Civil union laws set out in bill

Couples in civil unions will have the same legal rights as married people under legislation which has been approved by a parliamentary committee.

De facto couples will not, and the committee has carefully avoided linking marriage with any other form of relationship.

The Relationships (Statutory References) Bill, reported back today, is an essential companion to the Civil Union Act which was passed in December and comes into force on April 26.

It will amend 180 existing laws so that they cover civil unions, at the same time dealing with de facto relationships to avoid conflict with the Human Rights Act.

"If this bill proceeds unchanged, marriage and civil union have effectively equal rights under the law," committee chairman Tim Barnett said at a press conference.

"People in de facto relationships do not have equal rights. Their relationship is always open to challenge, whereas a marriage or a civil union is not."

Mr Barnett said if a couple wanted certainty in their relationship to avoid costly legal documents covering property rights, they should either marry or enter a civil union.

He said the committee had been "very mindful" of concerns that the bill posed a threat to the status of marriage as a unique institution.

"We have ensured that language associated with marriage remained associated with marriage alone, and did not carry over to civil union or to de facto relationships."

One of the difficulties the committee faced was defining de facto, and it decided on the term "a relationship in the nature of a marriage or civil union".

The definition does not have a time attached to it, and Mr Barnett said that was already dealt with in separate laws affecting de facto couples.

The committee has managed to bring de facto laws into line with the Human Rights Act in most respects.

"The 25 per cent of couples in New Zealand who live together without being married are deserving of protection by most of the laws which also cover married couples," Mr Barnett said.

However, the committee has not dealt with the most difficult question of succession.

That is the problem raised when a person in a de facto relationship dies without a will, and without having given any written instruction about the distribution of their property.

Mr Barnett said the committee wanted the Law Commission to consider that and some other issues affecting de facto relationships.

"We realised there were some fundamentals that needed a group of wise heads to go away and do some thinking," he said.

The bill will now be debated through its second reading, committee and third reading stages before it becomes law.

Because of its link with the Civil Union Act, there will be conscience votes in Parliament.

- NZPA