Partnership Rights For Gay & Lesbian Couples

dictatorcat

For those of you interested, which i assume is everybody, here is David Norris' bill on civil partnership.

http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/bills28/bills/2004/5404/b5404s.pdf

I especially like section 6 which reads :
" The parties to a civil partnership shall be regarded in law as having the same rights and entitlements as parties to a marriage valid in law under the Family Law Act 1995 and Civil Registration Act 2004."

If passed it will be an important milestone for all of us. The challange that faces the lgbt community now is to persuade our local TD's to support the bill in full.

I'd like to hear peoples comments on it.

Health Project

Davis Norris's Civil Partnership Bill 2004 has been published. The link is:

http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/bills28/bills/2004/5404/b5404s.pdf

damien

This is taken from the end of the document and kind of explains in plainer english what the Bill covers:

EXPLANATORY AND FINANCIAL MEMORANDUM

————————
Purpose of the Bill:

The purpose of the Bill is to make provision for and in connection with civil partnership, that is a conjugal relationship entered into and registered in accordance with the Act between two persons aged 18 and upwards of either the same or different gender or sex, who are cohabiting, and who are not already married or in another civil partnership, and are not within certain prohibited degrees of relationship with each other.

Background of the Bill:
The origin of this legislation lies in the determination of the Irish people to remove discrimination from public life in as far as possible. This is seen as being not only in the interests of the individual but also in the interests of the public good. It is felt that by providing socially constructive forms for relationships outside marriage and the reassurance of social and other supports thus generated, a significant sector of Irish life would be enabled to make a consistently positive and constructive contribution to society.

This Bill if passed would provide a legal framework for the recognition of relationships outside marriage, both heterosexual and homosexual. Until 1993, homosexual relations between consenting male adults, even when conducted in privacy, were subject to the criminal law. The progressive and humane attitudes of the then Government were illustrated by the Minister for Justice, Maire Geogheghan-Quinn TD, when in response to an opposition amendment that attempted to introduce a discriminatory age of consent, she made the point that she would need some clear cogent and factual basis to be produced in order to persuade her to introduce proposals into legislation that were discriminatory against Irish citizens.

This is the principle on which the present Bill is founded. It deals in practical matters of equity, fairness, justice and human decency and does not intrude upon the areas normally considered the prerogative of religious denominations or other groups. For this reason, the Bill confines itself to the area of the recognition and registration of civil or domestic partnerships and does not affect in any significant way the concept of marriage itself, which many regard as an important sacramental function.

However, it is clear that there are many areas of practical inequity for non-marital couples that require to be addressed by the legal system, and it is significant that leading members of all the main political parties as well as religious denominations have acknowledged in the recent past that this is so. This Bill accordingly seeks to address injustices in areas such as inheritance and pension rights, public registration, and the capacity to confer rights to Irish domicile on a registered partner.

It is of special importance that this Bill is intended to be inclusive, to cover the basic principles involved, and to extend its protection to all committed relationships outside marriage, whether homosexual or heterosexual.

The fact that one third of births in the State occur outside marriage makes urgent the protection not only of the adult partners in such relationships but even more significantly the children of such unions. There was a clear consensus at a recent conference organised by the Irish Human Rights Commission, held in October 2004 in the Incorporated Law Society on the subject of the European Convention on Human Rights, that this was an appropriate time for the introduction of such legislation. Developments in this area were seen as inevitable in the light of the growing number of case precedents under the law of the European Convention on Human Rights and changes in the laws of individual member states including our close neighbour, the United Kingdom. The Equality Authority and other bodies have also indicated their support for a measure such as this.

The Oireachtas has in the past been reproached by the judiciary for its failure to legislate on social issues. In the absence of legislation, it is increasingly likely that the Courts will develop piecemeal an approach to recognition of non-marital relationships which might not reflect the unstated will of the legislature. Thus, it is both timely and in the public interest that the Oireachtas should legislate to make provision for civil partnerships through the adoption of this Bill.

PART I
Section 1 This section sets out the short title to the Bill and provides for the commencement of the Act.

Section 2 This section is concerned with interpretation and defines certain terms which are used in the Bill.

Section 3 This section is concerned with the definition of ‘‘Civil Partnership’’ for registration purposes.

Section 4 This section is concerned with the registration of Civil Partnerships and the method of implementation of such a Register.

Section 5 This section outlines the offences and penalties to be incurred by those supplying the Registrar with misinformation regarding a Civil Partnership.

Section 6 This section outlines the effects of Civil Partnership generally and by reference to the Family Law Act 1995 and the Civil Registration Act 2004.

PART II
Sections 7, 8, 9, and 10. These sections outline the conditions under which a Dissolution, Nullity or Presumption of Death Order may be made.

Sections 11 and 12. These sections outline the grounds on which a Civil Partnership may be Void or Voidable.

Sections 13 and 14. These sections are concerned with the terms under which a Foreign Relationship may be recognised as a Civil Partnership.

damien

I set up a new website to discuss this bill, the forum is here: http://www.civilpartnership.org/forum/