Commentary on Sections Schedule 2 – Civil partnerships of persons under 18: England and Wales
516.Paragraph 1Schedule 2 sets out in table form the appropriate persons or bodies required to give consent to the civil partnership of a child and paragraph 2 defines certain terms used in the table. “Child” is defined in section 4(5) to mean a person who is under the age of 18.
517.No consent is required if the child is a surviving civil partner: see section 4(3).
518.Paragraph 3 deals with the situation where a person’s consent to a child registering as a civil partner is unobtainable and sets out the circumstances in which that consent can be dispensed with or an application can be made to the court for consent. “The court” is defined in paragraph 15.
519.Paragraph 4 enables a court to give consent in cases where the appropriate person’s consent has been refused.
520.Paragraph 5 provides that if one of the proposed civil partners is a child the necessary declaration under section 8 must either state that consent has been obtained or state that there is nobody whose consent is required. The necessary declaration is the declaration that accompanies each notice of proposed civil partnership.
521.Paragraph 6 enables a person whose consent is required to a child and another person registering as civil partners of each otherto forbid the issue of a civil partnership schedule if a notice of proposed civil partnership in relation to that child has been recorded in the register. If the issue of a civil partnership schedule is forbidden the notice and all proceedings on it are void. However, a person cannot forbid the issue of a civil partnership schedule if the court has given its consent under paragraphs 3 or 4.
522.Paragraph 7 provides that if a person declares that the consent of a person whose consent is required has been given, the registration authority may nevertheless refuse to issue the civil partnership schedule unless written evidence is produced that consent has in fact been given.
523.Paragraph 8 provides an exception to the duty in section 14(1) to issue a civil partnership schedule. This duty does not apply if the issue of a civil partnership schedule has been forbidden under paragraph 6.
524.Paragraph 9 provides that if a civil partnership schedule is issued in relation to a proposed civil partnership between a child and another person, it must contain a statement that its issue has not been forbidden under paragraph 6.
525.Paragraphs 10 to 14 make broadly corresponding provision in respect of the special procedure.
526.Paragraph 15 defines “the court” for the purposes of Schedule 2 and provides for rules of court to be made in relation to applications made under the provisions of this Schedule.