Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014

The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 (asp 5) is an Act of the Scottish Parliament which allows same-sex couples to marry in Scotland since 16 December 2014.

The bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament on 26 June 2013 by Alex Neil MSP, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing. The bill passed Stage 3 on 4 February 2014.^[1] It received Royal Assent on 12 March 2014.^[2]

The Act does not contain provisions to allow existing civil partnerships registered in Scotland to be converted into marriage, but includes provision for its later introduction into law;^[3] it will permit those already in civil partnership with one another to marry without first dissolving the mutual civil partnership.^[4]

Background

As marriage is neither reserved nor excepted to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the Scottish Parliament has legislative competence to make changes to marriage law.^[5]

In January 2009, a petition was drawn up by Nick Henderson, director of gay rights group the LGBT Network, to be submitted to the Scottish Parliament. The petition called for a change to the law that disallows two people of the same sex from getting married, by amending the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977. The petition also called for allowing same-sex marriage ceremonies to be performed by faith groups, but only if the religious institution gives consent.^[6][7] As well as political support from the Leader of the Labour Party in the European Parliament, Glenis Willmott MEP and veteran gay rights activist Michael Cashman MEP, the petition has drawn the signatures and support of Celia Kitzinger and Sue Wilkinson and of eight church leaders, both Episcopalian and Church of Scotland. The Very Reverend Kelvin Holdsworth, Provost of the Scottish Episcopal St Mary's Cathedral in Glasgow, has often spoken of his willingness and desire to perform valid same sex marriages in his church, and is a key supporter of the petition.^[8] It also attracted high-profile support from Labour MSP George Foulkes.^[9] The petition closed on 6 March, having gathered 1007 signatures.^[10][11]

On 17 March 2009, the Petitions Committee unanimously agreed to question the Scottish Government on whether and when it planned to amend the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977 to allow same sex marriages. They also requested that a reason be provided if an amendment could not be considered.^[12][13]

In March 2009, shortly before submission of the LGBT Network's petition to the Scottish Parliament, NUS Scotland established an Equal Marriage Campaign, launching a similar petition to the Scottish Parliament and calling for the amendment of legislation to allow same-sex marriage and mixed-sex civil partnerships in Scotland, although the petition itself did not distinguish between civil and religious marriage. This campaign attracted the support of a number of MSPs and MEPs, as well as activist organisations and individuals.^[14] The petition closed on 1 September 2009, having gathered 1,317 signatures.^[15] On 8 September the Petitions Committee convened after a summer recess, and agreed to contact the Government seeking responses to specific points raised in both petitions and the discussion.^[16][17]

On 1 December 2009, the Petitions Committee decided to seek a meeting between a government minister and the petitioners, as well as enquire as to whether the Government might consider setting up an advisory committee of interested parties.^[18] The Government rejected the petition, as legalising same-sex marriage in Scotland only would require changes in non-devolved matters such as the areas of immigration, pensions and inheritance law all of which would have to be done at national level.^[19] The head of the government's equality unit Hilary Third said that although from an equalities point of view "equal marriage is where we want to be" it would be a "difficult situation" if same-sex marriage was legal in Scotland but not England.^[20] In 2011 Her Majesty's Government announced a consultation on the legalising of same-sex marriage in England and Wales would be held, and it began in March 2012.

Consultation

From September – December 2011 the Scottish Government held a consultation on the issue. The consultation offered consideration on both removing religious prohibitions for civil partnerships and also legalising same-sex marriage within that country. In the foreword to the consultation document, Deputy First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon stated

"The Scottish Government is choosing to make its initial views clear at the outset of this consultation. We tend towards the view that religious ceremonies for civil partnerships should no longer be prohibited and that same sex marriage should be introduced so that same sex couples have the option of getting married if that is how they wish to demonstrate their commitment to each other. We also believe that no religious body or its celebrants should be required to carry out same sex marriages or civil partnership ceremonies."^[21]

Unlike the English and Welsh Consultation, the one for Scotland dealt with the issue of same-sex marriage in a religious context. On 10 December 2011, The Scotsman newspaper reported that some 50,000 responses had been received from within Scotland.^[22] In reality, when counting was finished, the total stood at 77,508.^[23] The Government presented the results and analysis of the consultation in July 2012. Respondents who opposed the introduction of same sex marriage were in the majority, with 67%.^[24][25] However, 14,869 (19%) of responses came from outside Scotland and 26,383 (34%) were submitted by a pre-printed postcard rather than via the Consultation form.^[23]

Passage through Parliament

On 25 July 2012 the Scottish Government announced it would bring forward legislation to legalise both civil and religious same-sex marriage in Scotland. The Government reiterated its intention to ensure that no religious group or individual member of the clergy would be forced to conduct such ceremonies; it also stated its intention to work with Westminster to make necessary changes to the Equality Act to ensure that this would be guaranteed.^[26][27]

On 27 June 2013, the Scottish Government introduced the Marriage and Civil Partnerships (Scotland) Bill in the Scottish Parliament.^[28][29] LGBT rights campaigners, celebrating outside the UK parliament on 15 July 2013 for the clearance of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill in the House of Lords, declared that they would continue the campaign to extend same-sex marriage rights to both Scotland and Northern Ireland.^[30]

The majority of the members of the Scottish Parliament have declared their support for same-sex marriage, including the leader of each party in Parliament: Alex Salmond (SNP; First Minister of Scotland), Johann Lamont (Labour), Ruth Davidson (Conservative), Willie Rennie (Liberal Democrats) and Patrick Harvie (Green).^[31]

The bill was fast-tracked through the Scottish Parliament with the aim of achieving Royal Assent for the legislation by March 2014.^[32] The Equal Opportunities Committee considered the bill from 5 September to 7 November, with a report published on 8 November. On 20 November, the bill passed Stage 1 with a 98 to 15 vote and 5 abstentions.^[33] Of the 98 MSPs that voted "yes" on the bill, 52 were members of the Scottish National Party, 31 were members of the Labour Party, 7 were members of the Conservative Party, 4 were members of the Liberal Democrats Party, 2 were members of the Green Party, and 2 were Independents.^[34] Of the 15 MSPs that voted "no" on the bill, 6 were members of the Scottish National Party, 8 were members of the Conservative Party, and 1 was a member of the Labour Party.^[34] Of the 5 MSPs that abstained, 2 were members of the Scottish National Party, and 3 were members of the Labour Party.^[34]

The bill returned to the Equal Opportunities Committee for Stage 2. The Committee considered the bill on 19 December 2013, rejecting several amendments proposed by opponents of the legislation.^[35] The Committee continued Stage 2 on 16 January 2014.^[36] The final Stage 3 debate and vote was held on 4 February 2014. The bill was approved with 105 MSPs in favour and 18 opposed, with no abstentions.^[37][38] The bill received Royal Assent on 12 March 2014^[2] and the first same-sex marriages occurred on 16 December 2014, for partners in a civil partnership who converted into marriage.^[39][40]

See also

• Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013

References