Marriage Venues
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
By Catherine Fairbairn 6 July 2021 Marriage venues Summary 1 Where can a marriage take place in England and Wales? 2 Civil marriage 3 Religious marriage 4 The Labour Government’s proposals (1999-2005) 5 Law Commission project on weddings 6 Marriage venues in Scotland commonslibrary.parliament.uk Number 02842 Marriage venues Image Credits Attributed to: ring / yüzük by M. G. Kafkas. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 / image cropped. Disclaimer The Commons Library does not intend the information in our research publications and briefings to address the specific circumstances of any particular individual. We have published it to support the work of MPs. You should not rely upon it as legal or professional advice, or as a substitute for it. We do not accept any liability whatsoever for any errors, omissions or misstatements contained herein. You should consult a suitably qualified professional if you require specific advice or information. Read our briefing ‘Legal help: where to go and how to pay’ for further information about sources of legal advice and help. This information is provided subject to the conditions of the Open Parliament Licence. Feedback Every effort is made to ensure that the information contained in these publicly available briefings is correct at the time of publication. Readers should be aware however that briefings are not necessarily updated to reflect subsequent changes. If you have any comments on our briefings please email [email protected]. Please note that authors are not always able to engage in discussions with members of the public who express opinions about the content of our research, although we will carefully consider and correct any factual errors. You can read our feedback and complaints policy and our editorial policy at commonslibrary.parliament.uk. If you have general questions about the work of the House of Commons email [email protected]. 2 Commons Library Research Briefing, 6 July 2021 Marriage venues Contents 1 Where can a marriage take place in England and Wales? 7 2 Civil marriage 9 2.1 Venues for civil marriage 9 2.2 Civil ceremony must not include religious content 14 3 Religious marriage 16 3.1 Marriage in the Church of England 16 3.2 Marriage in accordance with the rites of other religions 17 3.3 Marriage indoors 18 4 The Labour Government’s proposals (1999-2005) 19 4.1 Regulation to be based on celebrant and not on building 19 4.2 Proposals not implemented 19 5 Law Commission project on weddings 21 5.1 Background 21 5.2 Law Commission scoping review 22 5.3 Law Commission scoping paper 23 5.4 Law Commission project 24 5.5 Law Commission consultation 25 6 Marriage venues in Scotland 28 3 Commons Library Research Briefing, 6 July 2021 Marriage venues Summary This briefing paper deals with where couples may get married in England and Wales, with a very short summary of the position in Scotland. It includes information about new regulations which, from 1 July 2021 to 5 April 2022, enable couples to marry at some outdoor locations. This paper does not deal with restrictions on marriage and civil partnership ceremonies and receptions which are in place as a consequence of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Gov.UK has information and guidance on the current position, which is updated from time to time, including: • Coronavirus (COVID-19): Wedding and civil partnership ceremonies, receptions and celebrations, last updated 28 June 2021. Where can a marriage take place? In England and Wales, the regulation of marriage is based largely on the building in which the relevant marriage takes place. Marriage must usually take place in a register office; a building that has been approved for the purposes of civil marriage by the local authority of the area in which the building is situated - “approved premises” - including, for example, hotels and stately homes; a building of the Church of England or the Church in Wales; a building that has been registered for the purposes of religious marriage other than in the Church of England or Church in Wales; or a naval, military or air force chapel. There are some exceptions including: • from 1 July 2021 until 5 April 2022 (at least to begin with) civil ceremonies may take place outdoors in the grounds of approved premises. The Government intends to undertake a public consultation later in 2021 to consider in detail the practical impacts of this new policy and to lay a further instrument in Spring 2022; • due mainly to historical reasons, couples marrying according to the rites and ceremonies of the Jews or Society of Friends may marry anywhere, including outdoors; • marriage can sometimes take place at the residence of someone who is housebound, detained or terminally ill. There are various conditions surrounding the couple’s choice of venue. 4 Commons Library Research Briefing, 6 July 2021 Marriage venues Law Commission project Background At present, non-religious belief marriage ceremonies (such as humanist marriage ceremonies) do not have legal force and the parties must have an additional ceremony (for example, at a register office) for the marriage to be legally valid. In 2014, the Ministry of Justice conducted a public consultation on whether the law should be changed to permit marriage according to the usages of non-religious belief organisations. The majority of respondents to the consultation were in favour of changing the law to allow such marriage ceremonies to take place in unrestricted locations, including outdoors. However, the Coalition Government decided that the legal and technical requirements of marriage ceremonies and registration in England and Wales should be considered more generally before, or at the same time as, making a decision on the issue of permitting legally valid non-religious belief marriage ceremonies. Law Commission scoping review and consultation In December 2014, the Coalition Government asked the Law Commission to conduct a review of the law governing how and where people can marry in England and Wales. The Law Commission published a scoping paper in December 2015 and concluded that the law governing how and where couples in England and Wales can marry “is badly in need of reform”. The Law Commission has since consulted on its provisional proposals for a new scheme intended, among other things, to: • allow weddings to take place anywhere, including outdoors; • offer couples greater flexibility over the form their wedding ceremonies will take, enabling them, if they desire, to use a variety of ceremonies (religious and non-religious) to mark their weddings; • simplify the process and remove unnecessary red tape; • provide a framework that could allow non-religious belief organisations (such as humanists) and/or independent celebrants to conduct legally binding weddings. One of the features of the new scheme is that regulation would be based on the officiant rather than on the building in which the wedding takes place. After analysing responses, the Law Commission intends to publish its final report, with recommendations for Government, at the end of 2021. Scotland In Scotland, a religious or belief marriage may take place anywhere. A civil marriage may take place in a registration office or at any place agreed 5 Commons Library Research Briefing, 6 July 2021 Marriage venues between the registration authority and the couple. There are rules relating to who may solemnize marriages. 6 Commons Library Research Briefing, 6 July 2021 Marriage venues 1 Where can a marriage take place in England and Wales? The Marriage Act 1949 (as amended) sets out the procedure and places where a marriage may take place. It provides for: • civil marriage; • marriage according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England and the Church in Wales; 1 • marriage according to Jewish and the Society of Friends (Quaker) customs; • marriage according to all other religious rites (eg Roman Catholic, Methodist, Muslim), in a place of worship that has been registered for the purpose. The regulation of marriage is based largely on the building in which the relevant marriage takes place. Marriage must usually take place at one of the following venues: • register office; • approved premises, such as an hotel – that is, a building that has been approved for the purposes of civil marriage by the local authority of the area in which the building is situated; 2 • a building of the Church of England or the Church in Wales; • a registered building - that is, a building that has been certified as a place of worship and also registered for the purpose of religious marriage (other than in the Church of England or Church in Wales); • a naval, military or air force chapel. There are some exceptions including: • from 1 July 2021 until 5 April 2022 (at least to begin with) civil ceremonies may take place outdoors in the grounds of approved premises – the next section of this briefing paper provides further information; 1 Section 78(2) of the Marriage Act 1949 provides that any reference in that Act to the Church of England shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed as including a reference to the Church in Wales, and the same approach is adopted in this briefing paper 2 In accordance with the Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Approved Premises) Regulations 2005, as amended 7 Commons Library Research Briefing, 6 July 2021 Marriage venues • due mainly to historical reasons, couples marrying according to the rites and ceremonies of the Jews or Society of Friends may marry anywhere, including outdoors; • marriage can sometimes take place at the residence of someone who is housebound, detained or terminally ill. There are various conditions surrounding the couple’s choice of venue. The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 amended the Marriage Act 1949 to provide for same-sex couples to be married in either a civil ceremony or a religious ceremony (other than in accordance with the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England or Church in Wales) where the religious organisation has opted in to conduct marriage of same-sex couples.