Celebrant from Sleaford are high court challenge to make Humanist weddings legal

A local Humanist celebrant is backing six couples taking their landmark legal challenge to the High Court next week over the legal recognition of humanist marriages.
Sophie Burkett conducting a humanist wedding ceremony - but currently couples still have to make it legal at a register office. EMN-200107-143316001Sophie Burkett conducting a humanist wedding ceremony - but currently couples still have to make it legal at a register office. EMN-200107-143316001
Sophie Burkett conducting a humanist wedding ceremony - but currently couples still have to make it legal at a register office. EMN-200107-143316001

Celebrants Sophie Burkett is accredited to offer humanist wedding ceremonies in the Lincolnshire area and across the East Midlands.

The humanist couples are taking the case on July 7-8 to try to compel the UK Government to legally recognise humanist weddings, as is the case with religious weddings across the UK and humanist weddings in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Their lawyers argue that the current law discriminates against them because of their humanist beliefs and is incompatible with human rights legislation.

Humanist celebrant Sophie Burkett, backing a legal challenge to get humanist weddings legally recognised. EMN-200107-143243001Humanist celebrant Sophie Burkett, backing a legal challenge to get humanist weddings legally recognised. EMN-200107-143243001
Humanist celebrant Sophie Burkett, backing a legal challenge to get humanist weddings legally recognised. EMN-200107-143243001

Sophie commented: “Nearly all the wedding couples I am privileged to work with ask whether they need to have a civil marriage alongside their humanist wedding. They would rather not. In fact, some couples have delayed their marriage in the hope that legislation will change before their patience does.”

A humanist wedding is a non-religious ceremony conducted by a humanist celebrant who shares the beliefs and values of the couple. It differs from a civil wedding in that it is entirely personalised and reflects the humanist beliefs and values of the couple.

In England and Wales, over 1,000 couples a year already have a humanist wedding without legal recognition. Parliament voted to give the Government the power to give legal recognition to humanist marriages in 2013, but no Government has used it. In the time since then, over 6,000 couples have been denied legal recognition for their humanist wedding, either having to go to a state registrar for an often unwanted second ceremony or not be legally married.

Couples must go through formalities twice, which they say can lead to financial strain and distress over the state failing to recognise their humanist wedding as their ‘real’ one.

Sophie, who grew up in Hough on the Hill, near Sleaford, now lives near Nottingham. She has been performing humanist wedding ceremonies throughout Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and Nottinghamshire for over four years.

Sophie said: “Some people do get quite heated about the legal issue, while many are just resigned to having to do it. I have had some call and always say, ‘fingers crossed the law will change in time’ but then leave it until the last minute to book the register office and book the cheapest slot and have to bring just a couple of witnesses, whereas for their main ceremony they want all their witnesses there. I have had weddings weher everyone has signed the certificates.”

She said that register offices get very busy, offering just half-hour slots for marriages, whereas she prefers to only hold one wedding per day to allow for any eventualities and take the pressure off the couple to make it a more special day.

Humanists UK has provided these ceremonies for decades and is the national charity working on behalf of non-religious people, with over 85,000 members and supporters. Chief Executive Andrew Copson commented: “Couples who have humanist weddings see that day as the epitome of their love and commitment to each other, and all they want is the same legal recognition for that as is given to every religious person in our country. We have tried for decades to address this glaring double standard.

“Government has dragged its heels and that’s why it’s been left to these couples to bring this case. As more and more non-religious couples choose to have humanist weddings, we need a law that works for all people who want to marry and we hope this case will lead to reform.”

The six couples challenging this alleged discrimination lodged their case at the High Court in November last year. Permission for the case to be heard was granted by the Court on March 2, with the full hearing due to happen on July 7-8.

After permission was granted, the claimants offered to negotiate with the Government over possibly settling the case, particularly in light of the coronavirus pandemic, but this offer was refused. It is now hoped that the case will lead to a change in the law in time to help deal with the huge backlog of demand for marriage services that is now occurring due to the pandemic.

If the legal challenge fails Sophie says they will continue to press for a change.

She said there has been a lot in the media about government proposing to allow people to marry in open spaces, but there still needs to be a permanent structure such as a gazebo or summer house on the site that can be ‘sanctified’ to make the wedding legal. She said that puts up the price of wedding venues and is not in the couple’s interest.

“People just want to have their weddings in their back garden or maybe where they proposed,” she said.