A religious or belief body, not being prescribed by virtue of section 94A(1)(a)(i), may nominate to the Registrar General any of its members who it desires should be registered under this section as empowered to register civil partnerships between persons of the same sex.
A religious or belief body, not being prescribed by virtue of section 94A(2A)(a)(i), may nominate to the Registrar General any of its members who it desires should be registered under this section as empowered to register civil partnerships between persons of different sexes.
The Registrar General must reject a nomination under subsection (1) or (1A) if in the Registrar General's opinion—
In subsection (2)(d), the “qualifying requirements” are such requirements as may be set out in regulations made by the Scottish Ministers.
Where the Registrar General accepts a nomination made under subsection (1), the Registrar General—
Nothing in subsection (4)(a) prevents the Registrar General from accepting a further nomination of that nominee, in accordance with this section, to take effect at any time after the end of the period determined by the Registrar General under subsection (4)(a).
The Registrar General must—
The register mentioned in subsection (6)(a)(ii) is to be in two parts—
For the purposes of subsection (6)(b), notice which is given by electronic means is to be treated as in writing if it is received in a form which is legible and capable of being used for subsequent reference.
If the nominating body is aggrieved by a rejection under this section it may, within 28 days of receiving notice of the rejection, appeal to the Scottish Ministers.
On any such appeal the Scottish Ministers may—
and must inform the nominating body of their decision and the reason for it; and their decision is final.
If a reason given for confirming the rejection of a nomination is that the nominating body is not a religious or belief body, the body may, within 42 days of receiving notice of the confirmation, appeal against the decision to the Court of Session and seek the determination of that court as to whether the body is a religious or belief body.
If—
the Registrar General must give effect to the determination as if it were a direction under subsection (9)(a) to accept the nomination.