Commentary on Provisions Eligibility and Registration in Scotland Section 7: Persons who may register civil partnerships between persons of different sexes
19.Section 7 of the Act amends section 94A of the 2004 Act. Section 94A makes provision about the persons who may register same sex civil partnerships. It sets out both the categories of approved celebrant and provisions regarding the prescription of religious or belief bodies by regulations. A celebrant of a prescribed body or a person recognised by that body as entitled to register civil partnerships on its behalf is an approved celebrant without having to be individually registered as such. Section 7 of the Act amends section 94A to create two different categories of persons who may register civil partnerships: those in relation to same sex civil partnerships and those in relation to different sex civil partnerships.
20.Section 94A(2A)(a)(i), added by section 7(2)(b) of the Act, empowers the Scottish Ministers to prescribe religious or belief bodies so that their celebrants are authorised to register different sex civil partnerships. This will complement the power in section 94A(1)(a)(i) of the 2004 Act, which, as amended by section 7(2) of the Act, will be restricted to same sex civil partnerships. Section 7(2)(f) of the Act adds the new regulation-making power contained in section 94A(2A)(a)(i) to the list of powers set out in section 126(4) of the 2004 Act. Those powers are subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of the Parliament (i.e. the negative procedure as set out in section 28 of the Interpretation and Legislative Reform (Scotland) Act 2010).