Registration Service Act 1953

15 Delivery up of books, etc., on ceasing to hold office

(1) When any person ceases to hold the office of superintendent registrar, registrar of births and deaths or registrar of marriages for any district or sub-district, all register boxes, keys, books and documents in his possession as holder of that office for that district or sub-district shall be delivered up to his successor in office or, if there is no successor, to such person as the Registrar General may designate.

(2) If any person who has in his custody or power any such article as aforementioned wilfully fails to deliver it up to, or account for it to the satisfaction of, the person in whose custody it should be, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of twenty pounds; and if the failure continues after he is convicted thereof he shall be guilty of a further offence and be liable on summary conviction to a fine of five pounds for every day on which the failure has so continued.

(3) If a justice of the peace is satisfied by information on oath that there is reasonable cause to believe that any article withheld in contravention of this section is in any specified house or place, he may grant a search warrant authorising any constable named therein to enter and search that house or place at any time and seize any such article so found, and any article so seized shall be delivered to the person in whose custody it should be.