| Act of Parliament | |
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| Long title | An Act to extend the period for forming an Executive under section 1(1) of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation and Exercise of Functions) Act 2018 and to impose a duty on the Secretary of State to report on progress towards the formation of an Executive in Northern Ireland and other matters; to impose duties to make regulations changing the law of Northern Ireland on certain matters, subject to the formation of an Executive; and for connected purposes. |
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| Citation | 2019 c.22 |
| Introduced by | Karen Bradley (Commons) Lord Duncan of Springbank (Lords) |
| Territorial extent | United Kingdom |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 24 July 2019 |
| Commencement | Between 22 October 2019 and 31 March 2020 |
| Other legislation | |
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| Relates to | |
Status: Current legislation | |
| History of passage through Parliament | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
| This article is part of a series on |
| Politics of the United Kingdom |
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The Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 (c. 22), colloquially known as the 2019 Northern Ireland Act, is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that provided for the extension of the period for forming a Northern Ireland executive until 13 January 2020. The Act also extended the powers of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland during this time whilst imposing several conditions. The Act requires that the Secretary of State report regularly to Parliament, designed to limit the ability of the sovereign to prorogue parliament, as well as providing for the legalisation of same-sex marriage and opposite-sex civil partnership in Northern Ireland (in line with the rest of the UK) and the liberalisation of abortion laws (in line with abortion rights in England and Wales) if no executive was formed by midnight on 21 October 2019.[1][2] After the deadline passed, abortion was decriminalised automatically by repeal of Sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861; in December 2019 the British Government passed regulations legalising same-sex marriage and opposite-sex civil partnerships on 13 January 2020.[3] Further regulations governing abortion came into force on 31 March 2020.[4]
- ^ "Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
- ^ Scott, Jennifer (8 July 2019). "Why there's more to the Northern Ireland bill". Retrieved 31 August 2019.
- ^ "The Marriage (Same-sex Couples) and Civil Partnership (Opposite-sex Couples) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2019". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
- ^ Page, Chris (25 September 2019). "Clock is ticking for NI abortion law". Retrieved 21 October 2019.