Graeme Fraser assesses the impact of equal civil partnerships on cohabitation reform
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously in June that the government’s delay in evaluating whether to abolish or extend civil partnerships amounted to discrimination by failing to eliminate the unequal treatment immediately between same sex and opposite sex couples ( R (Steinfeld and Keidan) v Secretary of State for International Development [2018] UKSC 32, [2018] All ER (D) 145 (Jun))
On 18 July 2018, Conservative MP Tim Loughton’s Civil partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration Etc) Bill passed through Committee stage. Home Office Minister Victoria Atkins confirmed that the government’s research on the future operation of civil partnership, announced in May just prior to the Steinfeld hearing, would be concluded later this year, including a commitment to present a report to Parliament on how the law on civil partnerships should change.
Ahead of the government’s research, a NatCen Panel survey commissioned by Professor Anne Barlow (University of Exeter) revealed a resounding majority (more than 70%) in favour of extending civil partnerships to opposite sex couples.
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