Central idea

The Indian judiciary is currently hearing arguments about the legal recognition of same-sex unions under the Special Marriage Act.
The Centre has contested the maintainability of the petitions, and the judiciary’s right to confer legal recognition on the “socio-legal institution” of marriage.
However, the CJI has clarified that the scope of the hearing would be limited to developing a notion of a Civil Union that finds legal recognition under the Act.
This article explains what civil unions are, how they differ from marriage, and which countries allow them.

What is a Civil Union?

A civil union is a legal status that allows same-sex couples specific rights and responsibilities normally conferred upon married couples.
Civil unions resemble marriages and bring with them employment, inheritance, property, and parental rights, among other things.

In the US, prior to the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in “Obergefell v. Hodges” in 2015, a majority of the states had civil union laws that allowed same-sex couples to marry without providing them formal recognition of the same.
Civil unions were recognised solely by issuing states and not by federal law, which meant that such couples could not enjoy the benefits of being in a civil union uniformly across all states.
After the legalisation of same-sex marriages, several civil unions were converted into marriages.

Several countries allow civil unions.
Before Sweden legalised same-sex marriages in 2009, LGBTQ couples there could apply for civil unions and enjoy benefits such as the right to adopt.
In Norway, couples could enter into civil unions from 1993, which gave way to a new law 15 years later allowing such couples to marry, adopt, and undergo state-sponsored artificial insemination.
In Austria, same-sex couples could form civil partnerships between 2010-2017 until a court ruling deemed civil unions discriminatory, and such marriages were legalised.
Similarly, countries like Brazil, Uruguay, Andorra, and Chile recognised the right of same-sex couples to enter into civil unions even before they formally recognised their legal right to marriage.