Same-sex marriage: A new urban myth in Hansard?
The Public Bill Committee commenced hearing evidence on the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Bill on Tuesday 12 January, here, and the morning debate ended with the following exchange, [Col 54] The Chair: A...
View ArticleReligion and Law round up – 24th March
A fairly quiet week for law & religion (unless you’re the Pope or the Archbishop of Canterbury) Pope Francis’s inaugural Mass and Archbishop Justin’s Enthronement – some lessons from Rome and...
View ArticleQueen’s Speech: Legislation from 2012-13
Both Houses of Parliament were prorogued on Thursday 25 April thereby ending Parliamentary Session 2012-13. The Queen’s Speech on 8th May 2013 marks the start of the 2013-2014 Session of the UK...
View ArticleRedefinition of Marriage – New Clause 9
Anglican Mainstream reports that the Coalition for Marriage, (C4M), is asking its supporters to write to their MPs, requesting them to co-sign the amendment for a new clause (NC 9) to the Marriage...
View ArticleChurch of Scotland votes to induct or ordain civil partners – but not yet
Yesterday the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland voted in principle to allow men and women in civil partnerships to be ordained to the ministry and/or inducted as parish ministers. There were...
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Religion and Law round up – 26th May
Another busy week with parliamentary debate on same-sex marriage, and the Church of Scotland’s decision on ministers in civil partnerships Eweida et al – yet again On Tuesday next, 28 May, the European...
View ArticleSame-Sex Marriage Bill – some legal issues
On 3rd and 4th June, the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill was debated in the House of Lords, and in particular the so-called “wrecking motion” proposed by Lord Dear that the Bill should not be given a...
View ArticleSame-Sex Marriage Bill – further legal issues
Following the two days of debate in the House of Lords on the second reading of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill on 3rd and 4th June, reported here, the line-by-line examination during its...
View ArticleClarifications from withdrawn amendments, Same-Sex Marriage Bill, Day 1
In an earlier post, we identified that none of the amendments to the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, which was debated on 17 June, had been agreed and most were withdrawn at the end of the debate....
View ArticleSame-Sex Marriage Bill, legal issues debated
The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill passed its Committee Stage in the House of Lords after three days of debate on 17, 19 and 24 June, and in its amended form now proceeds to the Report Stage where it...
View ArticleSame Sex Marriage Bill passes Third Reading in Lords
The Third Reading of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill was completed on 15 July and the Bill now passes to the Commons. Business commenced with a procedural matter [1] whereby Baroness Anelay of St...
View ArticleMothers, Fathers and Parents
A recent request by a same-sex couple for both of them to be identified as “mother” on a certificate of baptism proved problematic to the church of St Mary in Warsash, Hampshire, and the resulting...
View ArticleThe rights of couples: formal and informal unions
Two aspects of the law associated with couples occurred on Wednesday 9 October: the start of the two-day hearing by the Supreme Court the appeal of Bull and another (Appellants) v Hall and another...
View ArticleCivil partnerships, the ECHR and discrimination between same-sex and...
The Grand Chamber of the ECtHR has handed down a judgment that might give the Department for Culture, Media and Sport some pause for thought. In Vallianatos & Ors v Greece [2013] ECHR (GC) 1110 the...
View ArticleGeneral Synod – Media lessons still to be learned?
The Church of England’s November Group of Sessions of its General Synod began on Monday 18th November, for which the formal business scheduled for the afternoon was: - Report by the Business Committee,...
View ArticleDouble rooms, gay couples, Christians and the clash of rights
Introduction In Bull & Anor v Hall & Anor [2013] UKSC 73 the Supreme Court has unanimously dismissed the appeal of Mr and Mrs Bull against the Court of Appeal’s ruling that they had...
View ArticleReligion and law round-up – 1st December
A week dominated by the issue of same-sex relationships, both outside the Churches and within them Same-sex couples and B&B: Article 8 v Article 9 Perhaps the biggest news of the week was the...
View ArticleThe Pilling Report, the CofE and human sexuality
Deliberations of Sir Joseph Pilling’s Group In July 2011, the House of Bishops announced its intention to review the 2005 Pastoral Statement on civil partnerships, with the expectation of reaching a...
View ArticleSame-Sex Marriage from 29th March 2014?
On 10 December, a Department of Culture, Media and Sport Press Release announced “First Same-Sex weddings to happen from 29 March 2014”, which carried the sub-heading “Detailed timetable announced”....
View ArticleReligion and law round-up – 22nd December
A week in which the Supreme Court considered the right to die, the House of Lords debated Part 2 of the Lobbying Bill, and it became necessary to distinguish between PACS and super-PACs Abortion law in...
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