The JCPC, based in London, is the highest court of appeal for British Overseas Territories (BOTs) like Bermuda, as well as some independent Commonwealth nations such as Jamaica and the Bahamas.

Its 4-1 ruling overturns a previous 2017 judgment from the Supreme Court of Bermuda, which said the state’s refusal to register a marriage between two men constituted discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

The subsequent 2017 elections brought a change of government, with the new ministers introducing a law replacing same-sex marriage with domestic partnerships. A legal challenge to the new law was successful in the Bermudan courts but the government appealed to the JCPC in 2019.

The JCPC said: “No restriction is placed on the worship, teaching, practice and observance of the respondents which manifests their belief in the validity of same-sex marriage. The protection of a ‘practice’ does not extend to a requirement that the state give legal recognition to a marriage celebrated in accordance with that practice.”