Introduction

The Act creates a number of offences in connection with the formation of a civil partnership. These offences are examined in detail in this chapter, but practitioners will have also to consult standard works of criminal law and practice in the event that they are called upon to advise in connection with these offences.

The offences created relate to the issue of the civil partnership schedule, to the issue of the Registrar General's licence (under the special procedure) and to the recording of civil partnerships.

Offences relating to the civil partnership schedule

The procedure to be followed under the Act in order to create or form a civil partnership by registration in England and Wales is examined in detail in earlier chapters and the reader is invited to recall that procedure in order to understand the context of the offences discussed below. As part of the standard procedure of registration, section 14 of the Act imposes a duty on the registration authority to issue, at the request of one or both of the civil partners, a document known as the civil partnership schedule. That duty ordinarily arises as soon as ‘the waiting period’ (as defined in the Act) has expired. The waiting period can be shortened in special circumstances under section 12, but in the usual case it begins on the day after notice of proposed civil partnership has been given to the registration authority and recorded by the authority, and ends fifteen days thereafter (see s.11).