THE REGISTRATION AcT — THE MARRIAGE ACT.
SEVER AL of the papers have published the Registration and Marriage Acts at full length ; but in this sinus, they are unitatePigible without close inspection ; awl even then, to the general reader they ee ill he little better than a mass of verbiage. Instead, therefore, of printing them
entire, we have made an abstract of their principal plovisioils in a form
ivhich anybody may understand. They who require a very minute knowledge of the law, fur professional purposes, must of course refer to the Acts themselves.
The Act for the Registration of Births, Deaths, and Marriages. pro• vides, first. for the establishment of a General Register-office in Lon- don, to be under the superioteridenec of a Registrar-Genet al, it by the Kills, with a salary of 1000/. a year; nest. for the establishment of District Registry -offices, iii such places as theGuardians of the Poor shall select ; with District Registrars, to be named by the Guardians, subject to the approval of the Registrar-General : all this being for the registration of births and deaths. The cost of the General Register.
office, including salaries of officers, is to be paid out of the Consoli- dated Fund ; the expense of the District Register-office. but not the remuneration of the officers, is to come out of the Poor-rate.
The Clerk of the Guardians in every Union is to have the option of accepting or refusing the office of Superintendent Registrar over all the District Registrars of the Union. Where there are tio Guardians under the Poor-law, the Poor-law Commissioners are to have the appointment of the District and Superintendent Registrars. Proper books and strong boxes are to be furnished by the Registrar. Generalto each Supetintendent Registrar, for the use of the district under his superintendence. Every district Registrar is required to ascertain every birth arid death within his district, and to register the same, after the 1st of March next ; and the father or mother of every child, and, in case of their death or absence, the occupier of every house in which a child may be born or a person die, is required, within forty-two days after the birth or death, to give the Registrar the parti- culars he is empowered to ask for ; or they may voluntarily give the in- formation within forty-two days after a birth or five days titters death. Captains of vessels are to keep registries of births or deaths at sea, and transmit the same to the Regi-trar- General, who is to cutter such notices in a marine register-book. In case the birth of a ehild is not registered within forty-two days after it occurred, the father or guardian may state the circumstances of the birth to the registrar of the district, within six months after the birth ; and then the entry must be made in the presence of the Superintendent Registrar; tau is to have a fee of 2s. 6d., and the District Registrar a fee of 5s., unless the delay has been occasioned by his fault. Any person registeting or causing to be registered the birth of any child after the expitation of the forty-two days, except in the manner specified above, is to forfeit 50/. After the expiration of six months, a birth is forbidden to be registered, un- less it took place at sea ; under a penalty of 50/. In case u child is baptized within six months after the registration of its birth, a certifi- cate of its baptism may be required from the clergyman or officiating minister, on payment to hint of one shilling; and the Registrar is re- quired to add the name of the child to the original entry of its birth, also receiving a shilling. Sortie person present at the death of any person must, within eight days after the death, give information there- of, if so required, to the Registrar of the district ; who, if nobody was present at the death, is authorized to get what information be can fram persons in or near the house, or others. The deaths of persons dying at sea are to be registered by the captains of the vessels, and signified by them to the Registrar-General. Certificates of the registries of deaths are to be given, without fee, to the undertaker, or person charged with burying the deceased ; and such certificates are to be handed over to the clergyman officiating at the burial. Every clergyman burying a person without a certificate, and not giving nctice of having done so within seven days to the Registrar, is to folfeit 101. for CaCh offence. Persons giving infortnation of births or deaths are to sign their names in the register with their descriptions and places of abode. The Re- gistrar is to make out a quarterly statement of the registered births and deaths, and present it to the Superintendent Registrar, who is to sign his name to it ; and upon the production of the document so cer- tified to the Guardians of the Poor, the Registrar is to receive 2s. 6d. for the first twenty entries, and one shilling for each subsequent entry, to be paid out of the Poor-rate. The Registrar-General is to furnish every Rector, Vicar, or Cu- rate, of churches or chapels in which marriages may be solemnized, and to every Quaker and Jew properly authorized by their respective sects to solemnize marriages, duplicate marriage register-books; in both of which, entries of marriages performed by them are to be entered, and countersigned by two witnesses. Copies of the entries so made are to be sent, in the months of April, July, October, and Ja- nuary, to the Superintendent Registrar. The District Registrar is to send copies of the births and deaths to the Superintendent Registrar, who is to send them to the Registrar-General in London. When the duplicate marriage register books are filled, the clergyman, or officer of the Jewish or Quaker Society, is to retain one copy, and give the other to the Superintendent Registrar ; who is to send it to the Regis- trar-General. Searches in the register-books may be made over the en- tries in one year, for a shilling ; for every additional year, sixpence extra is to be charged ; and for a general search, 5s. ; and the sum of 2s. fit/. is to be paid for a certificate. Fines and forfeitures under the Act are to be recovered before any two Justices of the Peace, but where the fine imposed exceeds .51., a right of appeal to the Quarter-sessions is allowed. The correspondence of the Registrar-General is to be postage.free. After detailing the particulars we have abstracted in forty-eight cumbrous clauses, it is provided, in clause 99th, " that nothing herein contained shall affect the registration of baptisms or burials as now by law established, or the right of any officiating minister to receive the fees now usually paid for the performance or registration of any baptism, burial, or marriage." We suppose the meaning of this clause to be, that the present modes of baptizing, mar- rying, and burying, may be continued, if the parties wish to adhere to them; but, in addition, they must conform to the regulations laid down in the new law.
The Marriage Act begins by providing for the continuance of On, present mode of celebrating marriages by licence, and by bans also GIK the production of the Registrar's certificate ; to be obtained in the manner subsequently described. Marriages by Jews and Quakers may be solemnized as at present, on the production of the Registrar's certifi- cate. The Superintendent Registrar of Births and Deaths is also to be the Superintendent Registrar of Marriages. To him parties wish- ing to be married are to give notice of their intention. It is necessary that they should have lived for seven days within the district of the Superintendent Registrars, to whom they give the notice; and if they live in separate districts, distinct notices must be given to the Superintendent. Registrar of their respective districts. The names, surnames, and profession of the parties, and the place wherein they mean to be married, insist be specified in the notice, with the time of residence in the district. The notice is to be filed, and a copy made in the marriage notice-book, on payment of a shil- ling. If the Superintendent Registrar is Clerk of the Guardians of the Poor, he is to read the notices at three weekly meetings of the Guardians, after the conclusion of other business; and if the Superin- tendent-Registrar is not the Clerk, he is to transmit to the Clerk the notices to be read by that officer. After the expiration of seven days from the day when the notice was given, marriages by licence may he solemnized ; and after the expiration of twenty-one days, marriages without licence may take place ; the Superintendent-Registrar issuing a certificate, on payment of a shilling, that the law has been complied with by the parties. Persons authorized by the existing law to forbid a marriage, may do so under the new law, by writing the word " for- bidden," with his or her name, and the reason of interference. The Superintendent Registrar is empowered to issue licences, on payment of 3/. each above the value of the stamps ; having given a bond to the Registrar- General for the execution of his duties to the amount of 100/. : this power of giving licences does not, however, extend to those churches and chapels where marriages may now be solemnized by licence by clergymen of the Established Church, but only to such buildings within his district as are licensed for the solemnization of marriages under the new law. One of the parties wishing to be mar- ried by licence, must appear personally before the Superintendent Registrar, and swear that there is no lawful impediment to the mar- riage; that one of the parties has resided for fifteen days previous to the granting of the licence in the district where the marriage is to be solemnized ; and that if either of the parties, not being a widow or widower, is under twenty-one years of age, the consent of those whose consent is now by law required has been given to the marriage. Any person, on payment of 5s., may enter a caveat against the granting of the licence or certificate; and the Super- intendent-Registrar. must satisfy himself that the party objecting has no just cause of objection before he can issue the licence or certificate. If a marriage is not solemnized within three months after the issue of the licence or certificate, it cannot take place without a fresh licence or certificate. The Superintendent Registrar's certificate is to be given to clergymen of the Church of England, and to the persons duly authorized to marry Jews and Quakers at the tame of the marriage; but the . Superintendent Registrar himself, or a person appointed by him, is to be present at the marriages of Dissenters in their own chapels, and in all other places, not of the Established Church, or belonging to Jews or Quakers, registered for the solemni- zation of marriage under the act. Marriages, in such registered places, must be performed with open doors ; between the hours of eight and twelve; in the presence of the Registrar and at least two credible witnesses; and each of the parties must make the following declaration in some part of the ceremony — "I do so- lemnly declare, that I know not of any lawful impediment why 1, A. B., may not be joined in matrimony to C. D." And each of the parties shall say to the other—" I call upon these persons here present to witness, that I, A. B., do take thee, C. D., to be my lawful wedded wife (or husband)." Persons objecting to marry in any such registered building, may appear before the Superintendent Registrar, the Registrar of the district, or his deputy, and two credible witnesses, and be mat-14 ried by making the above declarations. In every case, the prescribed notices must be given of the intention to marry. For every marriage by licence, performed before the Superintendent Registrar, 10s. is to be paid ; if by notice, only 5s. Provision is made for appointing new places for the solemnization of marriage according to the forms of the Church in populous districts, where the parish-church may be incon- veniently situated. Persons entering caveats against marriages on frivolous grounds, are to be liable to proceedings for damages. Parties solemnizing marriages in places not now legalized, or not registered under the act, to be guilty of felony, and Superintendent Registrars issuing licences or certificates contrary to the act, to be also deemed guilty of felony. Provision is made for the periodical transmission of copies of entries of marriages to the General Register-office in London, and for the registering of places for the solemnization of marriages. This act, as well as the Registration Act, comes into general opera- tion on the 1st of next March.
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