The Deregulation (Correction of Birth and Death Entries in Registers or Other Records) Order 2002

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order is made under section 1 of the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994. It introduces an alternative procedure for certain corrections in registers of live-births, still-births or deaths under section 29(3) of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 and in registers or other records under section 3(3) of the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Special Provisions) Act 1957. The procedure applies where in a birth or death entry a person is wrongly shown as the father of the person to whose birth or death the entry relates.

Articles 2 and 3 enable a correction to be made on production of a single statutory declaration rather than the two previously required, provided that the declaration is accompanied by documentary evidence of a finding made in judicial proceedings that the person shown as the father was not the father. In certain circumstances additional confirmation of the material facts is required.

The existing procedures for correcting errors under section 29(3) of the Births and Deaths Registration Act and under section 3(3) of the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Special Provisions) Act are not affected by this Order.