Heterosexual couple granted right to civil partnership in landmark Supreme Court ruling

The ban on heterosexual couples forming civil partnerships was today declared unlawful in a landmark ruling that paves the way for a change in the law.

Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan went to the Supreme Court to argue that the Civil Partnerships Act, which permits same-sex couples to form legal partnerships, was discriminatory. Their claim had been rejected by the Court of Appeal.

But the Supreme Court took a different stance today as it upheld their claim in a unanimous ruling that was greeted by applause in the country’s highest court.

Celebrating their victory outside amid cheers from their supporters, Ms Steinfeld criticised the Government for failing to act before and urged ministers to “do the right thing and extend civil partnerships to all”.

Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan, fighting for the right to enter into a civil partnership
Sky News

She added: “We have won. The highest court in the land has stated unequivocally that there is no, and never has been, any justification for what they call a manifest inequality of treatment.

“Today we are a step closer to opening civil partnerships to all. A measure that would be fair, popular and good for families and children across the country. We are elated.”

Mr Keidan added: “There are 3.3 million cohabiting couples in this country. Many want legal recognition and financial protection but cannot have it because they are not married, and civil partnerships are not available to them. The law needs to catch up with the reality of family life in 2018.

There is only one option: to extend civil partnerships to all.”

Giving their ruling, the judges said that it was no longer lawful for the Government to want more time to consider whether to equalise the law — either by permitting heterosexual couples to form civil partnerships or scrapping them altogether.

They said that the existing legislation amounted to an unlawful breach of the human right of Ms Steinfeld and Mr Keidan to a family life.

The judges added that their “declaration of incompatibility” did not oblige the Government to act. But the ruling now seems certain to pave the way for a change in the law that will allow heterosexual couples to form civil partnerships.

That would give them the same rights as married couples and appeal to those who might prefer not to acquire such rights through either a church or civil marriage.

Announcing the decision, Lord Kerr said the Government “does not seek to justify the difference in treatment between same-sex and different-sex couples”.

He added: “To the contrary, it accepts that the difference cannot be justified”.

Lord Kerr said what was sought by the Government was “tolerance of the discrimination while it sorts out how to deal with it”. Lawyers welcomed the ruling. James Carroll, a partner at law firm Russell-Cooke, said: “Today’s decision is a victory for common sense.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT