The Civil Registration Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012

REGISTRATION OF BIRTHS N.I.

Particulars as at date of birth N.I.

10.  Without prejudice to Article 20 of the 1976 Order, the particulars to be recorded under this Part in respect of the parents of a child shall be the particulars appropriate as at the date of birth of the child.

Particulars to be registered N.I.

11.—(1) The particulars to be registered concerning a birth shall be the particulars required to be entered in Form 1 [F1 , 1A or 1B].

(2) If more than one living child is born at a confinement, the time of birth shall be entered after the date of birth.

(3) The surname to be entered shall be that by which at the date of registration of the birth it is intended the child shall be known.

(4) If —

(a) the mother;

(b) the father; or

(c) the second female parent

has acquired a surname different from that borne by that person at the date of the birth, the name and surname at that date shall be entered, followed by the surname subsequently acquired.

(5) If, at the time of the birth of the child, the parents are not married to each other or in a civil partnership with each other, details of the father's occupation or, as the case may be, the second female parent's occupation shall not be entered unless that person's name has been entered as the father or the second female parent in accordance with Article 14(3), 14ZA or 14A of the 1976 Order.

(6) If the father or second female parent is deceased, the word ‘deceased’ shall be entered following the surname.

(7) If the birth is that of a living infant child found exposed and the date of birth is unknown then, subject to Article 11(3) of the 1976 Order, the approximate date of birth shall be entered.

(8) If the birth is that of a living infant child found exposed, and the place of birth is unknown, then details of the place where, and the date on which, the child was found shall be entered.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in reg. 11(1) inserted (11.3.2022) by The Marriage, Civil Partnership and Civil Registration (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022 (S.R. 2022/48), regs. 1, 5(2)

Manner in which required particulars are to be given N.I.

12.—(1) For the purposes of Article 10(4) of the 1976 Order, a person shall give information of —

(a) the particulars prescribed in pursuance of Article 10(1), and

(b) the additional particulars prescribed in pursuance of Article 10(4)(b)(ii),

concerning a birth by attending personally at any Register Office and giving that information to the registrar.

(2) Where —

(a) the mother and father of a child are not married to each other at the time of the birth, and

(b) both parents intend to make a joint request under Article 14(3)(a) for the name of the person stating himself to be the father of the child to be entered as the father,

they may attend any Register Office, and make such a request together, or separately, and where both parents intend to make such a request separately, the provisions of regulation 13 shall apply.

(3) Where —

(a) the mother and second female parent of a child are not in a civil partnership with each other at the time of the birth, and

(b) both parents intend to make a joint request under Article 14ZA(3)(a) for the name of the person stating herself to be the second female parent of the child to be so entered,

they may attend any Register Office, and make such a request together.

(4) When the required particulars have been entered in Form 1, [F2 1A or 1B,] the registrar shall call upon the qualified informant to verify that the particulars have been entered correctly and if it appears that any error has been made, a fresh entry of the birth shall be made containing the correct particulars.

(5) When the qualified informant has verified that the particulars entered are correct —

(a) the qualified informant shall sign the register at the appropriate place, and

(b) the registrar shall enter the name and official description of the registrar at the appropriate place.

(6) Paragraph (1) shall apply for the purposes of Article 11(1) of the 1976 Order as it applies for the purposes of Article 10(4).

Textual Amendments

F2 Words in reg. 12(4) inserted (11.3.2022) by The Marriage, Civil Partnership and Civil Registration (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022 (S.R. 2022/48), regs. 1, 5(3)

Further provision in relation to the manner in which required particulars are to be given by unmarried parents N.I.

13.—(1) Where both parents attend a Register Office separately they shall attend at the same Register Office, before the expiration of a period of 42 days from the date of birth.

(2) Where the father of a child attends a Register Office before the mother of that child, and gives the required particulars in relation to the birth of that child to the registrar, the registrar shall not cause an entry containing those particulars to be made in relation to the birth of that child unless the mother, before the expiration of the period of 42 days from the date of the birth —

(a) attends at the Register Office at which the father has given the required particulars,

(b) verifies that the particulars given by the father are correct, and

(c) in the case of any particulars given in relation to the name of the father of the child, confirms that she wishes the particulars so given to be entered in the register.

(3) Where the mother of a child attends a Register Office before the father of that child, and gives the required particulars in relation to the birth of that child to the registrar, including the name of the father of the child, the registrar shall not cause those particulars relating to the name of the father of the child to be entered unless the father, before the expiration of the period of 42 days from the date of the birth —

(a) attends at the Register Office at which the mother has given the required particulars,

(b) verifies that the particulars given by the mother in relation to the name of the father of the child are correct, and

(c) confirms that he wishes those particulars to be entered in the register.

(4) Where the mother of a child attends a Register Office before the father of that child, and gives the required particulars in relation to the birth of that child to the registrar, and the person named by the mother as the father of the child —

(a) fails to attend at the Register Office before the expiration of the period of 42 days from the date of the birth,

(b) fails to verify that the particulars are correct, or

(c) fails to confirm that he wishes the particulars so given to be entered in the register,

the particulars given by the mother in relation to the name of the father of the child shall not be so entered, and the registrar shall cause an entry to be made in the register in relation to the birth of the child as if the mother had given the required particulars, but had not given particulars in relation to the name of the father of the child.

Registration of birth requiring declaration and statutory declaration N.I.

14.—(1) The form of a declaration made by the mother of the child for the purposes of Article 14(3)(b)(i), or Article 14ZA(3)(b)(i) of the 1976 Order shall be Form 4.

(2) The form of a declaration made by the father or second female parent of the child for the purposes of Article 14(3)(c)(i), or Article 14ZA(3)(c)(i) of the 1976 Order shall be Form 5.

(3) The form of a declaration made by the mother, father or second female parent of the child for the purposes of —

(a) Article 14(3)(d)(ii), or Article 14ZA(3)(d)(ii),

(b) Article 14(3)(e)(ii), or Article 14ZA(3)(e)(ii),

(c) Article 14(3)(f)(ii), or Article 14ZA(3)(f)(ii), or

(d) Article 14(3)(g)(ii),

of the 1976 Order shall be Form 6.

(4) A statutory declaration for the purposes of Article 14(3) of the 1976 Order shall —

(a) where the declarant is in Northern Ireland, be made before a Justice of the Peace or some other person lawfully authorised to administer oaths;

(b) where the declarant is in England, Wales, Scotland, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands or in any other country of the Commonwealth of Nations or in the Republic of Ireland, be made before a notary public or some other person lawfully authorised to administer oaths in that country;

(c) where the declarant is in a place not mentioned in sub-paragraph (a) or (b), be made before one of Her Majesty's consular officers, a notary public or some other person lawfully authorised to administer oaths in that place.

Provided that a declaration made before a person other than one of Her Majesty's consular officers shall be authenticated by one of the said officers, if the Registrar General so requires.