Marriage in Scotland

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Marriage in Scotland is recognised in the form of both civil and religious unions between individuals. Due to Scotland's history as a previously independent country, the laws around marriage developed differently in Scotland compared to other jurisdictions that also became part of the United Kingdom. This was partly a consequence of differences in Scots law and also the role and influence of the national church of Scotland, the Church of Scotland. The tradition of couples from England and Wales eloping to Scotland to marry at border towns such as Gretna Green was due to England, at the time, having much higher minimum ages for marriage without parental consent than were required in Scotland. Today the difference in minimum ages is much closer with the legal minimum age to enter into a marriage in Scotland being sixteen years without requiring parental consent while England today allows marriage at sixteen with parental consent but eighteen without.

In Scots law, there is a distinction between so-called religious marriages, conducted by an authorised celebrant, and civil marriages, conducted by a state registrar, but anyone over the age of 21 can apply to the Registrar General for authorisation to conduct a marriage under s12 of the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977, and no form of religious ceremony is necessary. Since a decision of the Registrar-General in 2005, statutory references to religious marriages must be "read in" as referring to "religion or belief", in order to ensure compatibility with the Human Rights Act 1998 and allow humanists to conduct legal humanist marriages, which like civil marriages are also non-religious. As of 2017, the Humanist Society Scotland conducted more marriages each year than the largest religious body, the Church of Scotland.

Civil partnerships became available to same-sex couples in the United Kingdom in 2005 and grant rights and responsibilities virtually identical to civil marriage. In September 2011, the Scottish Government launched a public consultation on the introduction of same-sex marriage, with the Scottish Government indicating it "tend[ed] towards the view that same-sex marriage should be introduced".^[1] On 4 February 2014, the Scottish Parliament passed a same-sex marriage bill by a vote of 105 to 18.^[2]