Explanatory note

These Regulations amend the Marriage (Authorised Persons) Regulations 1952 and the Civil Partnership (Registration Provisions) Regulations 2005 in consequence of changes made by other enactments.

The Marriage (Authorised Persons) Regulations 1952 (the “1952 Regulations”) are amended in two respects. First, regulation 2 is amended to remove an obsolete reference to the Admiralty in view of changes made by the Defence (Transfer of Functions) Act 1964 (c. 15), by which functions previously vested in the Admiralty were vested in the Secretary of State.

Second, the forms of words used in regulation 17 of the 1952 Regulations to describe ‘marital condition’ are amended to reflect changes made in consequence of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 (c. 30). The new provisions mirror the forms of words used in regulations made by the Registrar General under section 55(1) of the Marriage Act 1949 (c. 76) for the registration of marriages by registrars.

The amendments to the Civil Partnership (Registration Provisions) Regulations 2005 (the “2005 Regulations”) are made in consequence of the Immigration Act 2014 (c. 22) (the “2014 Act”), which introduces a new referral and investigation scheme to assist investigation by the Secretary of State of suspected sham marriages and civil partnerships.

The 2005 Regulations are amended in three respects. First, changes are made to the prescribed forms to be used by persons giving notice of civil partnership under section 8 of the 2004 Act to reflect the terminology used in the 2014 Act, and the additional information that must be provided by those who are not British, EEA or Swiss nationals.

Second, these Regulations amend the forms to be used for an application, under section 12(1) of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (the “2004 Act”), to shorten the waiting period before the civil partnership schedule can be issued. The amendments reflect the increase made by the 2014 Act in the waiting period from 15 to 28 days.

Third, these Regulations insert a new Schedule 3 to the 2005 Regulations which sets out the evidence that must be provided by a person giving a notice of civil partnership in accordance with the requirements in section 9 of the 2004 Act (as amended by the 2014 Act).

An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen.