Wedding law in England and Wales is badly out of date.
We campaign for marriage to be equally open to all, regardless of religion or belief.
Time for one wedding law for all.
In England and Wales, different laws apply depending on whether a wedding is Anglican, Jewish, Quaker, another religion or not religious at all (a civil wedding or partnership).
This is unfair, confusing and absurd.
Most religious weddings must be held in a registered place of worship, while civil weddings and partnerships must take place in approved premises. Jewish and Quaker weddings can take place anywhere.
This system leads to inequality. Members of religions which don't have fixed places of worship, or don't use their places of worship for weddings, are disadvantaged. And members of nonreligious communities such as Humanism have no way of getting legally married according to their philosophical beliefs.
The process for a place of worship to register itself for marriage is much cheaper than for approved premises for civil ceremonies. This in turn contributes to the cost of civil marriages and partnerships.
Over 80% of opposite-sex marriages in England and Wales in 2019 were civil marriages. But only 16% of recognised wedding venues in England and Wales can hold civil marriages. The remaining 84% are religious venues.
While approved premises for civil weddings and partnerships must by law hold ceremonies for same-sex couples, this is not the case for places of worship. In 2022, only 2% of places of worship were registered for same-sex weddings. This considerably reduces the options for same-sex couples. Whereas opposite-sex weddings are in slow decline, same-sex weddings are increasing.
UPDATE: The Law Commission has now made its final recommendations on reforming wedding law on England and Wales. Please write to your MP in support of the recommendations...
Unregistered religion-only 'marriages'
The complexity of marriage law may contribute to the rise in couples who have religious 'wedding' ceremonies that are not legally-binding.
A signification proportion of Muslim couples are in an Islamic 'nikah' union lacking the full legal rights and protections of a recognised marriage.
Unregistered marriages can undermine women's rights in particular. If a woman in a nikah is 'divorced' suddenly, or against her wishes, she can be left homeless and without any money or assets.
The situation is made worse by sharia councils or 'courts' which dispense religious rulings on Islamic marriage, child custody and divorce. These are not courts of law but there are concerns some Muslim women, especially those not born in the UK or unable to speak English, perceive them as having real legal authority.
Sharia councils leave children vulnerable and discriminate openly against women. To seek a religious divorce a woman must gain permission from these almost entirely male councils, and there are reports of women being denied this request even in cases where they have faced abuse.
Reforming wedding laws will not solve these problems completely. But making wedding laws simpler and fairer can encourage couples to gain the legal protections of a registered marriage.
Take action!
1. Write to your MP
Tell your MP to support the Law Commission's recommendations for wedding reform.
2. Share your story
Tell us why you support this campaign, and how you are personally affected by the issue. You can also let us know if you would like assistance with a particular issue.
3. Join the National Secular Society
Become a member of the National Secular Society today! Together, we can separate religion and state for greater freedom and fairness.
Latest updates
Government to crack down on illegal and failing independent schools
Posted: Tue, 12 Feb 2019 13:37
The National Secular Society has welcomed government plans to promote community integration by legislating against unregistered and failing independent schools which were announced in a strategy paper this week.
In its Integrated Communities Action Plan, the government announced its intention to legislate to strengthen the power of England's schools regulator Ofsted to act on unregistered schools. It will provide "up to £3m" in funding to selected local authorities to help them "tackle concerns in out-of-school settings".
It also said it intends to legislate to require independent educational settings attended by children full-time during the school day to register with the Department for Education (DfE).
The action plan is based on responses to the government's Integrated Communities Strategy green paper published last March. The NSS responded to the green paper in June and supported proposals to protect children's rights in home education, unregistered schools and independent schools.
The action plan says the government will consult on proposed changes to the law on unregistered settings later this year.
The NSS has been a leading organisation lobbying education ministers over many years to tackle the growing problem of unregistered faith schools, which often teach restricted curricula and are not inspected under the independent school standards. A large proportion of unregistered schools are faith based.
The Education and Skills Act 2008 makes it a criminal offence to run an unregistered school. However, at least 350 unregistered schools have been set up across Britain according to Ofsted without any proprietors facing prosecution.
Last year, a report from Hackney Council in London said that current legislation around unregistered schools "is at best patchy and at worst contradictory". It said council and other statutory bodies "find it impossible to satisfy themselves that the expected standards of safety and safeguarding are in place".
The action plan also announced legislation "to strengthen the enforcement regime for independent schools that fail to meet the required standards". It will also publish advice on independent school standards and a policy outlining circumstances in which the government would "move to enforcement action".
Many failing independent schools are faith schools. In 2017 it was reported that almost half of independent faith schools had been rated as 'inadequate' or 'requires improvement' since the introduction of new standards in 2014. Seven independent faith schools were issued warning notices in December.
The government said it would continue to support the teaching of British values and support local authorities in tackling concerns in out-of-school educational settings. It also said it would "publish revised guidance on home education", although it did not announce any new legislation in this area.
The NSS has called for a registration scheme to help safeguard the rights of home educated children. The action plan announced increased support for school nurseries for "disadvantaged children".
The NSS expressed caution on plans to work with Dar ul Ulooms (Islamic theological institutes) to "identify barriers" to achieving "higher education accreditation". In its response to the green paper, the NSS highlighted that Dar ul Ulooms are likely to adhere to "fundamentalist theology", and that all Dar ul Ulooms registered in England appear to be for male students only.
The action plan said schools should be "inclusive environments which enable students to mix and build positive relations with those from different backgrounds". But it did not directly address the segregation caused by faith school provision and discriminatory admissions criteria in faith schools.
Instead, it said it has "strengthened expectations" for new free schools to promote integration and will continue to support a "national school linking programme" for "different kinds of schools".
The government also praised faith schools in its summary of consultation responses to the Integrated Communities Strategy green paper, which accompanied the action plan. It said faith schools "play an important part in the school system" and are "some of our highest performing schools".
It did not refer to criticism of state-funded faith schools made by the NSS and other organisations who responded to the consultation.
NSS head of education Alastair Lichten said: "We welcome the rhetoric on education, and many of the proposals reflect the recommendations and concerns we have been raising with the DfE. However we need to see if actions and practice match these good words.
"A truly integrated society, where everyone can succeed regardless of their background, requires a genuine and deep commitment to integrated education. Religious control, segregation and discrimination needs to be addressed and rolled back, not accepted and worked around."
The NSS welcomed other aspects of the action plan, including announcements to "civic and democratic participation" of "marginalised women". This would include challenging "socio-cultural norms which can hold women and girls back" and tackling "social isolation". It also announced plans to tackle the issue of forced marriage.
The action plan also announced plans to "educate and inform" couples of the benefits of civilly registered marriages. It also said it would explore "limited reform to the law on marriage and religious ceremonies."
Megan Manson, campaigns officer at the NSS, said plans to increase awareness about the law regarding marriage were "encouraging", but expressed caution over the use of legislative powers to further regulate religious marriages.
She said: "It is a positive step that the government recognises that there is widespread confusion and ignorance regarding the rights and responsibilities involved in a civil marriage, and is working to tackle this.
"However, the laws themselves concerning marriage may hamper these efforts. The fact that English and Welsh law treat Anglican, Jewish, other religious and non-religious marriages differently has added to the confusion regarding marriage. Attempts to introduce more legal obligations on providers of religious marriage ceremonies may add further unnecessarily complexity, and join religion and state even further in the institution of marriage.
"We need a more secular approach to marriage, in which all couples regardless of their religion or belief background are treated equally and are fully aware of the legal implications of entering this arrangement."
Bishop helps scupper amendment to let CoE allow same-sex marriage
Posted: Thu, 7 Feb 2019 16:19
An amendment to a bill that would make it easier for the Church of England to allow same-sex marriage has been withdrawn following opposition from a bishop.
The amendment to the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration Etc.) Bill would have allowed the C of E to accept same-sex marriages without consulting parliament.
It would also have removed a legal exemption which prevents Church of England and Church in Wales clergy from solemnising same-sex marriages without a change in the law.
Richard Faulkner moved the amendment at a House of Lords committee debate on the bill last Friday. He said he hoped it would be seen as "an attempt to build on the success of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013".
But he withdrew it after Stephen Cottrell, the bishop of Chelmsford, and others voiced opposition on the basis of the potential impact on the Church of England.
Cottrell expressed "regret" that the amendment was tabled, saying it introduced "a discordant note" into the Lords' consideration into an "otherwise uncontentious" bill, and called for its withdrawal.
He said the amendment "would only make matters more difficult for the church" because it would put marriage legislation "at odds with ecclesiastical law".
The bishop said the C of E "seeks to welcome all people, including LGBTI+ people", but added that "there are questions about how this welcome can be expressed".
National Secular Society honorary associate Michael Cashman added his name to the amendment. During the debate he said it would not "compel the Church of England to do anything" and would instead "remove the legislative barrier from the Church progressing" down the root to permitting same sex marriage.
He said that the amendment "rightly places this decision in the hands of the religious institution rather than parliament." He noted that "other religions are not so prohibited and are allowed to make their decisions".
He said he had witnessed how religious belief is used to "deny people basic equality" and said the wanted to "come to a time when that history is far, far behind us."
He added: "The right reverend prelate says that he regrets that we are bringing this amendment forward; I also regret that we have to bring forward an amendment that addresses such basic inequalities in the second decade of the 21st century."
The amendment was also supported by Elizabeth Barker, who said that the deference to the wishes of the church in the drafting of marriage legislation meant civil ceremonies cannot have any religious content at all. She said that this "protection for the church" resulted in "quite extensive and deeply hurtful ramifications."
Peers including Ray Collins and Paul Scriven also backed the amendment.
Faulkner withdrew the amendment but reserved the right to bring it back at the report stage.
NSS campaigns officer Megan Manson said it was "very disappointing" that the amendment was withdrawn.
She said: "The bishop of Chelmsford says the Church of England seeks to welcome LGBT+ people, but his opposition to this amendment suggests otherwise.
"The lords who tabled this amendment made clear that this is about giving the church greater freedom to make its own decisions, independent from parliament.
"But the bishop's influential opposition hints that some in the church are using parliament as a shield to help them in their internal disputes over same-sex marriage.
"The debate surrounding this amendment also demonstrates the wide-ranging implications of having an established church, with its rules and practices so intimately linked with the state and its bishops given automatic representation in the House of Lords. It means the church faces barriers to progression and change like no other religious organisation in this country.
"It also means the church's involvement in legislation has ramifications that reach far beyond its own congregation. Laws designed to accommodate the wishes of the church affect us all. This is why we still see inequities in marriage."
The NSS campaigns for the disestablishment of the Church of England and marriage reform for greater equality and fairness. Last year the NSS revealed that it is significantly harder for those seeking same-sex or non-religious weddings to get married than those seeking religious ceremonies in England and Wales.
Another amendment moved by Robert Hayward, Collins and Cashman to legalise same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland was also withdrawn.
Cashman said this amendment struck "an appropriate balance" between the legislative role of the Northern Ireland Assembly and "the responsibility of legislators at Westminster to ensure that equality is implemented".
But government peer Susan Williams said the government had "made it very clear that same-sex marriage is a devolved issue". She said the Northern Ireland Assembly was "the proper place for such legislation to be considered".
Image: Stephen Cottrell, via Wikimedia Commons, © Bashereyre [CC BY-SA 3.0]
