In a landmark case which will challenge the UK Government’s policy on same-sex marriage, a lesbian couple are seeking legal recognition of their Canadian marriage.

The final hearing will begin in the Family Division of the High Court on Tuesday 6 June 2006 and a decision is anticipated in July.

The hearing will begin at 10.30am and there will be a photo opportunity beforehand from 9.45 - 10.00am at the front of the court.

The Case
A British couple, Celia Kitzinger and Sue Wilkinson, who were legally married in Vancouver in 2003, are asking the court to recognise their marriage under section 55 of the Family Law Act 1986.

For an overseas marriage to be recognised in the UK it must be shown that the marriage was legal, recognised in the country in which it was executed, and that nothing in the country’s law restricted their freedom to marry.

Celia and Sue will argue that their marriage fulfils these requirements even though people cannot legally enter into same-sex marriages in the UK.

Celia Kitzinger and Sue Wilkinson said:
“Our case is fundamentally about equality. We simply want to be treated in the same way as any heterosexual couple who marries abroad – to have our valid Canadian marriage recognised as a marriage in our home country.”

The Civil Partnership Act 2004 (which came into force on 5 December 2005) allows same sex couples new rights as “civil partners.” Despite having entered into a marriage in Canada in 2003, the UK automatically deemed Celia and Sue’s marriage to be a civil partnership as of December 2005.

Celia and Sue reject the conversion of their marriage into a civil partnership, believing it to be both symbolically and practically a lesser substitute. They are asking the court to recognise their overseas marriage in the same way that it would recognise that of a heterosexual couple. They will argue that a failure to do so would constitute a breach of their human rights to privacy and family life and their right to marry, and that it is discriminatory on the basis of their sexuality.

Joanne Sawyer, Legal Officer at Liberty said:
“Sue and Celia are lawfully married in Canada. Downgrading their marriage to a civil partnership, without their consent, maintains an artificial distinction between same sex and opposite sex couples which is unsustainable in contemporary Britain.”

Liberty Press Office: 0207 378 3656 or 07973 831 128

NOTES TO EDITORS

Liberty is assisting the couple in their legal challenge.

The Family Division of the High Court is at the Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London WC2 A211.

The couple will be available for interviews, by arrangement, between 3pm and 5pm on Monday 5 June.

Sue Wilkinson: 07891 802 168
Celia Kitzinger: 07891 802 155

Sue and Celia will argue that any failure to recognise the validity of their marriage constitutes a breach of their rights under Articles 8 (right to respect for private and family life), 12 (right to marry) and 14 (prohibition of discrimination) (taken together with Article 8 and/or 12) of the European Convention on Human Rights, which is incorporated into domestic law by the Human Rights Act 1998.

Celia is a Professor at the Sociology Department at the University of York.

Sue is an academic psychologist, and holds the posts of Professor of Feminist and Health Studies and Director of the Social Psychology degree programme at Loughborough University.