Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977

6 The Marriage Schedule. S

(1) Where the district registrar has received a marriage notice or approved certificate in respect of each of the parties to a marriage intended to be solemnised in Scotland and is satisfied that there is no legal impediment to the marriage or, as the case may be, is informed by the Registrar General under section 5(3)(b) [F1 or (3A)] of this Act that there is no such legal impediment, he shall, subject to subsection (2) below, complete a Marriage Schedule in the prescribed form.

[F2 (1A) Regulations under subsection (1) prescribing the form of the Marriage Schedule may make different provision for different cases or circumstances.]

(2) If a period of more than 3 months has elapsed since the date of receipt (as entered by the district registrar in the marriage notice book) of a marriage notice or an approved certificate in respect of a party to the marriage, the Registrar General may direct that the district registrar shall not complete the Marriage Schedule unless that party submits a new marriage notice or approved certificate to the district registrar.

(3) Subject to subsection (4) below, in the case of a marriage to be solemnised by an approved celebrant, the Marriage Schedule completed in accordance with subsection (1) above shall be issued by the district registrar at the registration office to one or both of the parties to the intended marriage.

(4) The district registrar shall not issue a Marriage Schedule under subsection (3) above—

(a) within [F3 28 days] of the date of receipt (as entered by him in the marriage notice book) of a marriage notice in respect of the marriage to which the Marriage Schedule relates, except where—

(i) He has received a written request from one or both of the parties for the issue of the Marriage Schedule on a specified date within the said [F3 28 days] stating the reason for the request; and

(ii) he has been authorised to issue the Marriage Schedule on that specified date by the Registrar General;

(b) on a date earlier than 7 days before the date of the intended marriage unless he has been authorised to issue the Marriage Schedule on that earlier date by the Registrar General.

[F4 (4ZA) Unless subsection (4ZB) applies, if a proposed marriage is referred to the Secretary of State under section 3F (“the referred marriage”) the Registrar General may not authorise the district registrar to issue the Marriage Schedule on the date mentioned in subsection (4)(a)(ii) without the consent of the Secretary of State.

(4ZB) This subsection applies if the request made under subsection (4)(a)(i) is made because a party to the referred marriage is gravely ill and not expected to recover.]

[F5 (4A) For the purpose of subsection (4)(a)(i) above, a request which is made by electronic means is to be treated as being written if it is received in a form which is legible and capable of being used for subsequent reference.]

(5) Subject to subsections (6) and (7) below and section [F6 23A] of this Act, a [F7 religious or belief marriage] may be solemnised only on the date and at the place specified in the Marriage Schedule.

(6) Subject to subsection (7) below, if, for any reason, the marriage cannot be solemnised on the date or at the place so specified and a new date or place is fixed for the marriage, the district registrar shall—

(a) issue another Marriage Schedule under subsection (3) above, in lieu of that already issued, specifying that new date or place; or

(b) substitute, or direct the approved celebrant to substitute, that new date or place in the Marriage Schedule already issued.

(7) Subsection (6) above shall not apply in a case where the new date fixed for the marriage is more than 3 months after the date for the marriage as specified in the Marriage Schedule already issued or where the new place so fixed is in a different registration district [F8 , is in Scottish waters instead of a registration district or is in a registration district instead of Scottish waters ], but in such a case the Registrar General may, according to the circumstances, direct—

(a) the district registrar F9 ... to proceed as in paragraph (a) or (b) (whichever the Registrar General considers the more appropriate) of subsection (6) above; or

(b) each party to the marriage to submit to the said district registrar a new marriage notice or approved certificate.

[F10 (8) This section has effect subject to section 6A.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Words inserted by Marriage (Prohibited Degrees of Relationship) Act 1986 (c. 16, SIF 49:1), ss. 2, 6(6), Sch. 2 para. 5

F2 S. 6(1A) inserted (1.9.2014) by Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 (asp 5), ss. 18(2)(a), 36; S.S.I. 2014/212, art. 2, sch. (as amended (1.9.2014) by S.S.I. 2014/218, art. 2(3), sch.)

F3 Words in s. 6(4)(a) substituted (1.3.2015) by Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 (asp 5), ss. 18(2)(b), 36; S.S.I. 2015/14, art. 2, sch. (with art. 3(1))

F4 S. 6(4ZA)(4ZB) inserted (1.3.2015) by The Referral and Investigation of Proposed Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Scotland) Order 2015 (S.I. 2015/396), art. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 5(a) (with art. 1(3))

F5 S. 6(4A) inserted (1.10.2006 for specified purposes, 1.1.2007 in so far as not already in force) by Local Electoral Administration and Registration Services (Scotland) Act 2006 (asp 14), ss. 50(4), 63(2); S.S.I. 2006/469, art. 2, schs. 1, 2 (with art. 4)

F6 Words substituted (retrospectively) by Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1980 (c. 55, SIF 36:3), s. 22(1)(a)(2)

F7 Words in s. 6(5) substituted (16.12.2014) by Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 (asp 5), ss. 15(2), 36; S.S.I. 2014/287, art. 3, sch.

F8 Words in s. 6(7) inserted (1.1.2007) by Local Electoral Administration and Registration Services (Scotland) Act 2006 (asp 14), ss. 48(4)(a), 63(2); S.S.I. 2006/469, art. 3, sch. 2 (with art. 4)

F9 Words in s. 6(7)(a) repealed (1.1.2007) by Local Electoral Administration and Registration Services (Scotland) Act 2006 (asp 14), ss. 48(4)(b), 63(2); S.S.I. 2006/469, art. 3, sch. 2 (with art. 4)

F10 S. 6(8) inserted (1.3.2015) by The Referral and Investigation of Proposed Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Scotland) Order 2015 (S.I. 2015/396), art. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 5(b) (with art. 1(3))