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Conférence | Repurposing Formalisation : Reflections on Mixed-Sex Civil Partnerships

Publié le 19 septembre 2025 – Mis à jour le 7 octobre 2025

Conférence organisée par l'IDCEL-EDIEC sous la direction de Laurence FRANCOZ TERMINAL, Maître de conférences en droit public, Directrice adjointe de l’IDCEL-EDIEC, Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3


Dans le cadre de son séjour en tant que Professeur invité dans le D.U. de droit anglais, Andy HAYWARD (Professeur de droit de la famille à la Durham Law School) a carte blanche pour présenter une conférence intitulée "Repurposing Formalisation : Reflections on Mixed-Sex Civil Partnerships". 


Abstract :
On New Year’s Day 2019 the first civil partnership registrations between mixed-sex couples took place in England and Wales. After years of concerted activism by the Equal Civil Partnership campaign and propelled by the unanimous Supreme Court decision in Steinfeld, the Civil Partnerships (Opposite-Sex Couples) Regulations 2019 introduced a significant change in the legal regulation of adult interpersonal relationships. The merits of this change, however, remain contested. Questions arise not only as to necessity of an alternative formalised status for mixed-sex couples, but also as to the (un)intended consequences of reform.
This paper is an opportunity to evaluate the nascent trends in this field. Engaging in a discourse analysis of media coverage since the first ceremonies, it will seek to uncover couple motivations behind entering mixed-sex civil partnerships and their perceptions both as to the ceremony itself and understanding as to the associated legal consequences. Consistent with the general preference for civil over religious marriages, this paper will reveal a strong desire by couples for privatised and personalised unions. However, there remains a considerable degree of misinformation among prospective partners and even politicians as to the nature of the regime as compared to marriage or cohabitation. This paper concludes by analysing the future direction of this status.



Contact :
Équipe de droit international, européen et comparé : ediec@univ-lyon3.fr
Thématiques :
Droit; Recherche