Civil Partnership Act 2004 (Overseas Relationships and Consequential, etc. Amendments) Order 2005

rose to move, That the Grand Committee do report to the House that it has considered the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (Overseas Relationships and Consequential, etc. Amendments) Order 2005. The noble Lord said: The order was laid in draft before the House on 6 July. Before I go any further, I should like to state that the order is compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. The Committee will recall that the Civil Partnership Act 2004, which was the subject of detailed debate in this House, provides for same-sex couples to form a civil partnership, thereby gaining legal recognition of their relationship and many of the same rights and responsibilities as married couples. The Act made a substantial number of amendments to primary legislation to ensure parity of treatment between spouses and civil partners. However, power to make further consequential and supplementary amendments was included in Section 259 of that Act. The order invokes the powers under that section of the Act and also makes some minor amendments to Schedule 20 in reliance on the power at Section 213 of the Act. The amendments in the order are, for the most part, minor and consequential, and I do not intend to speak about each one individually. Rather, I shall give a brief overview of each main section of the order. Of course, if the Committee wants to ask for more detail, I shall happily give it. Part 2 of the order amends Schedule 20 to the Civil Partnership Act, which specifies overseas relationships that may be treated as civil partnerships in the UK. The amendments ensure that the names of all the overseas relationships currently listed in the schedule are in the official languages of the countries in question. That is to ensure clarity about the recognition in the UK of those overseas relationships. There are also amendments to correct two small errors in the spelling of the names of the French and Dutch relationships. Scottish Ministers and the Department of Finance and Personnel in Northern Ireland have consented to the amendments. Schedule 1 to the order amends Acts relating to registration. The amendments all relate to the circumstances under which civil partnership certificates can be issued, the recording and publication of information about civil partnerships, and the status of civil partnership records. Schedule 2 to the order amends the Marriage Act 1949. The amendment will enable former civil partners, one of whom has changed gender as a result of the issue of a full gender recognition certificate, to marry in England and Wales without being delayed by the 15-day waiting period that would normally apply. The Civil Partnership Act already contains provisions that enable former spouses, one of whom has changed gender as a result of the issue of a full gender recognition certificate, to form a civil partnership in England and Wales without being delayed by the waiting period. The amendment in the draft order will mean that both situations are now dealt with. Schedule 3 to the order amends Church legislation to insert references to ““civil partner”” and ““surviving civil partner”” where there are existing references to ““spouse”” and ““widow or widower””. Section 259 enables a Minister of the Crown to make amendments to Church legislation although, as the Committee will be aware, by convention the government do not legislate for the Church of England without its consent. I stress that the provisions in the order amending Church legislation have been drafted by Church lawyers, consulted on internally within the Church, and finally have been approved by the Archbishops’ Council and the House of Bishops. The Church has asked that we include the amendments in the order, which we are content to do. The amendments in Schedule 3 do not cover Church pensions, as those will be dealt with in a separate instrument to be made under Section 255 of the Act. Schedule 4 makes minor amendments to various other Acts, including the Broadcasting Act 1990, the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Human Tissue Act 2004, among others. The Acts are amended to include appropriate references to ““civil partner””, ““surviving civil partner””, ““reputed civil partner””, and other related terms. I beg to move. Moved, That the Grand Committee do report to the House that it has considered the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (Overseas Relationships and Consequential, etc. Amendments) Order 2005.—(Lord Sainsbury of Turville.)