Bermuda’s Domestic Partnership Act 2018: From 'Living Tree' to Broken Branches?
4 European Human Rights Law Review 367
33 Pages Posted: 3 Jan 2019
Date Written: 2018
Abstract
It is often thought that affording rights is a progressive movement; rights are given to natural legal persons; the rights are normalised in societal expectations and they form part of a body of enforceable rights against the state. On the 7th February 2018, Bermuda became the first state in modern history to withdraw the right of same-sex couples to marry, bucking the trend of progressively affording rights. In a recent judgement, the Bermudian Supreme Court has ruled that taking away the right of same-sex couples to marry is unconstitutional. This article will briefly consider the development of the right of same-sex couples to marry in Bermuda, the connection between Bermudian human rights law and the European Convention on Human Rights and ask whether rights afforded under a constitutional arrangement can be taken away.
Keywords: Bermuda, Constitutionality, Equal Treatment, Human Rights, Marriage, Rule of Law, Same-Sex Partners
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