The Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages Regulations 1968

PART I PRELIMINARY

Title and commencement

1.  These regulations may be cited as the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages Regulations 1968 and shall come into operation on 1st April 1969.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires—

“the Act” means the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953;

“authorised person” has the same meaning as in the Marriage Act 1949;

“birth” does not include a still-birth;

“borough” means a county borough or a London borough, and includes the City of London;

“certificate of cause of death” means a certificate required to be signed by a medical practitioner pursuant to section 22 of the Act;

“clerk” means the clerk of a council;

“coroner” includes a deputy coroner and an assistant deputy coroner;

“council”, in relation to a district or sub-district, means the council of the county or borough in which the district or sub-district is situated and, in relation to an officer, means the council of the county or borough which contains the district or sub-district, as the case may be, within which he is authorised to act;

“deputy officer” means a deputy superintendent registrar, a deputy registrar of births and deaths or a deputy registrar of marriages;

“description”, in relation to a coroner, means his official designation and the area of his jurisdiction;

“enactment” includes any instrument made under an Act;

“entry” means a record of the particulars relating to a birth, still-birth, death or marriage completed by the registrar in the appropriate spaces in form 1, 4, 5, 9 or 23;

“interim officer” means an interim superintendent registrar or an interim registrar of births and deaths;

“local scheme”, in relation to an officer, means the scheme in force under section 13 of the Registration Service Act 1953 (which provides for local schemes of registration) in the county or borough which contains the district or the sub-district, as the case may be, within which he is authorised to act;

“maiden surname”, in relation to a woman, means the surname under which she contracted her marriage (or, where she has married more than once, her first marriage;)

“medical practitioner” means a registered medical practitioner; and in relation to a medical practitioner who has signed a certificate, “name and qualification” means his name as stated on the certificate and his registered professional qualification ;

“midwife” means a certified midwife within the meaning of the Midwives Act 1951

“name”, in relation to a person, includes a surname except in regulations 18, 25, 73 and 82, and in forms 1, 2 and 3;

“non-salaried officer” means an officer to whom section 18 of the Registration Service Act 1953 (which relates to non-salaried officers) applies, an interim officer who, on the vacation by such an officer of his office, takes on his duties or an officer appointed under section 7 of the said Act (which provides for the appointment of additional registrars of marriage);

“occupation” includes rank or profession;

“officer” means a superintendent registrar, a registrar, a deputy officer or an interim officer ;

“principal officer” means an officer other than a deputy officer;

“registrar” means a registrar of births and deaths or a registrar of marriages;

“registration office” means the office of superintendent registrar, registrar of births and deaths or registrar of marriages;

“short certificate of birth” means a certificate of birth under section 33 of the Act (which provides for the issue of short certificates of birth);

(2) All institutions maintained wholly or mainly from public funds or charitable endowments or subscriptions or any combination thereof shall be public institutions for the purposes of section 41 of the Act (which relates to interpretation).

(3) In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires, any reference to any enactment shall be construed as a reference to that enactment as amended by or under any subsequent enactment.

(4) Any reference in these regulations to a numbered regulation or schedule shall, unless the reference is to a regulation of or a schedule to a specified enactment, be construed as a reference to the regulation or schedule bearing that number in these regulations.

(5) Any reference in any regulation in these regulations to a numbered paragraph shall, unless the reference is to a paragraph of a specified regulation, be construed as a reference to the paragraph bearing that number in the first mentioned regulation.

(6) Any reference to a numbered form shall be construed as a reference to the form bearing that number in Schedule 1; and any reference to a numbered space or column on a form shall be construed as a reference to the space or column bearing that number on that form.

(7) The Interpretation Act 1889. shall apply to the interpretation of these regulations as it applies to the interpretation of an Act of Parliament and as if these regulations and the regulations hereby revoked were Acts of Parliament.

Provision where date or place of birth or death is unknown

3.  Where a new-born living or still-born child is found exposed or a dead body is found—

(a) if the date of the birth of the child or of the death of the deceased person is unknown, references in these regulations to the doing of anything within a specified period after the birth or death shall be construed as references to the doing thereof within the same period after the child or the dead body was found;

(b) if the place of birth of the child or the place of death of the deceased person is unknown, references in these regulations to the place where a birth or death occurred shall be construed as references to the place where the child or the dead body was found.