Title: Family Law
Contents
Introduction:
Validity of civil partnership:
Dissolving the civil partnership:
Obtaining legal protection on grounds of domestic violence under the Family Law Act, 1996:
References:
Introduction:
Civil partnership (or civil union, domestic partnership) is the legitimized relationship between two people of the same sex who are not in marriage. It indicates that the relationship is recognized by law and state social institution. In some states, civil partnerships may also include heterosexual couples. It should be noted that the terminology to refer to the legal form of same-sex unions are largely arbitrary and may imply a provision of the minimum rights as well as a complete list of them, when the only difference with same-sex marriage is in name only. Similar legal institutions exist in many other countries, although the names and the rules differ across countries. In some countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Portugal) legal union of persons of the same sex institutes with the institution of marriage (Delsol, 2008). In France, people have the right to enter into a registered partnership (called civil solidarity pact). Two people of the opposite sex had similar adjustment in Belgium in 2000 -2003 and the pursuit of equality with heterosexual or homosexual unions also appear in other countries. In France in 2009, 95 percent of all couples who recently concluded a civil solidarity pact, were heterosexual (Associated Press, 2007). The institution of registered partnership shall not affect the right to enter into any partnership. Official registration volume is associated with the adoption of a special law and specified radius obligations. Restrictions, rights or benefits shall be conclusive and cohabitation is seen as an indication that the state recognizes the importance and value of such a union. The Institute has some features similar to marriage, but usually comes with a lower extent of rights and obligations. Registered partnership derives primarily from its mission and functions of the family relationship between spouses, particularly in terms of mutual care and domestic cohabitation, while with business, interest, religious, political or friendly relations and forms of cohabitation is not usually associated. In the French model, however, it is widely used in a lower, less serious period of marriage and often mentioned in use for coexistence and mutual care for people without a sexual relationship (Associated Press, 2007). This paper focuses on the case of Jack, an UK national, who needs advice related to his civil partnership with a Germnan person called Frederick.
Validity of civil partnership:
British law on registered civil partnerships (Civil Partnership Act 2004) provides the opportunity to two persons of the same sex to enter into a registered civil partnership in the UK. The law was passed on 18 November 2004, but due to the need to carry out administrative changes, it came into force only on 5 December 2005. Homosexual couples who have entered into a partnership, have equal rights and duties with customary marriages, including that they have the right to adopt children. Since October 2009, the conclusion of civil partnerships is also available on the Crown Dependencies of Great Britain - Isle of Man and Jersey (Huppke, 2010). Since 2001, in four cities in the UK - London, Brighton, Manchester and Liverpool - civil partnerships were introduced at the level of urban legislation. These unions are recognized only by the authorities of these cities.
Civil partnerships have only two small differences from conventional marriages. They can not be concluded in the church, but can only be a civil institution (mainly in the mayor's office or city council). Civil partnership in England, Wales and Northern Ireland may be concluded between persons older than 18 years (16 years with parental consent) and in Scotland - 16 years.In Northern Ireland, the first couple of partnerships concluded on December 19, 2005; in Scotland –on December 20, in England and Wales - December 21. Among the first civil partnership was the partnership of Elton John, on December 21. In the period from December 2005 through December 2006, 18,059 pairs entered a civil partnership (Miller, 2011). In 2007 - 8,728 pairs; in 2008 - 7,169 pairs; and in 2009 - 6,281 pairs. By the end of 2010, the relationship formalized about 40,000 same-sex couples. The average age of the partners is 41.2 years for men and 38.9 for women. In 2010, a group of activists began the struggle for equality of heterosexual and same-sex couples before the law. The group's goal was to allow homosexual couples to marry, and heterosexual couples to have registered partnerships. In December 2010, the British coalition government ministers held a meeting, which discussed the reform legislation, which will allow gay couples to marry. Church blessing of same-sex unions are not allowed. Government rejected plans to resolve them in the case of gay marriage.At the same time, for example, the English Quakers bless same-sex unions since the summer of 2009 (Miller, 2011).
As per Schedule 20 of the Civil Partnership Act, two people can have a civil partnership even if one of them is from abroad. The section 212 and sections 215 to 218 of the Act state that in order to be eligible for the civil partnership, the relationship must be exclusive and should not involve any specific time limit. As long as one of the parties is a British citizen, the civil partnership will be valid. Thus, the partnership between Jack and Frederick is apparently valid. However, if the partnership involves a foreign national, there are some specific requirements. Firstly, both Jack and Frederick needed to live in the registration district for minimum eight nights before submitting notices. This was not done and Frederic came to the district on the day of the ceremony. Both of them needed to submit the notice personally to a Designated Register Office in England or Wales (Hammond, 2009). This was to be done 16 days before the ceremony. In case of communication gaps, the presence of an interpreter was compulsory. None of these requirements were met and Jack had simply submitted an online application. Thus, the civil partnership is not valid in this case.
Dissolving the civil partnership:
In 2005, same-sex couples in the UK received the right to enter into civil partnerships, which are not equal to marriage, but provide a significant part of the legal rights that married spouses get. On July 17, 2013, the territory of England and Wales passed a law legalizing gay marriage. This law does not apply to Scotland and Northern Ireland which have separate legislation, where such marriages are equal to civil partnerships. On February 4, 2014 the Scottish Parliament adopted its own law on the legalization of gay marriage.
The rights and obligations:
Registered partnership is based on a number of rights and duties, and translates into many areas of life. In particular:
•common affairs of the Partnership (the partners are committed to jointly deal with things on their cohabitation)
•representation (partners can be represented in routine matters, such as take a letter to borrow a book, cancel booking of a hotel, etc., and the conduct of a partner are committed to both)
•maintenance of obligations (both partners should share the same standard of living and are required to be mutually supportive; beyond the end of the partnership, one of the partners under certain circumstances, may require maintenance)
•property relationships (for partners, there is no common property and belongings taken during the partnership to acquire either individual property or a unit of ownership in equal shares)
•rent an apartment (there is no automatic or joint apartment lease and partners are left to deal with the landlord; however, a partner has the right to occupy the apartment and after death of the other partner)
•inheritance and the right to seek protection of personality (the surviving partner inherits from the law in the first group of heirs equally with the children of the deceased; in the case of childlessness, they inherit in the second group of heirs along with the parents of the deceased; at least half the inheritance may also exercise the right to protection of personality of deceased partner) (Swayne, 2010).
•health information (doctors, partners informed about the disease and the need for medical procedures)
•Institute of parties close (partners are automatically perceived as a close person, which is reflected in many other areas, as opposed to an unmarried couple to not have to prove the fulfillment of other conditions)
•Employment and job search (place of employment and the nature of the partner must take office work into consideration when looking for a job)
•jointly assessed persons (for the purpose of providing some social benefits to partners deemed to be jointly assessed persons)
•trade (partner may continue to trade the deceased partner, if the heir of a trade or co-owner of property is used for the operation of the trade)
•criminal law and tax management (partner can choose their partner advocate, submit an appeal against conviction, to refuse testimony against his partner; if he commits a crime on their partner, he may be prosecuted only with his permission).
•relationship with the children (partnership can not be a reason for the withdrawal of their biological parents, children; the other partner is obliged to protect the interests of the child and to participate in education if they live in a common household; one of the partners may be in the custody of foster care or may become his guardian, but the child can not learn and do not have access to orartificial insemination (Wang, 2007).
In the provided case, if it is considered that the civil partnership is valid, it might be difficult for Jack to dissolve the partnership immediately. The reason behind this that as per law, dissolution requests cannot be made within 1 year of the initiation of the partnership. As per Section 44, the Court cannot dissolve a partnership unless certain facts are proven with respect to the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA). Jack’s problem is that he has to wait for at least one year in order to dissolve the partnership. However, it must be noted that the partnership can be considered as null if the registration has not been confirmed. The law requires that after submitting notice of partnership, registration must be made within one year. Thus, Jack can nullify the partnership as it has not bee registered. But, if it is considered that the registration has been completed too, then there is no other option than waiting for a year. After one year has passed, Jack can file for dissolution under the grounds of unreasonable behaviour. As per the law, if a person’s partner has behaved so badly that he can no longer bear to live with them, the partnership can be dissolved. The unreasonable behaviour can include physical or mental cruelty, verbal or physical abuse, being irresponsible with money, being sexually unfaithful (Sullivan, 2004). In Jack’s case, Frederick has shown physical or mental cruelty, as well as verbal or physical abuse. In front of numerous witnesses at the ceremony, he has verbally and physically abused Jack. Also, he has been sending abusive and threatening text messages to Jack regularly. Thus, Jack can use these text messages as evidence, and the guests of the ceremony can be witnesses to the unreasonable behaviour of Frederick. These elements can help him dissolve the partnership easily. After one year has passed, he simply needs to file a petetion, fill up the dissolution forms, pay the court fees and send the forms to the nearest court dealing with civil partnership dissolution.
Obtaining legal protection on grounds of domestic violence under the Family Law Act, 1996:
As per the Civil Partnership Act 2004, the people involved in a civil partnership in UK, are eligible for a lot of rights that heterosexual married people get in UK. Thus, the partners in a civil partnership are eligible to certain rights under the Family Law Act of 1996. This includes the right to protection in case of domestic violence. Jack has been physically assaulted once, and is being continuously threatened and abused through text messages. This counts as abuse. Jack can prove that he is being threatened by Frederick. He can use the text messages as evidence. Also, the witnesses at the ceremony can vouch for the fact that Frederick had abused and assaulted him. Jack’s nose was broken and he got a black eye due to this. He can use the hospital or medical records as evidence of the physical assault (Lynne, 2007). These elements can establish that he is at risk of further harm from Frederick. In turn, under the Family Law Act of 1996, Jack is eligible for getting protection from the government. But this will be possible only if the civil partnership is considered to be valid. If it is null, the Family Law won’t be applicable.
Conclusion:
Civil partnership (or civil union, domestic partnership) is the legitimized relationship between two people of the same sex who are not in marriage. It indicates that the relationship is recognized by law and state social institution. British law on registered civil partnerships (Civil Partnership Act 2004) provides the opportunity to two persons of the same sex to enter into a registered civil partnership in the UK (Lynne, 2007). The law was passed on 18 November 2004, but due to the need to carry out administrative changes, it came into force only on 5 December 2005. As per Schedule 20 of the Civil Partnership Act, two people can have a civil partnership even if one of them is from abroad. The section 212 and sections 215 to 218 of the Act state that in order to be eligible for the civil partnership, the relationship must be exclusive and should not involve any specific time limit. As long as one of the parties is a British citizen, the civil partnership will be valid. But there are some requirements. In the provided case, none of these requirements were met and Jack had simply submitted an online application. Thus, the civil partnership is not valid in this case. Registered partnership is based on a number of rights and duties, and translates into many areas of life. In particular: common affairs of the Partnership (the partners are committed to jointly deal with things on their cohabitation); representation (partners can be represented in routine matters, such as take a letter to borrow a book, cancel booking of a hotel, etc., and the conduct of a partner are committed to both), etc. Jack has been assaulted and is being abused and threatened with text messages. Thus, Jack can use these text messages as evidence, and the guests of the ceremony can be witnesses to the unreasonable behaviour of Frederick. These elements can help him dissolve the partnership easily. After one year has passed, he simply needs to file a petetion, fill up the dissolution forms, pay the court fees and send the forms to the nearest court dealing with civil partnership dissolution. He can use the hospital or medical records as evidence of the physical assault. These elements can establish that he is at risk of further harm from Frederick. In turn, under the Family Law Act of 1996, Jack is eligible for getting protection from the government. But this will be possible only if the civil partnership is considered to be valid. If it is null, the Family Law won’t be applicable (Rayson, 2005).
References:
Rayson, J. (2005). The Civil Partnership Act 2004: A Practical Guide. Cambridge University Press. pp. 354
Lynne, W. (2007). "New law propels gay rights in Mexico". London: Mail & Guardian Online.
Associated Press. (2007). "Mexico's first civil union". UK & Ireland: Gay.com.
Delsol, C. (2008). "Mexico's top destinations for gay vacations". San Francisco: Gate. Miller, B. (2011). "Governor signs Delaware civil unions bill". UK: The News Journal. Avila, O.; Huppke, R. (2010). "Civil unions aren't just for same-sex couples". Chicago: The Chicago Tribune.
Wang, B. (2007). State Senate approves civil unions for same-sex couples Concord Monitor. UK: Access.
Hammond, B. (2009). "Marriage is more perfect union: In gay marriage debate, separate but equal won't cut it". New York”: Ny Daily News.
Swayne, S. (2010). "The Case for Federal Civil Unions". UK: Independent Gay Forum. Sullivan, A. (2004). "Why The M Word Matters To Me". UK: Time.
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