Marriage Act 1949

57 Quarterly returns to be made to superintendent registrar. E+W

(1) Every incumbent, registering officer of the Society of Friends, secretary of a synagogue, authorised person and registrar shall in the months of January, April, July and October—

(a) make and deliver to the superintendent registrar, on forms supplied by the Registrar General, a true copy certified by him under his hand of all entries of marriages made in the marriage register book kept by him during the period of three months ending with the last day of the month immediately before the month in which the copy is required by this subsection to be made; or

(b) if no marriage has been registered in the said book during that period, deliver to the superintendent registrar a certificate of that fact under his hand, on a form supplied by the Registrar General.

(2) The certified copies and certificates required to be delivered by a registrar under the last foregoing subsection shall be delivered to the superintendent registrar on such days in the months of January, April, July and October as may be appointed by the Registrar General, and shall be certified by the registrar in the prescribed form.

[F1 (2A) The duty imposed by subsection (1)(a) on a registrar may be discharged by making a copy in an approved electronic form of each entry in the marriage register book and delivering that copy to the superintendent registrar within the period of seven days beginning with the day on which the entry is made.

(2B) A copy delivered by virtue of subsection (2A) is a certified copy for the purposes of this section if the registrar incorporates an electronic signature into it or associates an electronic signature with it.

(2C) The duty imposed by subsection (1)(b) may be discharged by delivering the certificate in an approved electronic form.]

(3) Any incumbent and any authorised person who is required by subsection (1) of this section to deliver to the superintendent registrar a certified copy of entries in the marriage register book or a certificate that no marriage has been registered, may deliver the copy or certificate to any registrar who is under the superintendence of that superintendent registrar, and every registrar who receives such a certified copy or certificate shall deliver it to the superintendent registrar; and a superintendent registrar may direct the registrars under his superintendence quarterly or more often, if he thinks fit or is ordered so to do by the Registrar General, to collect any such certified copies or certificates from every incumbent and authorised person within his registration district.

(4) The superintendent registrar shall pay or cause to be paid to every incumbent and authorised person by whom a certified copy is delivered under subsection (1) of this section the sum of [F2 £2.00] for every entry contained in the certified copy [F3 and that sum shall be reimbursed to the superintendent registrar—

(a) in the case of a registration district in the City of London, the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple, by the Common Council of the City of London;

(b) in any other case, by the council of the non-metropolitan county, metropolitan district or London borough in which his registration district is situated].

(5) Where a certified copy is delivered to the superintendent registrar by a registrar under subsection (1) of this section, the superintendent registrar shall verify the copy and, if the copy is found to be correct, shall certify it under his hand to be a true copy; and where a certificate that no marriage has been registered is so delivered, the superintendent registrar shall countersign the certificate.

[F4 (5A) Where the certified copy is delivered in an approved electronic form by virtue of subsection (2A), the duty under subsection (5) to certify it as a true copy may be discharged by incorporating an electronic signature into it or associating an electronic signature with it.

(5B) In this section, “electronic signature” has the meaning given in section 7(2) of the Electronic Communications Act 2000.]

F5 (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Textual Amendments

F1 S. 57(2A)-(2C) inserted (16.11.2009) by The Registration of Marriages etc. (Electronic Communications and Electronic Storage) Order 2009 (S.I. 2009/2821), arts. 1(1), 9(1)

F2 S. 57(4): fee payable from 1.4.2012 confirmed by The Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Fees) Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/441), arts. 1(1), 2, Sch. (as amended (1.4.2012) by The Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Fees) (Amendment) Order 2012 (S.I. 2012/760), arts. 1, 3, 4)

F3 Words substituted by Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70), Sch. 29 para. 40

F4 S. 57(5A)(5B) inserted (16.11.2009) by The Registration of Marriages etc. (Electronic Communications and Electronic Storage) Order 2009 (S.I. 2009/2821), arts. 1(1), 9(2)

F5 S. 57(6) repealed by Registration Service Act 1953 (c. 37), Sch. 2