In a Written Question answered on 5 September, Andrea Jenkyns (Morley and Outwood) (Con) asked the Secretary of State for Justice, “if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of immediately laying an order under Section 14 of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 to give legal recognition to humanist marriages rather than waiting for the outcome of the Law Commission’s review into that matter” [284951]. The Act (notwithstanding its Short Title) includes provision “for permitting marriages according to the usages of belief organisations to be solemnized on the authority of certificates of a superintendent registrar.”

In reply, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the MoJ, Wendy Morton, said this: Continue reading →