THE PUBLICATION of the Civil Partnership Bill, likely to be passed by the end of the year, is another major step in the transformation of Irish social legislation. It is easy to forget that homosexual acts were against the law 16 years ago, and it is only 14 years since the ban on divorce was removed from the Constitution.
Since then Irish society has changed greatly, with an estimated 12 per cent of households now made up of cohabiting couples, of whom about a third contain children. One child in three is born outside marriage.
The Civil Partnership Bill, which was published by Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern last week, caters for two groups of people whose relationships previously had no legal recognition – cohabiting couples and same-sex couples. The former are more numerous, and many people in such relationships may not even realise how vulnerable they are, especially if they are financially dependent. As the law currently stands, if the relationship ends, they have no right to remain in their home, no right to maintenance and will face punitive taxation if they inherit.
The new Bill addresses some of these issues, by ensuring that a dependent partner has certain protections after three years, two if there are children. It provides for succession and property rights, the protection of the joint home, access to law governing the dissolution of the relationship – which is modelled on divorce legislation – and protection under domestic violence legislation. This is a presumptive scheme, in that the rights kick in automatically unless people opt out. They can do so, or make other financial arrangements, in an agreement that will be legally enforceable.
For same-sex couples, who do not have the option of marriage enjoyed by heterosexual couples, there is much more comprehensive provision. The Bill, when enacted, will convey “civil status” on registered partnerships, giving explicit recognition to the relationship. This is of huge symbolic importance, and carries with it a range of rights and obligations, similar, though not identical to, those enjoyed by married couples.
However, the Bill is virtually silent on the issue of the children who live with same-sex couples. The circumstances in which children come to be living in such households vary, and can include being the natural child of one or other from a previous relationship, being adopted by one partner, or the result of a decision by the couple to have a child through assisted human reproduction.
Legal uncertainty surrounds the position of such children at the moment, and this cannot continue indefinitely. Decisions are awaited in the courts that touch on some of these issues. These are also not the only children whose relationships with the adults in their lives need to be put on a firm footing. And it may be better for the issue of gay parents and their children to be addressed in the broader context of children’s rights, looking at all aspects of guardianship. In the meantime, the publication of this Bill is to be welcomed.