Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 - legislation

1 Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 CHAPTER 30 Explanatory Notes have been produced to assist in theunderstanding of this Act and are available separately .75 10 Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 CHAPTER 30 CONTENTSPART 1 Marriage OF SAME SEX COUPLES IN ENGLAND AND WALESE xtension of marriage1 Extension of Marriage to same sex couplesReligious protection2 Marriage according to religious rites: no compulsion to solemnize etcPart 3 of the Marriage Act 19493 Marriage for which no opt-in necessary4 Opt-in: Marriage in places of worship5 Opt-in: other religious ceremoniesPart 5 of the Marriage Act 19496 Armed forces chapelsThe Marriage (Registrar General s Licence) Act 19707 Opt-in: deathbed marriages The Church in Wales8 Power to allow for Marriage of same sex couples in Church in WalesOther provisions relating to marriages of same sex couples9 Conversion of civil partnership into marriageMarriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 (c.)

2 30)ii10 Extra-territorial mattersEffect of extension of marriage11 Effect of extension of marriagePART 2 OTHER PROVISIONS RELATING TO Marriage AND CIVIL PARTNERSHIP12 Change of gender of married persons or civil partners13 Marriage overseas14 Marriage according to the usages of belief organisations15 Review of civil partnership16 Survivor benefits under occupational pension schemesPART 3 FINAL PROVISIONS17 Transitional and consequential provision18 Orders and regulations19 Interpretation20 Extent21 Short title and commencementSchedule 1 Registration of buildings etcSchedule 2 Extra-territorial mattersPart 1 English and Welsh marriages of same sex couples: treatmentin Scotland and Northern IrelandPart 2 Marriage treated as civil partnership: dissolution, annulmentor separationPart 3 England and Wales: overseas relationships in CivilPartnership Act 2004 Schedule 3 Interpretation of legislationPart 1 Existing England and Wales legislationPart 2 New England and Wales legislationSchedule 4 Effect of extension of Marriage : further provisionPart 1 Private legal instruments Part 2 Presumption on birth of child to married womanPart 3 Divorce and annulment of marriagePart 4 Matrimonial proceedingsPart 5 State pensionsPart 6 Occupational pensions and survivor benefitsPart 7 Provisions which limit equivalence of all marriages etcSchedule 5 Change of gender of married persons or civil partnersPart 1 Applications by married persons and civil partnersPart 2 Alternative grounds for granting applications for genderrecognition certificatesSchedule 6 Marriage overseasPart 1 Consular Marriage under UK lawMarriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 (c.

3 30)iiiPart 2 Marriage under foreign law: certificates of no impedimentPart 3 Marriage of forces personnel under UK lawPart 4 General provisionsSchedule 7 Transitional and consequential provision etcPart 1 Transitional and transitory provisionPart 2 Minor and consequential amendmentsELIZABETH IIc. 30 Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 20132013 CHAPTER 30An Act to make provision for the Marriage of same sex couples in Englandand Wales, about gender change by married persons and civil partners, aboutconsular functions in relation to Marriage , for the Marriage of armed forcespersonnel overseas, for permitting marriages according to the usages of belieforganisations to be solemnized on the authority of certificates of asuperintendent registrar, for the review of civil partnership, for the review ofsurvivor benefits under occupational pension schemes, and for connectedpurposes.

4 [17th July 2013]E IT ENACTED by the Queen s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice andconsent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this presentParliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: PART 1 Marriage OF SAME SEX COUPLES IN ENGLAND AND WALESE xtension of marriage1 Extension of Marriage to same sex couples(1) Marriage of same sex couples is lawful.(2)The Marriage of a same sex couple may only be solemnized in accordancewith (a)Part 3 of the Marriage Act 1949,(b)Part 5 of the Marriage Act 1949,(c)the Marriage (Registrar General s Licence) Act 1970, or(d)an Order in Council made under Part 1 or 3 of Schedule 6.(3)No Canon of the Church of England is contrary to section 3 of the Submissionof the Clergy Act 1533 (which provides that no Canons shall be contrary to theBMarriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 (c. 30)Part 1 Marriage of same sex couples in England and Wales2 Royal Prerogative or the customs, laws or statutes of this realm) by virtue of itsmaking provision about Marriage being the union of one man with onewoman.

5 (4)Any duty of a member of the clergy to solemnize marriages (and anycorresponding right of persons to have their marriages solemnized bymembers of the clergy) is not extended by this Act to marriages of same sexcouples.(5)A member of the clergy is (a)a clerk in Holy Orders of the Church of England, or(b)a clerk in Holy Orders of the Church in protection2 Marriage according to religious rites: no compulsion to solemnize etc(1)A person may not be compelled by any means (including by the enforcementof a contract or a statutory or other legal requirement) to (a)undertake an opt-in activity, or(b)refrain from undertaking an opt-out activity.(2)A person may not be compelled by any means (including by the enforcementof a contract or a statutory or other legal requirement) (a)to conduct a relevant Marriage ,(b)to be present at, carry out, or otherwise participate in, a relevantmarriage, or(c)to consent to a relevant Marriage being conducted,where the reason for the person not doing that thing is that the relevantmarriage concerns a same sex couple.

6 (3)In this section opt-in activity means an activity of the kind specified in an entry in thefirst column of the following table which falls to be undertaken for thepurposes of any enactment specified in the corresponding entry in thesecond column; opt-out activity means an activity which reverses, or otherwisemodifies, the effect of an opt-in (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 (c. 30)Part 1 Marriage of same sex couples in England and Wales3(4)In this section 1949 Act means the Marriage Act 1949; armed forces overseas Marriage Order means an Order in Councilunder Part 3 of Schedule 6; person (a)includes a religious organisation;(b)does not include a registrar, a superintendent registrar or theRegistrar General; relevant Marriage means (a)a Marriage of a same sex couple solemnized in accordancewith (i)section 26A or 26B of the 1949 Act ( Marriage in a place ofworship or in another place according to religious ritesor usages),ActivityEnactmentGiving consent Any of these provisions of the 1949 Act:(a)section 26A(3);(b)section 26B(2), (4) or (6);(c)section 44A(6).

7 (d)section 46(1C) Regulations under section 70A(5) of the1949 Act (as mentioned in section70A(6)(c) of that Act) relating to anapplication for registration Section 1(3) of the Marriage (RegistrarGeneral s Licence) Act 1970 An armed forces overseas marriageOrder in its application to marriages ofsame sex couples (as mentioned inparagraph 9(5) of Schedule 6)Applying for the registration of abuildingSection 43A of the 1949 ActAuthorising a person to be presentat the solemnization of marriages ofsame sex couples in a buildingregistered under section 43A of the1949 ActSection 43B of the 1949 ActBeing authorised to be present at thesolemnization of marriages of samesex couples in a building registeredunder section 43A of the 1949 ActSection 43B of the 1949 ActGiving a certificate, giving a copy ofa consent, or certifying any matterAny of these provisions of the 1949 Act:(a)section 43A(3);(b)section 43B(2);(c)section 44A(7) Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 (c.)

8 30)Part 1 Marriage of same sex couples in England and Wales4(ii)Part 5 of the 1949 Act ( Marriage in a naval, military or airforce chapel),(iii)section 1 of the Marriage (Registrar General s Licence)Act 1970 (deathbed Marriage ), where the Marriage isaccording to religious rites or usages, or(iv)an armed forces overseas Marriage Order, where themarriage is according to religious rites or usages,including any ceremony forming part of, or connected with, thesolemnization of such a Marriage ; and(b) a Marriage ceremony read or celebrated in accordance withsection 46 of the 1949 Act in respect of a same sex couple(religious ceremony after registrar s Marriage of same sexcouple);and a reference to conducting a relevant Marriage is to be readaccordingly.(5)In section 110 of the Equality Act 2010 (liability of employees and agents), aftersubsection (5) insert (5A)A does not contravene this section if A (a)does not conduct a relevant Marriage ,(b)is not present at, does not carry out, or does not otherwiseparticipate in, a relevant Marriage , or(c)does not consent to a relevant Marriage being conducted,for the reason that the Marriage is the Marriage of a same sex couple.

9 (5B)Subsection (5A) applies to A only if A is within the meaning of person for the purposes of section 2 of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act2013; and other expressions used in subsection (5A) and section 2 ofthat Act have the same meanings in that subsection as in that section..(6)In Schedule 3 to the Equality Act 2010 (services and public functions:exceptions), after Part 6 insert PART 6 AMARRIAGE OF SAME SEX COUPLES IN ENGLAND AND WALESM arriage according to religious rites: no compulsion to solemnize etc25A (1) A person does not contravene section 29 only because the person (a)does not conduct a relevant Marriage ,(b)is not present at, does not carry out, or does not otherwiseparticipate in, a relevant Marriage , or(c)does not consent to a relevant Marriage being conducted,for the reason that the Marriage is the Marriage of a same sex couple.(2) Expressions used in this paragraph and in section 2 of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 have the same meanings in thisparagraph as in that section.

10 Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 (c. 30)Part 1 Marriage of same sex couples in England and Wales5 Part 3 of the Marriage Act 19493 Marriage for which no opt-in necessaryIn Part 3 of the Marriage Act 1949, for section 26 substitute 26 Marriage of a man and a woman; Marriage of same sex couples for which no opt-in necessary(1)The following marriages may be solemnized on the authority of twocertificates of a superintendent registrar (a)a Marriage of a man and a woman, in a building registeredunder section 41, according to such form and ceremony as thepersons to be married see fit to adopt;(b)a Marriage of any couple in the office of a superintendentregistrar;(bb)a Marriage of any couple on approved premises;(c)a Marriage of a man and a woman according to the usages of theSociety of Friends (commonly called Quakers);(d)a Marriage between a man and a woman professing the Jewishreligion according to the usages of the Jews.