Civil partnership
A civil partnership is a legally recognised relationship between two people of the same sex. Civil partnerships were introduced in the United Kingdom under the Civil Partnership Act 2004 and give almost all the same rights and responsibilities as civil marriage. The first civil partnerships were formed in December 2005.
The main differences from civil marriage are as follows:
- the partnership is formed by the signing of the register, not by saying certain words (and in fact there's no legal requirement for any words to be said)
- the partnership does not require to be consummated (ie for the partners to have intercourse) to make it valid
- the partnership cannot be dissolved on the grounds of adultery.
- there are some differences concerned with private pensions.
Up to the end of 2010, 46,622 civil partnerships had been formed,[1] including 487 at British Consulates abroad.
As with civil marriage, civil partnership ceremonies were not allowed to include religious readings, music or symbols, or take place on religious premises. However under the Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Approved Premises) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 (implementing a provision of the Equality Act 2010) civil partnerships have been permitted on religious premises in England and Wales since 5 December 2011; this is subject to the discretion of each religious body, and the Church of England have no plans to take part in this. The Cross Street Unitarian Chapel in Manchester was the first church in the UK to be given a licence to conduct civil partnerships on its premises.[2]
