Lawyer calls for ‘heterosexual civil partnerships’

Monday 06 March 2017

A leading family lawyer says Jersey should be in the forefront of equal rights rather than lagging behind.

Advocate Rose Colley believes different and same sex couples should enjoy the same rights.

At the moment, same sex couples can enter into civil partnerships but different sex couples can’t. Advocate Colley thinks that's unfair.

According to her, “Many different-sex couples do not wish to get married but they do want legal recognition of their relationship. Why should these couples be treated differently to those who choose to get married? It would surely take very little effort for Jersey to change the Civil Partnership (Jersey) Law 2012 to allow all couples – regardless of their sexuality – to enter into a civil partnership. By doing so, Jersey would be sending out a very clear message that the Island recognises that the choice of entering into a civil partnership should be available to all couples.”

Heterosexual civil partnerships are legal in the Isle of Man, but not in the UK - something that was recently unsuccessfully challenged in the English Court of Appeal.