Roundup: Cyprus to table bill to legalize civil partnership between couples

Cyprus is to table a bill, which if passed, will make the country the 21st in the European Union to officially recognize civil partnership contracts, a government minister said Thursday. But the bill will not recognize same-sex marriages.

Interior Minister Socratis Hasikos said that a bill approved by the government will be tabled in parliament, placing the legal rights of civil partnership couples on par with the rights of couples in marriage.

"This legislation is aimed at bringing social justice and is responding to the needs of society by regulating the rights of people who have opted to live together without being legally married," Hasikos said.

The bill outlines the conditions under which two people are allowed to form a civil partnership, regulates issues of property and alimony and the conditions under which the partnership can be dissolved.

Hasikos said the bill stops short of regulating adoption, which is allowed for couples in marriage.

But it also takes care of the rights of children of civil partnership couples.

"This is an issue which will be examined later," he added.

Hasikos said that a civil partnership registry will be set up by the state similar to the registry for marriages.

The minister said the new legislation is aimed mostly at solving problems of same-sex couples by offering them the only option they have to obtain official recognition for their relationship.

Heterosexual couples will also have this option, in addition to entering into either a religious or a civil marriage.

Hasikos said the bill has been under discussion for many years because of "well known reactions," alluding to opposition by the powerful Greek Orthodox Church to the co-habitation of same-sex people.

"It is the church's right to object or to disagree with the legislation, which is aimed at filling a vacuum by taking care of social justice issues and responding to the needs of today's life," Hasikos said.

"I am sure that the society is mature enough to accept the new legislation, as it meets a social demand," he added.

Most Cypriots, Greek Cypriot Orthodox or Turkish Cypriot Muslim, are married in a religious ceremony, with civil marriages being an exception.

But many hundreds of foreign couples choose Cyprus for a civil marriage at town halls, taking advantage of much lower costs than in their countries.

Several agencies specialize in organizing vacations and group marriages, mainly in sea-side resorts during the summer months.

A spokesman for a homosexuals' rights group "Accept-LBGT Cyprus" welcomed the bill and urged parliament to swiftly pass it.

He said it will help solve many every-day problems of same-sex couples but added that he does not expect long queues to form outside civil partnership registries after the legislation is passed. Endit