Commentary on Provisions Modification of the Civil Partnership Act 2004.
77.Section 117 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 sets out the process for dissolving a civil partnership in the Scottish courts. Subsection (2)(b), in its original form, makes the issuing of an interim gender recognition certificate to one of the partners a ground for dissolving the partnership. The rationale for having this as a ground of dissolution was to allow the civil partnership to be brought to an end so that a full gender recognition certificate could be issued (the rule being that a full gender recognition certificate could not be issued if that would result in a different sex civil partnership because different sex civil partnerships were impermissible).
78.The modifications to schedule 2 will make to the Gender Recognition Act 2004 (which are discussed above) will mean that a full gender recognition certificate can be issued to one civil partner, but only if the other partner consents to the partnership continuing. If an interim gender recognition certificate has been issued to one partner in a civil partnership and the civil partnership has continued after a full gender recognition certificate has been issued that can only mean (subject to one exception discussed below) that the other partner has consented to the civil partnership continuing. Since the other partner has consented to remain in the civil partnership, it follows that the issuing of the interim gender recognition certificate should cease to be a ground for dissolving the partnership. Paragraph 6(2) of schedule 2 amends section 117 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 accordingly.
79.The exception (mentioned in the previous paragraph) to the rule that a civil partnership can only continue after the issuing of a full gender recognition certificate to one partner if the other partner consents to it continuing, is where the full gender recognition certificate is issued by a sheriff under section 4E of the Gender Recognition Act. As the issuing of a full gender recognition certificate to a person in a civil partnership under that section does not mean that the person’s partner has consented to the civil partnership continuing, the amendment to section 117 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004 provides that the issuing of an interim gender recognition certificate remains a ground of dissolution despite the subsequent issuing of a full gender recognition certificate under section 4E.