Equal Civil Partnerships, Discrimination and the Indulgence of Time: R (on the application of Steinfeld and Keidan) v Secretary of State for International Development

Hayward, A.

Abstract

In R (on the application of Steinfeld and Keidan) v Secretary of State for International Development the Supreme Court unanimously declared that the ban on different‐sex civil partnerships was incompatible with Articles 8 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights. In a strikingly robust and, at times, acerbic manner, the Court systematically dismantled the Secretary of State's request for tolerance of a discriminatory and unsustainable legal position. The decision represents a clear victory for those campaigning for reform and the issuing of a declaration of incompatibility by the Court is likely to have influenced the later announcement by Prime Minister Theresa May in October 2018 that different‐sex civil partnerships will ultimately be introduced in England and Wales.

Citation

Hayward, A. (2019). Equal Civil Partnerships, Discrimination and the Indulgence of Time: R (on the application of Steinfeld and Keidan) v Secretary of State for International Development. Modern Law Review, 82(5), 922-935. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2230.12437

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 21, 2019
• Online Publication Date: May 20, 2019
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2019
• Deposit Date: Feb 26, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: May 20, 2020
• Journal: Modern Law Review
• Print ISSN: 0026-7961
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 82
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 922-935
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2230.12437