SC hearing pleas on same sex couples’ right to marry: What is civil union, how is it different from marriage

Source: The post is based on the article “SC hearing pleas on same sex couples’ right to marry: What is civil union, how is it different from marriage” published in Indian Express on 19th April 2023

What is the News?

A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of India has began hearing a batch of petitions seeking legal recognition of same sex marriage.

CJI has clarified that the hearing’s scope would be limited to developing a notion of a “civil union” that finds legal recognition under the Special Marriage Act.

What is a civil union?

A “civil union” refers to the legal status that allows same-sex couples specific rights and responsibilities normally conferred upon married couples.

How is a civil union different from marriage?

In the year 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) legalized same-sex marriages across the nation with its landmark ruling in “Obergefell v. Hodges”.

Prior to the 2015 ruling, a majority of the US states had civil union laws that allowed same-sex couples to marry, without providing them formal recognition of the same.

These civil unions would be accompanied by rights such as inheritance rights, employment benefits to spouses, joint parenting or joint ownership rights, and the right to abstain from testifying against one’s partner — similar to the spousal privilege given under Section 122 of the Indian Evidence Act when it comes to disclosure of communication between two spouses.

However, the big difference between civil unions and marriage was that civil unions were recognised in the issuing states, which determined their own marriage laws and not by federal law.

This meant that the couples enjoyed the benefits of the partnership only in states that recognize same-sex unions and not across the country. Since the US had a system where states had to determine their own marriage laws, this disparity of recognition existed.

In the wake of the legalization of same-sex marriages, several civil unions were converted into marriages.

Which other countries allow civil union?

The United States allows same-sex unions. Before 2009, the year that Sweden legalized same-sex marriages, LGBTQ couples there could apply for civil unions and enjoy different benefits.

From 1993, couples in Norway enjoyed the right to enter into civil unions, which gave way to a new law 15 years later. Similarly, countries like Brazil, Uruguay, Andorra, and Chile had also recognised the right of same-sex couples to enter into civil unions, even before they formally recognised their legal right to marriage.