccessfully opposed by the Church of England and many Christian denominations. Opposite sex couples have been able to enter into civil partnerships in England and Wales since 2 December 2019. Similar reforms have been in place in Northern Ireland since 13 January 2020. In Scotland, legislation to allow opposite sex civil partnerships passed the Scottish Parliament on 23 June 2020. These changes extend the legal recognition of relationships granted under the Civil Partnership Act 2004, allowing couples irrespective of sex to obtain essentially the same rights and responsibilities as civil marriage. Civil partners are entitled to the same property rights as married couples, the same exemption as married couples on inheritance tax, social security and pension benefits, and also the ability to obtain parental responsibility for a partner's children, as well as responsibility for reasonable maintenance of one's partner and their children, tenancy rights, full life insurance recognition, next of kin rights in hospitals, and others. When the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 legalised same sex marriage in England and Wales in March 2014, civil partnerships remained available to same sex couples and granted those couples in a civil partnership the ability to convert their civil partnership into a marriage. The equivalent Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 does not grant that ability to couples in Scotland, but includes provisions for its later introduction, and does permit those already in civil partnership to marry without first dissolving the mutual civil partnership; it is not possible to have both. When same sex marriage became legal in Northern Ireland on 13 January 2020, couples married elsewhere were legally recognised as married in Northern Ireland. Couples in Northern Ireland have been allowed to convert their civil partnerships into marriages since 7 December 2020.

A civil partnership is a relationship between two people, formed when they register as civil partners of each other, which ends only on death, dissolution or annulment. Part 2 of the Act relates to England and Wales, Part 3 to Scotland and Part 4 to Northern Ireland.

A civil partnership is formed once both individuals have signed the civil partnership document in the presence of a registrar and two witnesses. Under the standard procedure, before registration, each party will usually have to give notice to the appropriate authority. Each party must have resided in the British jurisdiction in which they intend to register (England and Wales or Northern Ireland) for at least seven days immediately preceding the giving of notice, and there will, in most cases, be a fifteen day waiting period after notice is given. A civil partnership in Wales (Partneriaeth Sifil) may be conducted either in English or – provided that both registering parties, the registrar and witnesses are able to understand and write in the Welsh language – in Welsh. Civil partnership documents issued in Wales (regardless of the registering language) follow a standardised bilingual English and Welsh format. In Scotland there is no minimum residence requirement to contract a valid partnership. During the waiting period, the proposed partnership is publicised and anyone may make a formal objection. If there is such an objection, the proposed civil partnership cannot be formed unless the objection is withdrawn or if the registration authority is satisfied that the objection ought not to prevent the formation of the civil partnership. Provided no objection has been recorded, or any recorded objections have been cleared, the registration authority must issue a civil partnership schedule at the request of either party upon the expiration of the waiting period. The civil partnership must then be registered within twelve months of the notice first being given. Specific registration procedures apply to certain special circumstances, e. g. concerning the housebound, detained persons and those seriously ill and in danger of death.

Each party to the civil partnership must be at least 16 years of age. Anyone below 18 years of age will usually need parental consent, except in Scotland where such consent is not required. Furthermore, the parties to the proposed partnership must not be within the prohibited degrees of relationship specified in part 1 of schedule 1, paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Act (paragraph 3 was not brought into force following a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights against similar provisions for marriage). Any party who is already in a marriage or a civil partnership is ineligible to register. Where permitted, civil partnerships may be registered at British embassies or consulates general. As of October 2009, the British Embassy in France listed 28 such places as being authorised to hold civil partnerships. For such registrations, at least one partner must be a British citizen. Overseas couples wishing to register their partnership in the UK must reside in the country for seven days prior to application for the partnership, and wait a further fifteen days before the civil partnership may be formed.

It is prohibited for civil partnerships to include any readings, music or symbols that are religious. It was originally prohibited for the ceremonies to take place in religious venues. On 17 February 2011, the UK government announced that, as the result of the passing of the Equality Act 2010, it would bring forward the necessary measures to remove the latter restriction in England and Wales, although religious venues would not be compelled to offer civil partnerships. This was implemented by The Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Approved Premises) (Amendment) Regulations 2011. The first civil partnership to be registered in a place of worship in the UK was at Ullet Road Unitarian Church in Liverpool on 6 May 2012.

The Gender Recognition Act 2004 allows transgender people to obtain legal recognition for their 'acquired gender' allowing individuals to obtain a change in sex on birth certificates. Under special provisions of the Civil Partnership Act 2004, in such situations a couple may dissolve their marriage and enter into a civil partnership the same day, and under the provision of the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc) Act 2019 a same sex marriage can be converted to an opposite sex civil partnership. Alternatively they can stay married or in a civil partnership if their spouse signs a statutory declaration that they agree to the gender change changing the opposite sex marriage into a same sex marriage or vice versa.

The position of civil partners in relation to financial arrangements mirrors that of spouses. For instance, Section 11 of the Married Women's Property Act 1882 applies to civil partnerships; thus, money payable to a surviving partner under a policy of life assurance no longer forms part of the deceased partner's estate. The laws governing wills, administration of estates and family provisions also apply to civil partners as to spouses; thus, provisions governing financial relief under Part 2 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA) and the Domestic Proceedings and Magistrates' Court Act 1978 also apply to civil partnerships. Tax exemptions available to spouses under s.18 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 are available to civil partners under the Civil Partnership Act 2004. In Scotland the centuries old system of minimum legal rights to a deceased estate for a widowed spouse were expressly extended to civil partners by section 131 of Act. In any dispute between civil partners as to title or possession of property, either partner may apply to the Court, which can then make any order in relation to the property, including an order to sell such property. Contributions by either partner to property improvement are recognised if the contributions are substantial and in actual money or money's worth.

When dealing with an application for dissolution, nullity or separation where there is a child in the family, the Court must consider if it should exercise its powers under the Children Act 1989. Section 75 amends the definition of 'a child of the family' accordingly. Other amendments were also made to equalise the position of civil partners with that of spouses. Civil partners are able to acquire parental responsibilities as a stepparent under Section 75 of the Act. They may also apply for residence or contact orders. Further, the right to apply for financial provision for children under schedule 1 of the 1989 act was extended to civil partners. Adoption provisions were amended to treat civil partners the same as married couples in Britain, although this does not apply to Northern Ireland at 18 November 2011. The Northern Ireland Adoption law is due to go to the judicial review in December 2011.

The Act also amended other areas to equalise the position of civil partners. Such areas included matters relating to housing, tenancies and the Fatal Accidents Act 1976. Applicable parts of the Family Law Act 1996 were also amended.

There is no requirement that either party must change their surname upon entering a civil partnership. However, many couples wish to follow marital traditions and seek to change their surname to that of either partner, or combine their names to make a double barrelled surname. This change can be made after the civil partnership is registered, and authorities will accept a certificate of civil partnership as evidence of name change, e. g. when applying for a passport or a driving licence. In Scotland, names need not be changed to be considered valid (deeds poll do not exist under Scots law), though some English based companies may still ask for proof from an official such as a Justice of the Peace. Civil partners of male peers or knights do not receive a courtesy title to which the spouse of a peer or knight would be entitled.

Section 37(1) of the Act provides for the making of dissolution, nullity, separation and presumption of death orders. These provisions broadly mirror those governing marriage.

No applications for dissolution may be made within one year of the formation of the civil partnership, except in Scotland. Like marriage, irretrievable breakdown is the only ground on which the court may make a dissolution order. Also, Section 44 provides that the Court may not make such an order unless the applicant satisfies as to certain facts which are the same as those for divorce under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA), except that adultery cannot be relied on for a civil partnership dissolution: the respondent's behaviour, 2 years' separation and consent, 2 years' desertion or 5 years' separation. If the applicant satisfies the court in this respect, the court must make a dissolution order unless it is not convinced by the evidence that the partnership has indeed broken down irretrievably. The MCA section 5 defence is also available. While adultery cannot be cited as a reason in itself for dissolving a civil partnership, it could be cited as an example of unreasonable behaviour. As with the breakdown of a marriage, the court will have powers to provide financial relief upon dissolution of a Civil Partnership. The court may make Maintenance and lump sum orders, Orders for Sale, Pension Sharing Orders or Property Adjustment Orders.

A nullity order is one which annuls a void or voidable civil partnership. Section 49 of the Act provides that a civil partnership is void on grounds of ineligibility to register, if the parties: disregarded certain requirements as to the formation of the partnership, where any party is a minor, where any person whose consent is required (e. g. a parent) has forbidden the formation of the partnership and the court has not given its consent. Where a civil partnership is voidable, applications for nullity orders are subject to the bars of time, knowledge of defect and approbation. A presumption of death order dissolves the partnership on the grounds that one of the partners is presumed to be dead, while a separation order provides for the separation of the parties. These orders are governed by Sections 55 and 56 of the Act and they largely mirror the position for married couples.

The contracts of marriage and civil partnerships are very similar though there are some technical differences: venereal disease is a ground for annulment of marriage, but not civil partnership; adultery is a ground for divorce, but not dissolution of civil union; and titles may not be inherited or passed to partners of a civil partnership. Where laws differ for wife and husband, both partners are generally treated like opposite sex couples. Otherwise, the rules for pensions, survivor benefits, annulment and dissolution are very similar.

The first civil partnership formed under the Civil Partnership Act 2004 took place at 11:00 GMT on 5 December 2005 between Matthew Roche and Christopher Cramp at St Barnabas Hospice, Worthing, West Sussex. The statutory 15 day waiting period was waived as Roche was suffering from a terminal illness: he died the following day. The first partnership registered after the normal waiting period was held in Belfast on 19 December 2005. The first partnerships formed in Great Britain, after the waiting period, should have occurred on 21 December, but due to a misinterpretation of the rules, the first in Scotland were held on 20 December. The first civil partnerships in England and Wales were formed on 21 December 2005, with Westminster, Hampshire, The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham and Brighton & Hove conducting the largest numbers.

Most of the overseas territories have not indicated plans to introduce civil partnerships. The British Crown dependency of Jersey has civil partnerships available, but only for same sex couples; a law to allow for opposite sex civil partnerships was passed by the States Assembly on 3 March 2022 and, following approval by the Privy Council, will take effect by the end of 2022. Both opposite sex couples and same sex couples within the Falkland Islands, Isle of Man and Gibraltar have civil marriage and civil partnerships available as of 2016. Civil partnerships are legal within the Cayman Islands following enactment of the Civil Partnership Law on 4 September 2020.

After the establishment of civil partnerships, several individuals and groups advocated extension to opposite sex couples. A campaign group known as Equal Civil Partnerships was organised, specifically to call upon the government to extend civil partnerships to all couples. A London couple, Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan, sued for recognition of their relationship as a civil partnership, but were unsuccessful in the High Court on 29 January 2016 and again in the Court of Appeal on 21 February 2017. The Civil Partnership Act 2004 (Amendment) Bill 2016–17, a private member's bill, was filed by Tim Loughton on 21 July 2016 to amend the Civil Partnership Act 2004 and extend civil partnerships to opposite sex couples, but after second reading debate took place on 13 January 2017, further debate was postponed and eventually cancelled due to the calling of a general election in June 2017. By July 2016, the Isle of Man was the only part of the British Isles where both same and opposite sex couples could choose between civil partnership and marriage. The Isle made this possible at the same time as the legalisation of same sex marriage in the territory. In response, the Prime Minister announced in October 2018 that civil partnerships would be opened to heterosexual couples. The bill received royal assent on 26 March 2019 and came into effect on the same day. This expansion of civil partnerships to opposite sex couples applied only in England and Wales, and not Scotland or Northern Ireland. 167 opposite sex couples entered into civil partnerships on the same day in England and Wales.

Civil partnerships became available to opposite sex couples in Northern Ireland on 13 January 2020. The Scottish Government introduced legislation allowing opposite sex civil partnerships to the Scottish Parliament on 30 September 2019, and the bill passed the parliament by a vote of 64–0 on 23 June 2020.