UK heterosexuals can't get civil partnership

[ChrisR]

Seems that things have just about come full circle now:

Heterosexual couple lose civil partnership court challenge

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-35436845

[Graeme]

I can see the couple's point of view, but given that civil marriage is now allowed for same-sex couples, exactly what role are civil partnerships playing?

As the counsel for the government indicated in that article, it's quite conceivable that civil partnerships will be abolished in the foreseeable future -- replaced with civil marriages.

[Nigel Gordon]

There is a difference in the UK between a civil partnership and a cilvil marriage - the permissible grounds for dissolution are not the same.  For example you cannot dissolve a civil partnership on the grounds of adultery.  Given that, for some people there are advantages in a civil partnership - especially if they are in an 'open' relationship.

 

Mrs Justice Andrews really did not have a choice in the judgement she gave, sitting alone in the Court of Appeal she did not have the power to overrule legislative law, she can only amend the interpretation.  The case is going to the Supreme Court and that does have the power to overrule legislative law.