Tuesday 24 February 2015

High Court judge grants permission to take my partner's and my equal civil partnerships case to trial

A High Court judge, Mrs Justice Elisabeth Laing DBE, has granted my partner, Charles Keidan, and me permission to proceed with our legal case against the government’s continued barring of civil partnerships to opposite-sex couples. The judge has also granted us a Protective Costs Order (PCO) to limit our liability for the government’s legal costs in the event that our case is unsuccessful. The judge’s granting of permission and PCO make clear that our case is of public importance and is in the public interest.

As our solicitor, Louise Whitfield, a partner at Deighton Pierce Glynn, put it: “This is an important case about discrimination and human rights affecting thousands of people; in granting permission the judge acknowledges the case is arguable and should be heard; PCOs are not awarded lightly, but only in cases of real public importance which it is in the public interest for the court to decide.”

Donations are now URGENTLY required to enable the case to proceed since we could still be liable for up to £70,000 of legal costs if we lose – an extremely onerous amount for us with a baby on the way! So we have launched an appeal for new contributions via crowd-funding website GoFundMe. Please consider donating now, as well as signing our petition.


For further information about today's news, please see the following article in Pink News.