Yesterday, 2 December, there was a short debate in the House of Lords on a Question tabled by Baroness Thornton (Lab) and asked on the day by Lord Dubs (Lab), asking His Majesty’s Government whether they conducted an equality impact assessment following the judgment in R (Harrison & Ors) v Secretary of State for Justice [2020] concerning humanist marriages.

The initial response of Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede) (Lab), Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice was:

“My Lords, under the previous Government, the High Court found in Harrison a difference of treatment in weddings law towards humanists. However, it also found that the then Government had demonstrated that the difference in treatment was justified given the legitimate aim to address differences in treatment as part of wholesale reform. As a new Government, we need properly to consider these important issues and will set out our position in due course.” Continue reading →