Introduction

In essence, a civil partnership is a legal relationship between two people of the same sex, which can be created, or formed, in either of two ways. The first method is by registration of the civil partnership either in the United Kingdom, or under what is termed an Order in Council, which allows for registration at British Consulates or by armed forces personnel. The second method is where the couple register an ‘overseas relationship’ (as defined in the Act) which is treated under the Act as a civil partnership. Once formed, the civil partnership, however created, subsists until it is ended by death, dissolution or annulment (s.1(3)).

In England and Wales the chief method whereby a civil partnership will be formed or created, namely by registration, is achieved by the prospective civil partners signing a document issued to them by an authority created under the Act called the registration authority. The signing has to be attended by certain formalities, and before it is issued the partners have to comply with the pre-registration procedure, the steps of which differ according to the particular circumstances of the prospective partners. This chapter will deal chiefly with eligibility. In the next chapter we will deal with the pre-registration procedure in relation to the method that most English and Welsh practitioners are likely to encounter, namely by registration of the civil partnership in the United Kingdom, and specifically in England and Wales.