Part 4Civil partnership: Northern Ireland
Chapter 1Registration
Formation and eligibility
137Formation of civil partnership by registration
(1)
For the purposes of section 1, two people are to be regarded as having registered as civil partners of each other once each of them has signed the civil partnership schedule in the presence of—
(a)
each other,
(b)
two witnesses both of whom profess to be 16 or over, and
(c)
the registrar.
(2)
Subsection (1) applies regardless of whether subsections (3) and (4) are complied with.
(3)
After the civil partnership schedule has been signed under subsection (1), it must also be signed, in the presence of the civil partners and each other, by—
(a)
each of the two witnesses, and
(b)
the registrar.
(4)
After the witnesses and the registrar have signed the civil partnership schedule, the registrar must cause the registration of the civil partnership to be recorded as soon as practicable.
(5)
No religious service is to be used while the registrar is officiating at the signing of a civil partnership schedule.
138Eligibility
(1)
Two people are not eligible to register as civil partners of each other if—
(a)
they are not of the same sex,
(b)
either of them is already a civil partner or lawfully married,
(c)
either of them is under 16,
(d)
they are within prohibited degrees of relationship, or
(e)
either of them is incapable of understanding the nature of civil partnership.
(2)
Schedule 12 contains provisions for determining when two people are within prohibited degrees of relationship.