This House of Lords Library briefing provides background information in advance of the second reading of the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Bill [HL] in the House of Lords on Friday 21 October 2016.
Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Bill [HL]: Briefing for Lords Stages (148 KB , PDF)
The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Bill [HL] is a private member’s bill introduced by Baroness Tonge (Independent Liberal Democrat). It seeks to raise the minimum age of consent to marriage or civil partnership from 16 to 18. It further seeks to amend the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 to create an offence of “causing” a person under the age of 18 to enter into a marriage or civil partnership. As well as setting out the changes sought by the Bill, this briefing points to similar proposals considered by the House of Commons Committee on the Age of Majority in 1967 and also touches upon the history of the law of the minimum age of marriage.
Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Bill [HL]: Briefing for Lords Stages (148 KB , PDF)
The House of Lords is due to discuss NHS staff access to single-sex spaces on 1 May 2025. Following a recent Supreme Court judgment about the meaning of the term ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010, the Equality and Human Rights Commission issued an interim update on 25 April 2025 about the implications of this for workplaces and services provided to the public.
At present, prenuptial agreements are not automatically enforceable by courts in England and Wales. However, a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court in 2010 stated that courts should consider such agreements if entered into freely and with full understanding, unless doing so would be unfair. This has prompted calls for reforming marriage laws, including a Law Commission proposal to introduce a new form of marital property agreement.
The Holocaust Memorial Bill is due to have its second reading in the House of Lords on 4 September 2024. This bill seeks to make provision for expenditure on the construction and operation of a Holocaust memorial and learning centre. It would also remove restrictions on building these in Victoria Tower Gardens, next to Parliament. It is a government bill, introduced under the previous Conservative government and continued by the newly elected Labour government. The bill is a hybrid bill, meaning it applies generally but also has a particular effect on specific groups, people or places. This entails additional stages for the bill. The bill is made up of two substantive clauses. It would extend to England and Wales, and apply to England. It would come into force two months after receiving royal assent.
