Commentary on Sections Part 2 – Civil Partnership: England and Wales.Introduction Chapter 1 – Registration Section 19: Detained persons
40.This section enables two people to register as civil partners of each other at the place where one of them is detained.
41.Subsection (2) defines “detained” as meaning detained as a patient in a hospital (other than as a short-term detainee under the Mental Health Act 1983 (c20)) or in a prison or other place to which the Prison Act 1952 (c. 52) applies.
42.Subsection (3) sets out the procedure for registration in such a case. This is the same as the standard procedure (see sections 8 – 17) with the additional requirements that a supporting statement must accompany each notice; receipt of the supporting statement must be recorded in the register and the applicable period (during which the civil partnership schedule must be signed) is shortened to 3 months.
43.Subsection (4) sets out that a supporting statement is one made by the responsible authority (as defined by subsection (6)) identifying the establishment where the person is detained and confirming that the responsible authority has no objection to that place being specified in a notice of proposed civil partnership as the place at which the detained person is to register as a civil partner.
44.For the purposes of forming a civil partnership, subsection (8) treats a detained person as being resident and usually resident at the place where he or she is for the time being, even if this would not otherwise be the case.