Parliamentary Search

Written question asked by Daniel Zeichner (Labour) on Monday, 2 September 2019, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 4 September 2019. It was answered by Wendy Morton (Conservative) on Monday, 9 September 2019 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Marriage: Humanism

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for his policies of the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group's report, Any lawful impediment?, published in May 2018.

Answer

The Law Commission review that the Government announced this June is a fundamental review of the law on how and where people can legally marry in England and Wales. As part of that review, the Government invited the Law Commission to make recommendations about how marriage by humanist and other non-religious belief organisations could be incorporated into a revised or new scheme for all marriages that is simple, fair and consistent. The Government will consider the Law Commission’s recommendations.

Assessment of the potential merits of provision for non-religious belief marriages can be found in the consultation paper and response published by a previous Government in 2014 and available at justice.gov.uk. The Government has subsequently taken the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group’s report into consideration.

The law in England and Wales presents different issues for Government consideration from the law of many other jurisdictions, including Northern Ireland, in being based on where a marriage can take place rather than on who can conduct it.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
284963
Session
2017-19
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Marriage Humanism
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk