Civil partnership in South Africa

Legal status of
same-sex relationships
Marriage
Performed

Argentina
Belgium
Brazil
Canada
Denmark:
· Denmark proper
Finland*
France
Iceland
Luxembourg
Mexico:
· CA, QR,
· DF
Netherlands:
· Netherlands proper1
New Zealand:
· New Zealand proper
Norway

Portugal
South Africa
Slovenia*
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom:
· England and Wales
· Scotland
United States:
· AK, AZ, CA, CO, CT,
· DE, FL, HI, ID, IL, IN,
· IA, KS2, ME, MD, MA,
· MN, MO3, MT, NV, NH,
· NJ, NM, NY, NC, OK,
· OR, PA, RI, SC, UT, VT,
· VA, WA, WV, WI, WY,
· DC, 22 tribes
 Uruguay

Recognized

  1. Can be registered also in Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten
  2. Licensed in some counties in Kansas but same-sex marriage is not recognized by the state
  3. Only licensed in St. Louis City, St. Louis County, & Jackson County
  4. When performed in Mexican states that have legalized same-sex marriage
  5. Most counties in Alabama issued same-sex marriage licenses for several weeks after a federal court found that state's ban unconstitutional, but all stopped by 4 March 2015 following an order by the state supreme court
  6. Only if married in Michigan when same-sex marriage was legal

*Not yet in effect

LGBT portal

Civil partnerships were introduced in South Africa by the Civil Union Act, 2006, which also legalised same-sex marriage. Civil partnerships can be formed by opposite-sex couples and by same-sex couples, and have the same rights, responsibilities and legal consequences as marriages.

The parties to a civil partnership must be 18 or older and not already married or in a civil partnership. The prohibited degrees of affinity and consanguinuity that apply to a marriage under the Marriage Act also apply under the Civil Union Act;[1] thus a person may not form a civil partnership with his or her direct ancestor or descendant, sibling, uncle or aunt, niece or nephew, or the ancestor or descendant of an ex-spouse.[2]

Civil partnerships must be solemnised by an authorised marriage officer. Government officials (primarily magistrates and Home Affairs civil servants) who are appointed as marriage officers under the Marriage Act are also automatically appointed to solemnise civil partnerships. Religious marriage officers may not solemnise civil partnerships. (They may, however, solemnise marriages under the Civil Union Act.) Government marriage officers who have an objection of conscience to solemnising same-sex civil partnerships may note this objection in writing to the Minister of Home Affairs, and then they will be exempted from doing so.

The legal consequences of a civil partnership are identical to those of a marriage under the Marriage Act, except for such changes as are required by the context. Any reference to marriage in any law, including the common law, is deemed to include civil partnership in terms of the Civil Union Act; similarly, any reference to husband, wife or spouse in any law is deemed to include a civil partner. The law of divorce for civil partnerships is the same as that for marriage.

The Civil Union Act makes no explicit provisions for the recognition of foreign unions. Based on the principle of lex loci celebrationis, a foreign marriage (including a same-sex marriage) is recognised as a marriage in South African law. However, the status of foreign forms of partnership other than marriage, such as civil unions or domestic partnerships, is not clear. In a 2010 divorce case the Western Cape High Court recognised the validity of a British civil partnership as equivalent to a civil partnership in South African law.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Civil Union Act 17 of 2006, s. 8(6).
  2. ↑ Himonga, Chuma (2007). "Part II: Persons and Family". In du Bois, François. Wille's Principles of South African Law (9th ed.). Cape Town: Juta & Co. pp. 243–244. ISBN 978-0-7021-6551-1.
  3. ↑ Steyn v Steyn [2010] ZAWCHC 224 (27 October 2010), Western Cape High Court (South Africa)