Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to take action to secure the right of same-sex couples to marry in Northern Ireland, in the light of the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights on 21 July in <i>Oliari and Others v Italy</i>.

Within the United Kingdom’s constitutional arrangements, responsibility for legislating on the subject of marriage in relation to Northern Ireland has been devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly and any change in the law is a matter for that Assembly. The situation in Italy is not comparable with the situation in Northern Ireland where civil partnerships are available to same-sex couples. Italy provides no legal recognition of same-sex relationships either through a civil union/registered partnership or through marriage.