On 15 March 2019, the Commons considered and agreed to the Lords Amendments to Tim Loughton’s private Member’s bill, the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration Etc.) Bill, (“the Bill”), which was then presented for Royal Assent. Details of the Bill were reviewed in our post, Opposite sex civil partnerships, but at the time of writing, 26 March, neither a consolidated version of the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc) Act 2019, (“the Act”) nor revised Explanatory Notes was available.

In the March 2019 round-up, we noted that “at some point … the Government will bring forward proposals for a digital registration system and will be introducing Regulations for opposite sex civil partnerships”. In view of the renewed interest in the application of the Act triggered by concerns relating to the new system for the registration of marriage, here, here and elsewhere, we have updated our initial post now that both Act and Explanatory Notes are available. Continue reading →