Commentary on Sections Schedule 27 - Minor and consequential amendments Paragraphs 173 to 175 – Sexual Offences Act 2003 (c. 42)
1065.Paragraphs 173 to 175 amend sections 23, 28 and 43 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 to include a reference to civil partners where there are currently only references to persons who are lawfully married. At present, sections 23, 28 and 43 provide that an offence will not be committed under sections 16 to 19, 25 and 26 and 38 to 41 respectively, of the 2003 Act where a person (B) is 16 years or over and (A) and (B) are lawfully married. Those sections also provide that the defendant must prove that A and B were lawfully married at the time. These amendments provide that an offence will not be committed under these sections where person B is 16 years or over and A and B are civil partners of each other and replace references to “were lawfully married at the time” with “were at the time lawfully married or civil partners of each other.”.