Marriage: Humanism

(asked on 7th July 2020) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent progress has been made on granting legal recognition to humanist marriages; and whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of enabling Senedd Cymru to legalise humanist marriages in Wales.


Answered by
Alex Chalk Portrait
Alex Chalk
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
This question was answered on 13th July 2020

The Government announced in June 2019 that the Law Commission will conduct a fundamental review of the law on how and where people can legally marry in England and Wales. As part of that review, the Government invited the Law Commission to make recommendations about how marriage by humanist and other non-religious belief organisations could be incorporated into a revised or new scheme for all marriages that is simple, fair and consistent. The Government looks forward to publication of the Law Commission’s consultation paper in September and, following the final report, will decide on provision on the basis of the Law Commission's recommendations.

Marriage law remains a reserved matter.

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