Explanatory Notes

Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014

2014 asp 5

12 March 2014

Schedules

Schedule 2: Change of gender of married persons or civil partners

Part 1 – Applications by married persons and civil partners

Foreign gender change and marriage

294.Paragraph 12 repeals section 21(2) to (5) of the Gender Recognition Act (foreign gender change and marriage).

295.Section 21(2) to (5) of that Act currently provides for the situation where a person claims to have changed gender in their country of origin and married a person of the opposite sex to their acquired gender in that country or another country outside the UK. At present, these marriages have no standing under Scots law until a full gender recognition certificate has been issued by the Panel because Scots law regards the parties as having not been respectively male and female when the marriage was solemnised. As marriages in Scotland will now be available to same sex couples these sections can be repealed for the purposes of Scots law.