47.Section 6 amends Part 5 of the Marriage Act, which deals with marriages in naval, military and air force chapels (referred to in these notes as military chapels). Under that Part, a marriage may take place in a military chapel which has been licensed under section 69 for the solemnization of marriages according to the rites of the Church of England or the Church in Wales, or registered under section 70 for the solemnization of marriages other than according to those rites. Section 6 amends Part 5 of the Marriage Act to make provision for the registration of military chapels for the solemnization of marriages of same sex couples through religious ceremonies, except in accordance with the rites of the Church of England or the Church in Wales.
48.Subsection (2) of section 6 amends section 68 of the Marriage Act so that provisions in Part 5 of that Act which apply to marriages of same sex couples do not apply to marriages according to the rites of the Church of England or the Church in Wales.
49.Subsection (3) of section 6 amends section 70 of the Marriage Act so as to provide that that section does not apply to marriages of same sex couples. However, subsection (4) inserts a new section 70A which allows registration of military chapels for marriages of same sex couples (otherwise than according to the rites of the Church of England or the Church in Wales). Where a chapel is registered under section 70A, section 70A(3) provides that section 70 applies (except the provision which excludes marriages of same sex couples) as if the chapel were registered under that section.
50.Under subsection (1) of the new section 70A a chapel may be registered by the Registrar General on the application of the Secretary of State. Under subsection (2) the procedural requirements of section 70 (for example, in relation to cancellation of registration, and publicising registration and cancellation) apply equally for the purposes of section 70A.
51.Subsections (5) and (6) of the new section 70A provide a power for the Secretary of State to make regulations about the registration of chapels under the section and the cancellation of registration, which may include provisions about the procedures to be followed and any consents that must be obtained before an application for registration may be made. Military chapels are, with a small number of exceptions, in the ownership of the Crown rather than religious bodies and the power to make regulations under subsection (5) provides the flexibility to accommodate the specific circumstances of these chapels in England and Wales. Any such regulations must be made by the affirmative procedure.
Example
A military chapel can be registered for marriages of same sex couples under regulations made under this section. Religious ministers officiating at military chapels are authorised to officiate by the denominations and are registered to officiate at a specific chapel or chapels. The protections set out in section 2 will apply, so it would be dependent on (a) the relevant denomination or religion consenting to conducting marriages of same sex couples according to its rites and (b) the officiating minister agreeing to perform such a marriage. A minister who declines to conduct a religious marriage ceremony of a same sex couple would be protected from a claim under the Equality Act 2010 in relation to the provision of goods and services or in the employment field. Where a military chapel is not registered under this section, no marriages of same sex couples could take place there.
