June 26, 2019

Scotland to permit mixed-sex civil partnerships

Equal Civil Partnerships are delighted to learn that Scotland is going to match England and Wales by introducing mixed-sex civil partnerships as well as continuing to allow single-sex civil partnerships. The announcement, made on Tuesday 25 June, follows a four month consultation held in 2018.

The Scottish Government has said that there are now “plans to introduce a Bill into the Scottish Parliament in autumn this year to extend civil partnership to mixed sex couples.  This Bill will be subject to Parliamentary scrutiny.   If Parliament enacts the Bill, we expect that secondary legislation will then be needed.    This means, therefore, that mixed sex civil partnership may be established in Scotland in 2021.”

 This announcement, whilst welcome, provides at least a three year delay from the Supreme Court ruling in June 2018. It also means that mixed-sex civil partnerships will begin to take place at least over a year after England and Wales. At the ECP campaign, we are very concerned that they need to act faster than this and will be pushing for the Government to commit to a speedier time-frame.

We would welcome hearing from supporters who would like to be part of making the case to the Scottish Government. Sign up to our mailing list for updates and the latest news on the Scottish consultation. https://forms.gle/gJbWwwEEicixLV6q8