Modification of sections 3 and 3D
63.Sections 3 and 3D of the Gender Recognition Act set out requirements that an application under section 1 must satisfy. (The requirements set out in section 3 apply if the application does not bear to be an application for a certificate under section 3A, 3C or 3E, whereas the requirements set out in section 3D apply if the application does bear to be an application for a certificate under section 3C.)(3) Those sections are modified by sub-paragraphs (2) and (3) of paragraph 5 of schedule 2 so that applicants have to provide, as part of an application, a statutory declaration about the applicant’s civil partnership. In particular, there must be a statutory declaration about whether or not the applicant’s civil partner consents to the partnership continuing.
64.If a statutory declaration is made that the applicant’s partner has consented to the partnership continuing, sections 3 and 3D are further modified so that the gender recognition panel, on receiving such a statutory declaration, must inform the applicant’s civil partner. Whether or not an applicant’s civil partner has consented to their civil partnership continuing will determine whether a full gender recognition certificate or an interim certificate has to be issued (see paragraph 66 below).
65.It is a crime to deliberately make a false statement in a statutory declaration (see section 44(2) of the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995).
See section 2 of the Gender Recognition Act. The Bill does not modify the requirements associated with applications that bear to be for certificates under section 3A or 3E because those provisions relate to applications by persons ordinarily resident in England and Wales.
