Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953

Searches and Certificates E+W

30 Searches of indexes kept by Registrar General. E+W

(1) The Registrar General shall cause indexes of all certified copies of entries in registers sent to him under this Act or under any enactment repealed by this Act to be made and kept in the General Register Office.

[F1 (1A) The Registrar General shall cause an index to be made and kept in the General Register Office of the entries in the register kept by him under section 3A of this Act.]

(2) Any person shall be entitled to search the said indexes at any time when the General Register Office is open for that purpose, and to have a certified copy of any entry in the said certified copies, on payment to the Registrar General or to such other person as may be appointed to act on his behalf of the following fees respectively, that is to say—

F2 (a), (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(c) for every certified copy, the sum of [F3 £9.25] [F3 £23.40].

(3) The foregoing provisions of this section shall not apply to certified copies of entries in registers of still–births, but the Registrar General may, if he sees fit in any particular case and on payment as aforesaid of the appropriate fee aforesaid, cause a search to be made for, and allow any person to have a certified copy of, any entry in any such certified copies or in any filled register of still–births which has been forwarded to him.

[F4 (4) A reference in this section to a certified copy of an entry sent to the Registrar General includes a reference to information contained in such an entry provided to him in an electronic form approved by him: and a reference to an entry in any such certified copy shall be construed accordingly.]

Textual Amendments

F1 S. 30(1A) inserted by Children Act 1975 (c. 72), Sch. 3 para. 13(4)

F2 S. 30(2)(a)(b) repealed by S.I. 1968/1242, Sch. 2

F3 S. 30(2)(c): fees of £9.25 and £23.40 made payable respectively for (i) standard service and (ii) priority service for certified copy of entry obtained from the Registrar General following a search of indexes kept at General Register Office (6.4.2010) by virtue of The Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Fees) Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/441), arts. 1(1), 2 Sch. (as substituted (1.4.2012) by The Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Fees) (Amendment) Order 2012 (S.I. 2012/760), arts. 1, 3, 4)

F4 S. 30(4) inserted (13.11.2006) by The Registration of Births and Deaths (Electronic Communications and Electronic Storage) Order 2006 (S.I. 2006/2809), arts. 1(1), 6

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 S. 30(1)(2) extended with modifications by S.I. 1982/1526, art. 2, Sch. 1 Pts. I, II

31 Searches of indexes kept by superintendent registrars. E+W

(1) Every superintendent registrar shall cause indexes of the registers of live–births and registers of deaths in his register office to be made and to be kept with the other records of that office, and the Registrar General shall supply to every superintendent registrar suitable forms for the making of such indexes.

(2) Any person shall be entitled at any time when the register office is required to be open for the transaction of public business to search the said indexes, and to have a certified copy of any entry in the said registers under the hand of the superintendent registrar, on payment by that person to the superintendent registrar of the following fees respectively, that is to say—

(a) for every general search, the sum of [F5 £18.00];

F6 (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(c) for every certified copy, the sum of [F7 £10.00].

Textual Amendments

F5 Fee in s. 31(2)(a) made payable (6.4.2010) by virtue of The Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Fees) Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/441), arts. 1(1), 2, Sch. (as substituted (1.4.2012) by The Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Fees) (Amendment) Order 2012 (S.I. 2012/760), arts. 1, 3, 4)

F6 S. 31(2)(b) repealed by S.I. 1968/1242, Sch. 2

F7 Fee in s. 31(2)(c) made payable (6.4.2010) by virtue of The Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Fees) Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/441), arts. 1(1), 2, Sch. (as substituted (1.4.2012) by The Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Fees) (Amendment) Order 2012 (S.I. 2012/760), arts. 1, 3, 4)

32 Searches in registers kept by registrars. E+W

Every registrar shall at any time when his office is required to be open for the transaction of public business allow searches to be made in any register of births or register of deaths in his keeping, and shall give a copy certified under his hand of any entry therein, on payment of the following fees respectively, that is to say—

F8 (a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F8 (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(c) for every certified copy the sum of [F9 £4.00 ] [F9 £7.00]:

Provided that this section shall not apply in relation to a register of still–births except as the registrar may, with the consent of the Registrar General, in any particular case allow.

Textual Amendments

F8 S. 32(a)(b) repealed by S.I. 1968/1242, Sch. 2

F9 S. 32(c): fees of £4.00 and £7.00 made payable respectively for certified copy of entry in registers kept by registrars issued (a) at the time of registration and (b) after the time of registration (6.4.2010) by virtue of The Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Fees) Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/441), arts. 1(1), 2, Sch. (as substituted (1.4.2012) by The Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Fees) (Amendment) Order 2012 (S.I. 2012/760), arts. 1, 3, 4)

33 Short certificate of birth. E+W

(1) Any person shall, on payment of a fee of ninepence and on furnishing the prescribed particulars, be entitled to obtain from the Registrar General, a superintendent registrar or a registrar a short certificate of the birth of any person.

(2) Any such certificate shall be in the prescribed form and shall be compiled in the prescribed manner from the records and registers in the custody of the Registrar General, or from the registers in the custody of the superintendent registrar or registrar, as the case may be, and shall contain such particulars as may be prescribed:

Provided that any particulars prescribed in addition to name, surname, sex and date of birth shall not include any particulars relating to parentage or adoption contained in any such records or registers.

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C2 S. 33 excluded by S.I. 1987/2088, reg. 63(1)

C3 S. 33(1): new fees made payable (6.4.2010) by virtue of The Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Fees) Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/441), arts. 1(1), 2, Sch. as specified therein (as substituted (1.4.2012) by The Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Fees) (Amendment) Order 2012 (S.I. 2012/760), arts. 1, 3, 4)

C4 S. 33(2) extended (with modifications) by S.I. 1982/1526, art. 2, Sch. 1 Pt. I

34 Entry in register as evidence of birth or death. E+W

(1) The following provisions of this section shall have effect in relation to entries in registers under this Act or any enactment repealed by this Act.

(2) An entry or a certified copy of an entry of a birth or death in a register, or in a certified copy of a register, shall not be evidence of the birth or death unless the entry purports to be signed by some person professing to be the informant and to be such a person as might be [F10 required or permitted by law] at the date of the entry to give to the registrar information concerning that birth or death:

Provided that this subsection shall not apply—

(a) in relation to an entry of a birth which, not being an entry signed by a person professing to be a superintendent registrar, purports to have been made with the authority of the Registrar General; or

(b) in relation to an entry of a death which purports to have been made upon a certificate from a coroner; or

(c) in relation to an entry of a birth or death which purports to have been made in pursuance of the enactments with respect to the registration of births and deaths at sea.

[F11 (d) in relation to the re–registration of a birth under section 9(5) of this Act].

(3) Where more than three months have intervened between the date of the birth of any child or the date when any living new–born child [F12 or still–born child] was found exposed and the date of the registration of the birth of that child, the entry or a certified copy of the entry of the birth of the child in the register, or in a certified copy of the register, shall not be evidence of the birth unless—

[F13 (a) if it appears that not more than 12 months have so intervened—

(i) the original entry was made after the commencement of paragraph 7 of Schedule 6 to the Welfare Reform Act 2009, or

(ii) the entry purports either to be signed by the superintendent registrar as well as by the registrar or to have been made with the authority of the Registrar General;]

(b) if more than twelve months have so intervened, the entry purports to have been made with the authority of the Registrar General:

Provided that this subsection shall not apply in any case where the original entry in the register was made before the first day of January, eighteen hundred and seventy–five.

(4) Where more than twelve months have intervened between the date of the death or of the finding of the dead body of any person and the date of the registration of that person’s death, the entry or a certified copy of the entry of the death in the register, or in a certified copy of the register, shall not be evidence of the death unless the entry purports to have been made with the authority of the Registrar General:

Provided that this subsection shall not apply in any case where the original entry in the register was made before the first day of January, eighteen hundred and seventy–five.

(5) A certified copy of an entry in a register or in a certified copy of a register shall be deemed to be a true copy notwithstanding that it is made on a form different from that on which the original entry was made if any differences in the column headings under which the particulars appear in the original entry and the copy respectively are differences of form only and not of substance.

(6) The Registrar General shall cause any certified copy of an entry given in the General Register Office to be sealed or stamped with the seal of that Office; and, subject to the foregoing provisions of this section, any certified copy of an entry purporting to be sealed or stamped with the said seal shall be received as evidence of the birth or death to which it relates without any further or other proof of the entry, and no certified copy purporting to have been given in the said Office shall be of any force or effect unless it is sealed or stamped as aforesaid.

Textual Amendments

F10 Words substituted by Family Law Reform Act 1987 (c. 42, SIF 49:7), s. 33(1), Sch. 2 para. 17

F11 S. 34(2)(d) added by Children Act 1975 (c. 72), Sch. 3 para. 13(5)(a)

F12 Words inserted by Children Act 1975 (c. 72), Sch. 3 para. 13(5)(b)

F13 S. 34(3)(a) substituted (28.5.2012) by Welfare Reform Act 2009 (c. 24), s. 61(3), Sch. 6 para. 14; S.I. 2012/1256, art. 2(2)(b)

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C5 S. 34(5)(6) extended with modifications by S.I. 1982/1526, art. 2, Sch. 1 Pts. 1, 2, 3

C6 S. 34(5) applied (4.4.2005) by Gender Recognition Act 2004 (c. 7), s. 26, Sch. 3 para. 10(1); S.I. 2005/54, art. 2