Now Lady Hale strikes another blow against what’s left of marriage
by Jill Kirby, TCW:
This might be International Marriage Week but the Supreme Court has just laid down another reason why couples should not bother to get married. The Court has ruled that the local government pension scheme in Northern Ireland must award a “widow’s pension” to a deceased employee’s cohabiting partner – even though the deceased had failed to opt his partner into the scheme, as its rules required. Readers will not be surprised to learn that Lady Hale, long known for her antipathy towards marriage, was among the judges responsible for yesterday’s ruling.
In a decision which will seriously undermine the legal status of marriage, the judges said that as the pension opt-in is not required for married couples, cohabitees should not suffer the “unlawful discrimination” of having to make such a decision. It would, they declared, be contrary to Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Taken to its logical conclusion, this threatens to empty the institution of marriage of all meaning. If marriage cannot confer any special protections or privileges, these being inimical to “human rights”, then it is hollow and pointless: a mere ceremony.
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