The Civil Partnership (Registration and Records) (Amendment) Regulations 2021

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Civil Partnership (Registration Provisions) Regulations 2005 (“the 2005 Regulations”), the Gender Recognition Register (Marriage and Civil Partnership) Regulations 2015 (“the 2015 Regulations”) and the Civil Partnerships Records Regulations 2016 (“the 2016 Regulations”).

The 2005 Regulations make provision about the registration of civil partnerships and include prescribed forms. Regulations 2 to 14 of these Regulations amend the 2005 Regulations and make related transitional provision.

The 2005 Regulations currently provide for the issuing of certified extracts and certified copies of entries on the civil partnership register. A certified extract does not include the addresses of the civil partners, but a certified copy does. Certified copies are only available to the parties themselves (when their civil partnership is formed) and to persons who are able to provide the full addresses of both civil partners. This is subject to exceptions which enable the Registrar General to authorise the issue of a certified copy where it is reasonable to do so and allow for unrestricted access to certified copies when 50 years have elapsed since the formation of the civil partnership. Regulations 3(a), 6 to 10 and 11(3)(g) of these Regulations remove the provision made by the 2005 Regulations for the issuing of certified extracts, and provide for certified copies to be issued (on payment of a fee) to anyone who provides the Registrar General or registration authority with the information about the civil partnership in question that they have obtained by searching the indexes of register entries. The amendments do not affect the parties’ existing entitlement to obtain a certified copy. Regulations 12, 13 and 14 make transitional provision relating to the availability and status of certified extracts, and the availability of certified copies, on and after 4th May 2021 (the date on which the amendments made by these Regulations come into force).

Regulations 4 and 5 amend regulations 9 and 10 of the 2005 Regulations. Regulation 9 of the 2005 Regulations makes provision about the information to be included in forms 9 and 9 (w) (the forms for a civil partnership schedule issued under section 14(1) of the Civil Partnership Act 2004) and forms 10 and 10 (w) (the forms for a Registrar General’s licence issued under section 25(2) of that Act). Regulation 10 of the 2005 Regulations provides for the verification and correction of information entered in these forms. Regulation 11(3)(a) to (d) of these Regulations substitutes new versions of these forms, which are set out in the Schedule. The amendments to regulations 9 and 10 of the 2005 Regulations reflect the changes to these forms. The amendments also provide for the manner in which information is to be entered on these forms in cases where the parties to the proposed civil partnership have most recently been married to, or in a civil partnership with, each other and a full gender recognition certificate has been issued to either or each of them since then. The amendments also make provision about entering details of the parties’ parents and step-parents on the forms. Regulations 3(b) and 11(2) make further related amendments.

Regulation 11 of the 2005 Regulations prescribes the information to be recorded in the civil partnership register under section 2(4) of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 after the formation of a civil partnership. It requires the recording of the information on form 12 (where the civil partnership was formed in England) or form 12 (w) (where the civil partnership was formed in Wales). Regulation 11(3)(e) and (f) of these Regulations substitutes new versions of these forms, which are set out in the Schedule.

Regulation 15 amends the 2015 Regulations. As explained above, provision for issuing certified extracts of entries in the civil partnership register is removed by these Regulations. Regulation 15 similarly removes provision for issuing certified extracts of entries in the Gender Recognition Civil Partnership Register. It also removes a reference to certified extracts of civil partnership register entries.

Regulation 16 amends the 2016 Regulations, which provide for information contained in an entry in the Registrar General’s register of civil partnerships to be provided in portable document format to a person applying via the website www.gov.uk. Regulation 16 removes the requirement that such information must not include the full addresses of the civil partners unless the applicant provides those addresses to the Registrar General when applying or 50 years have elapsed since the formation of the civil partnership.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument because no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen.