A legal dispute has erupted between humanist wedding celebrants and the Humanist Association of Ireland over information held on prospective newlyweds.
A number of celebrants have secured a temporary High Court injunction restraining the association from holding fitness-to-practise hearings against them, allegedly for failing to disclose the names of couples to it in advance of their weddings.
The celebrants of the non-religious ceremonies maintain that furnishing these details to the association would put them in breach of general data protection regulation (GDPR) rules.
Contribution of €70
It is understood that the dispute has arisen from a change of practice in how contributions to the association are secured from couples. One celebrant involved in the case, who asked not to be named, said it had been practice that, following the wedding ceremony, the celebrant would transfer a €70 contribution to the association on behalf of the couple.
According to this celebrant, the change would mean the association would collect a €70 administrative fee upfront from the prospective spouses who could then book the celebrant for their future wedding.
“They are charging you an administrative fee so that you can get married which is not the way it should be,” the celebrant said.
“The humanist association have a number of celebrants and solemnisers. They changed the rules and were requiring all the celebrants to disclose the names of the clients that were getting married.
Professional competency
“We have a difficulty with this. The problem is GDPR. As a data holder, we have an obligation to protect the information, and the humanist association think they have a right to that information. So, as a result of that, they removed a number of us from their website and they are threatening to take us to a fitness-to-practise committee, which is an inappropriate thing to do,” they added.
The celebrants maintain holding a fitness-to-practise committee is inappropriate as the matter is an administrative issue not a professional competency issue. They also claim that taking fitness-to-practise proceedings against them could negatively affect their reputation and their professional lives outside their work as wedding solemnisers.
The association told The Irish Times it had no comment to make other than to say it intended to defend the proceedings before the court. It is understood the matter will be before the High Court again next week.
