Civil partnerships legislation – unfinished business

The draft Civil Partnership (Opposite-sex Couples) Regulations 2019 (“the Regulations”) was the first item of the secondary legislation within the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc) Act 2019 (“the Act”) to achieve the necessary approval of both Houses under the affirmative resolution procedure. It was also the last item of debated business before parliament was dissolved on 6 November. Through section 2(2) of the Act the regulations were subject to a sunset clause which required them to be in force by the end of December, and as such, only limited time was available for its scrutiny and approval;  this left a number of items of unfinished business, and these are summarized below. Continue reading