Church ministers who refuse to conduct same-sex weddings could be sued under European law, the Church of Scotland has warned.
The church’s General Assembly is due to consider a report, which warns that the church could be “vulnerable to legal challenge” under the European Convention on Human Rights.
During the passage of the same-sex marriage Bill in 2013, Scotland for Marriage spoke out about legal dangers for churches because of the new law.
Safeguards
The report, produced by the church’s Legal Questions Committee (LQC), states: “The scheme enables bodies, such as the Church of Scotland, and individual celebrants to be authorized to conduct different sex marriages while at the same time refraining from seeking authorization to conduct same-sex marriages.
“This legal structure may be argued to be discriminatory contrary to Articles 12 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights.”
There have been some suggestions that the church could stop conducting marriages in their entirety, but the report argues that this would “rob ministers of one significant and evangelical opportunity” as marriages are an “important aspect of their ministry.”
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SOURCE: The Christian Institute
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