I thank the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Newcastle for his comments, not least for the underlining of the fact that civil partnerships are not marriages. It is important for us to remember that there are those who do not recognise civil marriages between heterosexual couples because they, too, are not marriages in the eyes of God. There are those who do not recognise divorce, because they believe that marriage is a union of one man and one woman for life, which cannot be divided by an Act of state or by any other person. Those are firmly-held religious beliefs that many may have.
The right reverend Prelate is right to give the example of a parish priest who, for good conscience, may decline to officiate at a blessing, or some would say a marriage, of those who have previously been married and who come before the Church for further sanction. There are practical ways in which one can deal with some practical problems.
I have already declared, and I make the declaration again, that I am a practising and firmly committed Roman Catholic. Therefore, I understand absolutely the difference of views, which are shared by a number of committed members of other faiths. The noble Baroness mentioned those of the Muslim faith and of the Jewish faith, and many others who share those views. We are talking about civil recognition of civil partnerships and civil contracts, which the sovereign Parliament has endorsed, as the noble Lord, Lord Lester, said, as being lawful and valid and therefore something to be honoured.
In the end, a public authority has a duty, in our view, to provide a service without discrimination. While an authority may of course take what practical measures it can to respect the private views of its staff, we do not feel that it is right to forbid the authority—which is what we would be doing in the provision—to require those staff to perform their functions if it is necessary.
I shall address the issue of registrars. Civil partnerships, and marriages contracted by transsexual people once their change of gender has been legally recognised, will both be valid events carried out in accordance with the law. In such circumstances, registrars and other officials would have no legal grounds on which to refuse to provide the service, and it would be expected that the service is provided to the same high standards as other services. Many people in their public office must undertake functions that they may not always, in every single respect, agree with. That is part of being a public office-holder and a public employee. We see no reason why a registrar or any other official who did not agree in conscience—although one would respect that—should have the liberty to inquire into and refuse to exercise his function.
There are, of course, often practical solutions to some of those issues, as the right reverend Prelate made plain. It will often be the case that there would be sufficient registration officers or other officials available to avoid either an embarrassing situation for the transsexual person or a registration officer being placed in a position of personal difficulty.
In relation to adoption, Amendment No. 191A is similar to amendments debated and withdrawn both in Committee and on Report during the passage of the Adoption and Children Act in 2002 and the Local Government Act in 2003 respectively. At each stage, we explained why the amendment was inappropriate. I am afraid that we intend to continue to resist the amendment, and I will again set out the reasons why that is so.
Amendment No. 191A seeks to ensure that no person shall be under any duty to participate in adoption placements or processing adoption applications to which they have a conscientious objection. That refers to cases where children are to be placed for adoption with an unmarried couple or with one person who is in fact part of a couple living together as partners in an enduring family relationship. It also covers the processing of those adoption applications.
The Adoption and Children Act 2002 allows, for the first time, unmarried couples, regardless of their sexual orientation, to apply to adopt a child jointly. However, it has long been possible for a person in an unmarried relationship to apply to adopt as a single person. Noble Lords know that there were many cases, and one parent would have the parental rights and the other person who was the de facto parent would not. The Adoption and Children Act does not therefore raise any fundamental new issues, so there is no need to make any special provision in terms of ““conscientious objections”” as a result of the change to enable unmarried couples to adopt jointly. Arguably, the key benefit for children of the change in the 2002 Act is that it enables a child adopted by an unmarried couple to have the permanence and security of having two legal parents.
The amendment raises employment issues, which are matters more suitably addressed by existing protection in employment legislation and the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003. I know that the noble Baroness has mentioned those; she knows that they are there, and they are there to be rigorously enforced if the need arises. The regulations prohibit discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief in employment and vocational training. That answer, I hope, will give some modicum of comfort to the noble Earl, Lord Ferrers, who rightly asks what protection there is for those who have different beliefs. That is why we have the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003.
I absolutely understand the noble Baroness’s concerns, and the concerns of all those who have strongly held religious beliefs. However, there has to be an understanding that those beliefs are not shared by everyone and, in a situation in which we have to have tolerance, understanding and enforcement of the law, this is the best way forward. With the greatest respect to the noble Baroness, for those reasons we are not able to change our position.
Equality Bill [HL]
Proceeding contribution from
Baroness Scotland of Asthal
(Labour)
in the House of Lords on Wednesday, 13 July 2005.
It occurred during Committee of the Whole House (HL)
and
Debate on bills on Equality Bill (HL).
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673 c1152-4 
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2005-06
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