The Ryan Line - Random Musings on Law and Life

For some years now, Northern Ireland has been debating the introduction of marriage for same-sex couples.   Polls show strong support for such reform amongst the public.   A majority in the Assembly now supports change but, due to the lack of sufficient cross community support in the chamber, equal marriage currently remains elusive.   England and Wales, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and the Republic of Ireland have all extended marriage to same sex couples. This may be a persuasive factor.  That said, the fact that ‘everyone else is doing it’ is not a compelling reason in itself to follow suit.  Northern Ireland must decide for itself. While the prospect of same-sex couples marrying may seem radical to some, I suggest that it is in fact a relatively modest proposal.  Same-sex couples in Northern Ireland may already enter into civil partnership, and have been able to do so for 11 years now.  Civil partners enjoy virtually all of the same rights ...

A claim regularly made in the marriage referendum debate is that civil partnership should be sufficient for same sex couples and that there is no need to extend marriage to same-sex couples. Civil partnership certainly provides extensive rights and obligations. It offers equal treatment with marriage, for instance, in the context of taxation, social welfare, pensions, citizenship, immigration, property, domestic violence, and maintenance.   Largely equal treatment applies in the context of succession (inheritance) and remedies following dissolution.   It delivered a number of vitally important, and in some cases urgently needed protections for same-sex couples. Civil Partnership differs from marriage, however, in a number of respects. Many of these differences initially related to children being raised by civil partners, though most of these particular differences have been eliminated by the Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015.   Other differences in t...