Cohabitation, civil partnership and the Constitution

Mee, John

Cohabitation, civil partnership and the Constitution

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Cohabitation,CivilPartnershipandtheConstitutionchapter.pdf(323.65 KB)

Accepted Version

Date

2007-12

Authors

Mee, John

Publisher

Four Courts Press

Abstract

This paper examines the issues surrounding the law reforms proposed in Ireland in relation to the introduction of civil partnership, as well as a legislative regime to provide certain rights for cohabiting couples. It examines key law reform documents, including the Report on the Family by the Oireachtas (Parliamentary) All-Party Committee on the Constitution, the Irish Law Reform Commission's Report on the Rights and Duties of Cohabitants and the Report of the Working Group on Domestic Partnership. It analyses the impact of the Irish Constitution, Bunreacht na Heireann 1937, on possible law reform, in respect of the rights of both opposite sex and same sex couples. It also offers some observations on the general approach to law reform in this area in Ireland.

Keywords

Cohabitation , Civil partnership , Constitutional law , Irish law , Law reform

Citation

Mee, J. (2007) 'Cohabitation, civil partnership and the Constitution', in Doyle, O. and Binchy, W. (eds.) Committed Relationships and the Law. Dublin: Four Courts Press, pp. 181-214.