Mark Potter (judge) - Cases and Administration

Cases and Administration

In July 2006, Sir Mark ruled against Celia Kitzinger and Sue Wilkinson, a lesbian couple who had wed in Canada, in their case to have their same-sex partnership recognised as marriage under English law.

Sir Mark held that, in withholding from same-sex partnerships the title and status of marriage, Parliament had not interfered with or failed to recognise the right of same-sex couples to respect for their private or family life; nor had it discriminated against same-sex couples in declining to alter the deep-rooted and almost universal recognition of marriage as a union between a man and woman. Sir Mark granted the couple leave to appeal; but no appeal was brought.

In 2009, following a government consultation on increasing transparency in the family courts system, Sir Mark presided over the implementation of new rules allowing media access to family proceedings, hitherto private and confidential, subject to certain restrictions.