A consultation on same-sex religious marriage and conversion entitlements in Northern Ireland
Read the full outcome
Detail of outcome
Detail of outcome of consultation on same-sex religious marriage in Northern Ireland
The Government response to the same-sex religious marriage in Northern Ireland consultation outlines the background to the consultation, including the relevant legal powers of the Government to change the law, following the provision of same-sex civil marriage and opposite-sex civil partnerships in Northern Ireland from 13 January 2020.
The Government response document then outlines the consultation analysis undertaken for each question asked in the consultation and what the Regulations then provide.
The Government laid the The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020 before Parliament on 16 July 2020. The Regulations, which come into force on 1 September 2020, put in place an ‘opt in’ system for same-sex religious marriage, allowing individual officiants to be appointed to solemnise same-sex religious marriage where the governing authority of the religious body they belong to gives its written consent to same-sex marriage to the Registrar General; and provides appropriate protections and exemptions so that it does not amount to unlawful discrimination for a religious body, or an officiant, to refuse to marry a couple because they are of the same sex.
Detail of outcome of consultation on conversion entitlements in Northern Ireland
The Government undertook a six-week public consultation on the proposals for what conversion rights couples should have in Northern Ireland. The consultation was open from 20 January 2020 and closed on 23 February 2020. We thank all of the individuals and organisations that took the time to engage with the consultation proposals and respond.
The Government response to the Marriage and Civil partnership - conversion entitlements in Northern Ireland consultation outlines the background to the consultation, including the relevant legal powers of the Government to change the law, following the provision of same-sex civil marriage and opposite-sex civil partnerships in Northern Ireland from 13 January 2020.
The Government response document then outlines the consultation analysis undertaken for each question asked in the consultation and what the Regulations then provide.
The Government laid the Marriage and CIvil Partnership (Northern Ireland) (No.2) Regulations 2020 before Parliament on 22 October 2020. The Regulations, which come into force on 7 December 2020, provide for conversion rights for couples in Northern Ireland, providing a three-year window in which same-sex couples can convert an existing civil partnership formed in Northern Ireland into a marriage; and opposite-sex couples can convert an existing marriage formed in Northern Ireland into a civil partnership. These converted relationships will be backdated, such that the resulting relationship will be treated as having existed from the date the original relationship was formed.
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Original consultation
Consultation description
The UK government published a consultation on two issues: same-sex religious marriage and the appropriate protections, and conversion entitlements in Northern Ireland - which were open from 20 January - 23 February 2020.
The consultations followed the changes to the law in Northern Ireland made under the powers in section 8(1) of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc.) Act 2019, which came into effect on 13 January 2020, and mean that same-sex civil marriage and opposite-sex civil partnerships are now legal in Northern Ireland.
Section 8 of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc.) Act 2019 allows the Secretary of State to make further regulations covering other related provisions including conversion between civil partnership and marriage (and vice versa), and also for religious same-sex marriage ceremonies and associated religious protections in Northern Ireland.
The Government has been clear that we will regulate on these two matters, to give certainty to same-sex couples who wish to marry in a religious ceremony and religious bodies that wish to perform same-sex marriages, but equally to protect the rights of those religious bodies that do not wish to solemnise marriages between couples of the same sex in Northern Ireland. These regulations will bring Northern Ireland in line with the rest of the UK in practice.
The Government is continuing to carefully analyse the submissions received during the public consultation on conversion entitlements. We will be working to make regulations to provide conversion entitlements in Northern Ireland as soon as possible before the end of 2020. Further information will be provided in due course.
Documents
Updates to this page
Published 20 January 2020Last updated 22 October 2020 + show all updates
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Change to attachement ordering.
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Addition of consultation outcome.
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Consultation response
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First published.