The Civil Partnership Act 2004 (Consequential Amendments) Order (Northern Ireland) 2005

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order makes minor amendments to Northern Ireland legislation to take account of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (“the Act”).

Paragraph 1 of the Schedule amends section 119 of the Fisheries Act (Northern Ireland) 1966 (c. 17 (N.I.)) and provides that a dealer’s licence continues for the benefit of the surviving civil partner of a licence holder for two months from the date of the death of the licence holder.

Paragraph 2 of the Schedule amends the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972 (S.I. 1972/1265 (N.I. 14)). The definition of “relative” in Article 2 is amended to include civil partners. Article 100, which provides that husbands and wives are responsible for maintaining their spouses and children, is amended to make similar provision in respect of civil partners and their children.

Paragraph 3 of the Schedule amends Article 15 of the Financial Provisions (Northern Ireland) Order 1976 (S.I. 1976/1212 (N.I. 21)) to provide that a fee is payable for the issue of a certificate of civil partnership under section 10 of the Savings Banks Act 1887 (c. 40).

Paragraph 4 of the Schedule amends the definition of “dependant” in Article 5 of the Pneumoconiosis, etc., (Workers' Compensation) (Northern Ireland) Order 1979 (S.I. 1979/925 (N.I. 9)) to include references to civil partners and reputed civil partners, as appropriate.

Paragraphs 5 and 6 of the Schedule amend Article 2(2) of the Credit Unions (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 (S.I. 1985/1205 (N.I. 12)) and Article 4(8) of the Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 (S.I. 1989/2405 (N.I. 19)) respectively by inserting the term “reputed civil partner” alongside existing references to “reputed spouse” and “reputed husband and wife” respectively.

Paragraph 7 of the Schedule amends Article 24(3A)(b) of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 (S.I. 1995/755 (N.I. 2)) by replacing the term “married or unmarried couple” with the term “couple” which includes civil partners and two persons living together as if they were civil partners. The term “couple” is to be understood by reference to the definition of “couple” in section 17 of the State Pension Credit Act (Northern Ireland) 2002 (c. 14 (N.I)).

Paragraph 8 of the Schedule amends Article 25(2)(bb) of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 (S.I. 1995/2994 (N.I. 18)) by replacing the term “married or unmarried couple” with the term “couple” which includes civil partners and two persons living together as if they were civil partners. The term “couple” is to be understood by reference to the definition of “couple” in section 17 of the State Pension Credit Act (Northern Ireland) 2002 (c. 14 (N.I)).

A regulatory impact assessment has not been produced for this Order as it has no impact on the costs of business, charities or voluntary bodies; neither does it have significant financial impact on any public bodies. A full regulatory impact assessment for civil partnership was published alongside the Act and can be viewed at http://www.dti.gov.uk/access/ris/index.htm#equality.