Hansard

I am pleased to open the debate on behalf of the Equalities and Human Rights Committee. The debate comes in the midst of a health crisis facing not just our country but the world and, now more than ever, we must make every effort to uphold and promote equality and human rights. That lies at the heart of the bill.

Since the introduction of same-sex marriage, same-sex couples have had both marriage and civil partnership available to them. However, mixed-sex couples have had only the choice of marriage. In 2018, the UK Supreme Court found that difference in treatment to be incompatible with the ECHR. Scotland is currently the only country in the world where that situation still exists, so we are pressing ahead with the scrutiny of the Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill to eliminate that inequality in treatment.

The Equalities and Human Rights Committee heard from human rights and family law experts, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups, faith and belief groups, women’s groups and other professional bodies. All welcomed the bill for aligning Scotland’s position with that in the rest of the UK, upholding human rights and advancing equality of opportunity.

Early on in the committee’s scrutiny of the bill, the Equality Network highlighted an important principle. It said that

“the solution to inequality ... should be to level up, providing ... more extensive rights / choices”,

not fewer.

The most powerful evidence that the committee heard came in testimonies showing how the bill, in providing more extensive rights and choices, would affect people’s lives. Extending civil partnerships to mixed-sex couples would mean that children would have greater protections through the legal recognition of their parents’ relationship. Young LGBT people would no longer live in fear of being outed as gay, lesbian or bisexual if they revealed that they were in a civil partnership, and transgender civil partners who are seeking a gender recognition certificate would no longer need to end their relationship.

The committee’s online engagement through its Your Priorities platform allowed individuals’ views to be captured through text, audio and video comments. We received many compelling personal testimonies, some of which I will share with members.

We are reminded that cohabiting couples have far fewer and less clear rights than couples who are either married or in a civil partnership. The Equality and Human Rights Commission highlighted the gendered impact of relationship breakdown, as women

“have less access to resources, assets and income due to systemic issues”.

One cohabiting woman wished that the bill had come sooner. She wrote:

“My partner died suddenly after 28 years together with two young children. Yet my children and I are not recognised as ‘family’ because we weren’t married. I have had to apply for widowed parent allowance … and two years down the line ... it’s still in the courts and I’m awaiting the next hearing.”

Another woman shared:

“I’ve been with my partner for 9 years and neither of us have a desire to get married … However, I’ve recently been diagnosed with cancer and naturally I want my partner to be financially secure when I’m gone.”

The legislation would help to formalise that.

The committee recognises that not all couples who cohabit wish to enter a formal legal relationship. As such, it welcomes the Scottish Law Commission’s discussion paper on cohabitation reform. However, mixed-sex civil partnerships are necessary to enable couples to access important legal rights that are currently available only through marriage. Although marriage offers those benefits, it is not for everyone.

We heard from many who did not—and would not—marry for a range of symbolic, cultural and emotional reasons. They included divorcees who believed that marriage was a one-time commitment, widowers who felt that remarrying would dishonour their late wives, and women who had experienced domestic abuse and who did not feel comfortable remarrying. A key reason raised by many women and some men who objected to marriage was that, in their view, it had patriarchal and religious baggage. Those people welcomed civil partnership as an alternative institution representing a more equal commitment that allows couples to imprint their own values and beliefs.

One woman put it like this:

“This bill allows us to protect those we love without feeling pressured to have a marriage ... civil partnership … matches our relationship as equal partners, neither of us above the other … all couples should have the choice to do what’s right for their relationship.”

For many mixed-sex couples, the choice of either marriage or cohabitation is not real choice. Rather, it is a decision between acting against their own deeply held convictions or accepting a lesser legal position. The bill is about individuals and the choices that they must make. The committee considers that the bill will provide real choice, enabling couples to have their relationship legally recognised in a way that is right for them and which means that they are able to access the important legal rights and protections that flow from that.

The importance of symbolism and choice ran throughout our scrutiny as we considered other issues. I will touch on two of them.

Section 3 provides for couples in mixed-sex civil partnerships formed outside Scotland to be temporarily

“treated as if in a marriage”

until civil partnerships are registrable. That was considered by some to be unsatisfactory for those who do not wish to be treated or seen as being in a marriage. I welcome the cabinet secretary’s commitment to explore whether the language in section 3 can be improved.

I also highlight the Scottish Government’s commitment to implement the bill as quickly as possible. In the current crisis, it is even more pressing for couples in Scotland to be able to access the legal rights and protections that flow from civil partnerships. I ask the Scottish Government to assure members that every effort will be made to prioritise the bill and the tasks that need to be carried out to implement it fully.

Finally, many people think that the bill should have addressed the conversion of marriages to civil partnerships. In light of everything that I have said, I would like to read out the views of Mr B and Miss L—a couple who married only to protect their financial position as age advanced. They wrote:

“the Bill as introduced would create inequality of opportunity among would-be civil partners, between those who have not married and those who, for whatever reason, have. This seems to conflict with the SG’s laudable aim of societal equality and respect in Scotland.”

The committee supports the principle that it should be possible to convert a marriage to a civil partnership, for those who wish to do so. I thank the cabinet secretary for confirming that she will work with us to explore how to overcome some of the challenges in that area.

On behalf of the committee, I offer my sincere thanks to everyone who gave evidence, shared their experience and helped us to better understand the unquestionable need for the bill and how it might be improved. We think that the bill advances equality and upholds human rights. It provides a necessary alternative to marriage through which individuals can access crucial legal rights and financial protections. As the cabinet secretary said,

“we should not underestimate the importance of allowing a couple to be able to be in the type of relationship that they want to be in and to have that legally recognised.”—[Official Report, Equalities and Human Rights Committee, 5 March 2020; c 3.]

The Equalities and Human Rights Committee supports the general principles of the Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill.