SWEDISH, NORWEGIAN & ICELANDIC
REGISTERED PARTNERSHIP ACTS
SWEDEN:
THE REGISTERED PARTNERSHIP ACT
Issued on 23 June 1994
In accordance with the decision of the Parliament the following
is enacted:
Chapter 1
Registration of partnership
Section 1
Two persons of the same sex may request the registration of their
partnership.
Section 2
Registration may only take place if at least one of the partners
is a Swedish citizen, domiciled in Sweden.
Section 3
Registration may not take place in the case of a person who is
under the age of 18 years or of persons who are related to one
another in the direct ascending or descending line or who are
sisters or brothers of the whole blood.
Neither may registration take place in the case of sisters or
brothers of the half blood without the permission of the
Government or such authority as is stipulated by the Government.
Registration may not take place in the case of a person who is
married or already registered as a partner.
The right to register a partnership shall be determined according
to Swedish law.
Section 4
Before registration takes place, inquiry shall be made as to
whether there is any impediment to registration.
Section 5
The provisions of Chapter 3 and Chapter 15 of the Marriage Code
applicable to the procedure for inquiries into impediments
to marriage shall apply correspondingly to this inquiry.
Section 6
Registration shall take place in the presence of witnesses.
Section 7
At the registration both partners shall be present at the same
time. Each of them separately shall, in response to a question
put
to them by the person conducting the registration, make it known
that they consent to the registration. The person conducting
the registration shall thereafter declare that they are
registered partners.
A registration is invalid if it has not taken place as indicated
in the first paragraph or if the person conducting the
registration
was not authorized to perform the registration.
A registration which is invalid under the second paragraph may be
approved by the Government if there are extraordinary
reasons for such approval. The matter may only be considered on
the application of one of the partners or, if either of them has
died, of the heirs of the deceased.
Section 8
Registration may be conducted by a legally qualified judge of a
district court or a person appointed by a county administrative
board.
Section 9
In other respects the provisions of Chapter 4, Sections 5, 7 and
8, of the Marriage Code and regulations issued by the
Government apply to registration.
Decisions concerning registration may be appealed against in
accordance with the provisions of Chapter 15 Sections 3 and 4
of the Marriage Code.
Chapter 1, Sections 4-9, of the Act concerning certain
International Legal Relationships relating to Marriage and
Guardianship
(1904:26 p. 1) apply to international circumstances relating to
registration.
Chapter 2
Dissolution of registered partnership
Section 1
A registered partnership is dissolved by the death of one of the
partners or by a court decision.
Section 2
The provisions of Chapter 5 of the Marriage Code apply
correspondingly to issues concerning the dissolution of a
registered
partnership.
Section 3
Cases concerning the dissolution of registered partnerships and
cases involving proceedings to determine whether or not a
registered partnership subsists are partnership cases. Provisions
stipulated by statute or other legislation relating to
matrimonial
cases also apply to issues concerning partnership cases.
Section 4
Partnership cases may always be considered by a Swedish court if
registration has taken place under this Act.
Chapter 3
Legal effects of registered partnership
Section 1
Registered partnership has the same legal effects as marriage,
except as provided by Sections 2-4.
Provisions of a statute or other legislation related to marriage
and spouses whall be applied in a corresponding manner to
registered partnerships and registered partners unless otherwise
provided by the rules concerning exceptions contained in
Sections 2-4.
Section 2
Registered partners may neither jointly nor individually adopt
children under Chapter 4 of the Code on Parents, Children and
Guardians. Nor may registered partners be appointed to jointly
exercise custody of a minor in the capacity of specially
appointed guardians under Chapter 13, Section 8 of the Code on
Parents, Children and Guardians.
The Insemination Act (1984:1140) and the Fertilization outside
the Body Act (1988:711) do not apply to registered partners.
Section 3
Provisions applicable to spouses, the application of which
involves special treatment of one spouse solely by reason of that
spouse's sex, do not apply to registered partners.
Section 4
The provisions of the Ordinance concerning Certain International
Legal Relationships relating to Marriage, Adoption and
Guardianship (1931:429) do not apply to registered partnerships.
This Act enters into force on 1 January 1995.
On behalf of the Government
CARL BILDT
GUN HELLSVIK, Ministry of Justice
NORWAY
Bill on Registered Partnerships
Section 1
Two persons of the same sex may register their partnership, with
the legal consequences which follow from this Act.
Section 2
Chapter 1 of the Marriage Act, concerning the conditions for
contracting a marriage, shall have corresponding application to
the registration of partnerships. No person may contract a
partnership if a previously registered partnership or marriage
exists.
Chapter 2 of the Marriage Act, on verification of compliance with
conditions for marriage, and chapter 3 of the Marriage Act,
on contraction of a marriage and solemnization of a marriage, do
not apply to the registration of a partnership.
A partnership may only be registered if one or both of the
parties is domiciled in the realm and at least one of them has
Norwegian nationality.
Vaification of compliance with the conditions and the procedure
for the registration of partnerships shall take place according
to rules laid down by the Ministry.
Section 3
Registration of partnerships has the same legal consequences as
entering into marriage, with the exceptions mentioned in
section 4.
The provisions in Norwegian legislation dealing with marriage and
spouses shall be applied correspondingly to registered
partnerships and registaed partners.
Section 4
The provisions of the Adoption Act concerning spouses shall not
apply to registaed partnerships.
Section 5
Irrespective of the provision in section 419a of the Civil
Procedure Act, actions concerning the dissolution of registard
partnerships that have been entered in this country may always be
brought before a Norwegian court.
Section 6
The Act shall enter into force on a date to be decided by the
King.
Section 7
From the date on which the Act enters into force, the following
amendments to other Acts shall come into force:
1. The Penal Code, No. 10, of 22 May 1902 is amended as follows:
Section 220 shall read:
Any person who enters into a marriage that is invalid pursuant to
3 or 4 of the Marriage Act, or who enters into a
partnership that is invalid pursuant to 2, first paragraph, of
the Partnership Act, cf. 3 of the Marriage Act, or 2,
first paragraph, second sentence of the Partnership Act, shall be
liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 4
years. If the spouse or partner was not aware that the marriage
or partnership had been entered into contary to
the above-mentoned provisions, he or she shall be liable to i
nprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 years.
Complicity shall be penalized in the same way.
Any person who causes or is accessory to causing a marriage or
registered partnership that is invalid because of
the fomms used, to be entered into with any pa son who is not
aware of its invalidity shall be liable to
imprisonment for a temm not exceeding 4 years.
Section 338 shall read:
Any person who enters into a marriage or partnership pursuant to
the Act relating to registered partnership in
such a way as to set aside the provisions in force concerning the
requirements for a valid marriage or the
requirements concerning the registration of a valid partnership,
dispensation or other statutory conditions, or is
accessory thereto, shall be liable to fines.
2. The Marriage Act, No. 47, of 4 July 1991 is amended as
follows: Section 4 shall read:
No person may contract a marriage if a previous marriage or
registered partnership exists.
Section 7, first paragraph, litra e shall read:
e. Each of the parties to the marriage shall solemnly declare in
writing whether he or she has previously
contracted a marriage or a registered partnership. If so, proof
shall be presented that the earlier marriage or
registered partnership has been temminated by death or divorce,
or has been dissolved pursuant to section 24.
Proof that the former spouse or registered partner is dead is, as
a rule, presented in the fomm of a certificate
issued by a domestic or foreign public authority. If such a
certificate cannot be obtained, the parties may submit
their information and evidence to the appropriate probate judge,
cf. section 8, second cf. first paragraph, of the
Probate Act. If administration of the estate does not come under
the jurisdiction of a Norwegian probate court,
the issue may be brought before the probate judge at the place
where the fulfilment of the conditions for marriage
is verified. The probate court will by order decide whether the
evidence shall be accepted. An interlocutory
appeal against the order may be made by the party against whom
the decision is made. If the evidence is
accepted, the probate court shall notify the County Governor, who
may make an interlocutory appeal against the
order.
Proof that the marriage or registered partnership has ended in
divorce or been dissolved pursuant to section 24
may be given by presenting the licence or judgement duly
certified to be final. The question whether a marriage
may be contracted in Norway on the basis of a foreign divorce
shall be decided by the Ministry pursuant to the
provisions of section 4 of Act No. 38 of 2 June 1978.
Section 7, first paragraph, litra j, first paragraph shall read:
j. Each of the parties to the marriage shall provide a sponsor
who shall solemnly declare that he or she knows the
said party, and shall state whether the said party has previously
contracted a marriage or registered partnership
and whether the parties to the marriage are related to each other
as mentioned in section 3.
Section 8, first, second and third paragraphs shall read:
Any person who has previously been married or has been a partner
in a registered partnership must produce
proof that the estate of the parties to the previous marriage or
registered partnership has been submitted to the
probate court for administration, or produce a declaration from
the former spouse or former partner or heirs
stating that the estate is being divided out of court.
This does not apply if a declaration is presented from the
previous spouse or partner stating that there wae no
assets in the marriage or registered partnership to be divided,
or from the heirs of the deceased spouse or partner
stating that they consent to the survivor remaining in possession
of the undivided estate.
If the previous marriage or registered partnership was dissolved
in a way other than by death, and if more than
two years have elasped since it was dissolved, it is sufficient
that the person who wishes to contract a new
marriage states that the estate was divided, or that there was
nothing to divide between the spouses or partners.
"The Norwegian Act on Registered Partnerships for Homosexual
Couples", The Ministry of Children and Family
Affairs, Oslo, Norway, April 1993.
ICELAND
1995-96
1065 years since founding the Parliament
120th legislative assembly
564th Bill
On the recognized partnership
1
Two persons of the same sex can contract a recognized
partnership.
2
What is provided in the Part II of the Marriage Act on the legal
prerequisites of marriage shall apply to this Act, as well.
However, see subsection 2. A recognized partnership can only be
contracted if at least one of the parties is a citizen of Iceland
and is domiciled in Iceland.
3
Before a partnership is officially recognized, both parties are
to certify that the prerequisites of such a partnership are
fulfilled.
Part III of the Marriage Act regulates the certification. The
Minister of Justice shall issue more precise instructions on the
certification.
4
The contracting of such partnerships are to be carried out by
heads of a police district or their representatives with a
juridical
education. Paragraps 21 - 26 of the Marriage Acts regulate how
certificates are to be issued.
5
Persons living in a recognized partnership are to enjoy the same
rights as those in a marriage with the exception of what is said
in subsection 6. What is said on marriage and legally married
spouses in the legislation in force applies to the parties of a
partnership, too.
6
The subsections on adoption in the Marriage Act shall not apply
to the parties of a partnersip. Regulations on who are entitled
to artificial conception shall not apply to the recognized
partnership. What the law says on the sex of a legally wedded
spouse
shall not apply to the recognized partnership. What is provided
in the international agreements, signed by the Republic of
Iceland, shall not apply to the recognized partnership unless all
parties to the agreement approve of it.
7
A recognized partnership is deemed having ended at the death of
one of the partners, in the case of cancellation or divorce.
8
The regulations on cancellation, divorce and division of property
in the Marriage Act shall apply to the recognized partnership,
however, with regard to subsections 2 and 3. Otherwise, what is
regulated upon the end of a marriage and its legal entailments
shall apply to the partnership, too. Despite what is said in
subsection 1 of Section 114, it is always possible to proceed
with a
charge in an Icelandec court on the basis of Section 113, if the
partnership has been recognized in Iceland. Despite what is
said in Subsection 1 of Section 123 of the Marriage Act, an
Icelandic court is always entitled to solve issues pertaining to
partnerships recognized in this country.
9
These Acts are enacted on 1 July 1996.
Translation from Finnish to English is made by Mr. Mika
Vepsalainen. This translation is made from the Finnish text,
translated from Icelandic by Steinunn Gudmundsdottir.
The original wording of the Act is using expression
"confirmed living together", where "recognized
partnership" is
used in this translation.
| Source: France QRD |
| . . |
1  DENMARK
Population 5.2 mill. Law in effect 1 October 1989, Folketinget adopts Registered
Partnership Act 26 May 1989 |
2  NORWAY Pop.
4.3 mill. 1 August 1993, Stortinget legalized Registered Partnership 1 April
1993 |
3  SWEDEN Pop.
8.7 mill. 1 January 1995, Riksdagen legalized Registered Partnership 7 June
1994 |
..  GREENLAND,
DK, adopted Danish
Partners Act 26 April 1996, - Nordic
governments recognized each others´ gay marriages August
1995 |
..  HUNGARY Pop.
10.3 mill. Passed 21 May 1996 by Magyar
Orszaggyules: Legal protection of Common law
marriage to gays applying for it. |
4  ICELAND Pop.
263.000, 27 June 1996, The Icelandic Althingi voted for "Recognized Partnership" 4 June
1996 |
..  HAWAII - US
State Pop. 1.2 mill. Hawaiian
Legislature enacted 8 June 1997 the "Reciprocal
Beneficiary Relationship" bill( Alaska
Ruling) |
5  THE NETHERLANDS Pop. 15.3 mill. 1
January 1998, Passed " Registration
of Partnership " Act 9 July
1997.Adoption 1998 |