§ Lord Lester of Herne Hillasked Her Majesty's Government:
Why Schedule 14 to the Civil Partnerships Bill ("meaning of overseas relationship") excludes many countries and territories with partnership registration schemes identified in tables 1 and 2 of the White Paper, Civil Partnership (June 2003). [HL2408]
80WA
§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal)Tables 1 and 2 ofCivil Partnership: A framework for the legal recognition of same-sex couples provided information about a wide range of partnership schemes in other countries for comparative purposes. It is not appropriate for all these relationships to be listed in Schedule 14 to the Bill. In some cases this is because the overseas relationship in question does not meet one or more of the "general conditions" contained in Clause 154, for example because it does not involve registration of the partnership. It is not considered appropriate to treat relationships of this kind as civil partnerships. In other cases, it was decided not to include a relationship in Schedule 14 until further research has been completed.
Officials continue to gather information on relationships in other countries and territories in order to determine whether they should be added to the list contained in Schedule 14. There will be a continual need to review and update this list as new kinds of relationship come into effect in other countries. Clause 153 of the Bill allows for the schedule to be amended by subordinate legislation.
The absence of a relationship from Schedule 14 does not preclude the parties to such a relationship from being treated as civil partners in the UK, if the relationship meets the "general conditions" laid down in Clause 154, provided the other requirements of Clauses 152 to 158 are met.