(1) Any person shall , on furnishing the prescribed particulars, be entitled to obtain from the Registrar General, a superintendent registrar or a registrar a short certificate of the death 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.
(3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
34 Entry in register as evidence of birth or death.
(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provisions of this section shall have effect in relation to entries in registers under this Act or any enactment repealed by this Act.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 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.
(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 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—
(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) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(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.
34A Searches and records of information: additional provision
(1) The Minister may make regulations for the purpose of enabling the Registrar General—
(a) to carry out, on request, a search to find out whether the Registrar General's certified copies contain a particular entry;
(b) to provide, on request, a record of information contained in an entry in the Registrar General's certified copies, otherwise than in the form of a certified copy.
(2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(3) The regulations may make provision—
(a) as to how a request for a search or a record may be made;
(b) as to the forms in which a record may be provided.
(4) The provision that may be made in the regulations includes provision for a record to be provided in a form that does not include all of the information contained in an entry.
(5) This section does not affect the entitlement under this Act of any person to a certified copy of an entry in the Registrar General's certified copies.
(6) In this section, “the Registrar General's certified copies” means the certified copies of entries in registers sent to the Registrar General under this Act or under any enactment repealed by this Act and kept in the General Register Office.
(7) Section 30(4) applies for the purposes of this section as it applies for the purposes of section 30.
If any person commits any of the following offences, that is to say—
(a) if, being a registrar, he refuses or without reasonable cause omits to register any birth or death or particulars concerning which information has been tendered to him by a qualified informant and which he is required by or under this Act to register; or
(b) if, being a person having the custody of any register of births or register of deaths, he carelessly loses or injures the register or allows the register to be injured,
he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.
36 Penalties for failure to given information, etc.
If any person commits any of the following offences, that is to say—
(a) if, being required by or under this Act to give information concerning any birth or death . . . or any dead body, he wilfully refuses to answer any question put to him by the registrar relating to the particulars required to be registered concerning the birth or death, or save as provided in this Act, fails to comply with any requirement of the registrar made thereunder;
(b) if he refuses or fails without reasonable excuse to give, deliver or send any certificate which he is required by this Act to give, deliver or send;
(c) if, being a parent and save as provided in this Act, he fails to give information concerning the birth of his child as required by this Act; or
(d) if, being a parent of a legitimated person . . . , he fails to comply with any requirement of the Registrar General made under or by virtue of section fourteen of this Act; or
(e) if, being a person upon whom a duty to give information concerning a death is imposed by paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of section sixteen or seventeen of this Act, he fails to give that information and that information is not given,
he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £2 for each offence.
If any person ... falsifies any certificate, declaration or order (including any copy of the same in an approved electronic form) under this Act, or knowingly uses, or gives or sends to any person, as genuine any false ... certificate, declaration or order (including any copy of the same in an approved electronic form)for the purposes of this Act, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale.
38 Prosecution of offences and application of fines.
(1) Subject as may be prescribed, a superintendent registrar may prosecute any person for an offence under this Act committed within his district, and any costs incurred by him in any such prosecution, being costs which are not otherwise provided for, shall be defrayed out of moneys provided by Parliament.
(2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(1) The Minister may by regulations provide for fees to be payable to such persons as may be prescribed in respect of—
(a) the issue of a certificate under section 13(2);
(b) the carrying out of a search of—
(i) any register of births or register of deaths,
(ii) any index kept in relation to such a register, or
(iii) certified copies of entries in such a register;
(c) the provision of a certified copy, or other record of information, relating to an entry in a register of births or a register of deaths;
(d) the provision of a short certificate of birth or a short certificate of death (see sections 33 and 33A);
(e) such other birth or death registration services as may be prescribed.
(2) Regulations under this section may—
(a) specify the amount of any fee payable under the regulations, or
(b) set out how such a fee is to be determined.
(3) Subsection (4) applies where the regulations provide for a fee to be payable to a superintendent registrar or registrar.
(4) The regulations may provide for such part of the fee as may be specified by or determined in accordance with the regulations to be payable by the superintendent registrar or registrar to the Registrar General in prescribed circumstances.
(5) The regulations may provide for the reduction, waiver or refund of part or all of a fee whether by conferring a discretion or otherwise.
(6) In this section—
“birth or death registration services” means services in connection with the registration of births or deaths which are provided—
by or on behalf of the Registrar General, a superintendent registrar or registrar, or
by any other person;
“prescribed” means prescribed in regulations made under this section.
(1) Where any register of births or register of deaths is required to be kept under this Act otherwise than in hard copy form, the Minister may by regulations provide that—
(a) a person’s duty under this Act to sign the register at any time is to have effect as a duty to comply with specified requirements at that time, and
(b) a person who complies with those requirements is to be treated for the purposes of this Act as having signed the register at that time and, in the case of a duty to sign the register in the presence of the registrar, to have done so in the presence of the registrar,
and accordingly, in such a case, the entry in the register is to be taken for the purposes of this Act to have been signed by the person.
(2) The provision that may be made by regulations under this section includes, among other things—
(a) provision requiring a person to sign something other than the register;
(b) provision requiring a person to provide specified evidence of identity in such form and manner as may be specified.
(3) In this section “specified” means specified in regulations under this section.
39 Regulations and approval of electronic forms etc.
(1) The Registrar General may, with the approval of the Minister, by statutory instrument make regulations—
(a) prescribing anything which by this Act is required to be prescribed;
(b) providing that any provision of this Act specified in the regulations, being a provision relating to the registration or entry of births, shall cease to apply in relation to still–births or, in the case of a provision expressed by this Act not to apply in relation to still–births, shall apply in relation to still–births with such modifications, if any, as may be prescribed:
Provided that paragraph (b) of this section shall not apply in relation to section nine or eleven of this Act.
(2) The Registrar General may approve forms of electronic communication or electronic storage (including an electronic signature) for the purposes of a provision of this Act.
39A Regulations made by the Minister: further provisions
(1) Regulations made by the Minister under the relevant provisions may—
(a) make different provision for different cases or areas,
(b) provide for exemptions from any of the provisions of the regulations, and
(c) contain such consequential, incidental, supplemental and transitional provision as the Minister considers appropriate.
(2) Before making regulations under the relevant provisions other than section 38A the Minister must consult the Registrar General.
(3) Any power of the Minister to make regulations under the relevant provisions is exercisable by statutory instrument.
(4) A statutory instrument containing regulations made by the Minister under the relevant provisions is subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.
(5) In this section “the relevant provisions” means sections 2B(1), (4) and (6), 2C, 2D, 2E, 10B , 10C , 34A and 38A.
(6) A statutory instrument that contains (whether alone or with other provision) regulations made by the Minister under section 38B may not be made unless a draft of the instrument has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament.
40 Sending and providing notices, information or other documents
Where any notice, information, declaration, certificate, requisition, return or other document is required to be given, sent, delivered, produced, supplied, transmitted or otherwise provided for any purpose of this Act, the requirement may be met by—
(a) sending the document by post, or
(b) providing the document, or a copy of it, in an approved electronic form.
40A Original documents may be in an approved electronic form
If a declaration made or certificate issued in the prescribed form for the purposes of this Act is made or issued in electronic form, it must be made or issued in an approved electronic form.
(1) In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them, that is to say—
“the 2009 Act” means the Coroners and Justice Act 2009;
“approved electronic form” means any form of electronic communication or electronic storage (including an electronic signature) approved by the Registrar General pursuant to the powers conferred under section 39(2) of this Act;
“attending practitioner's certificate” has the meaning given by section 20(1)(a) of the 2009 Act;
“birth” includes a live–birth and a still–birth;
“confirmed attending practitioner's certificate” means an attending practitioner's certificate in respect of which the cause of death has been confirmed by a medical examiner in accordance with regulations under section 20(1)(f)(i) of the 2009 Act;
“disposal”, in relation to a dead body, means disposal by burial, cremation or any other means, and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly;
“electronic communication” has the meaning given in section 15(1) of the Electronic Communications Act 2000;
“electronic signature” has the meaning given in section 7(2) of the Electronic Communications Act 2000;
“father”, in relation to an adopted child, means the child’s natural father;
“general search” means a search conducted during any number of successive hours not exceeding six, without the object of the search being specified;
“house” includes a public institution;
“live–birth” means the birth of a child born alive;
“medical examiner” has the meaning given by section 48(1) of the 2009 Act;
“medical examiner's certificate” has the meaning given by section 20(1)(h) of the 2009 Act;
“the Minister” means the Secretary of State;
“mother”, in relation to an adopted child, means the child’s natural mother;
“occupier” in relation to a public institution, includes the governor, keeper, master, matron, superintendent, or other chief resident officer, and, in relation to a house let in separate apartments or lodgings, includes any person residing in the house who is the person under whom the lodgings or separate apartments are immediately held, or his agent;
“particular search” means a search of the indexes covering a period not exceeding five years for a specified entry;
“partner” (except in the expression “civil partner”) is to be read in accordance with subsection (2) of this section;
“public institution” means a prison, lock–up or hospital, and such other public or charitable institution as may be prescribed;
“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made under section thirty–nine of this Act;
“qualified informant”, in relation to any birth or death, means a person who is by this Act or, in the case of a birth or death occurring before the commencement of this Act, by any enactment repealed by this Act required, or stated to be qualified, to give information concerning that birth or death;
“registrar” in relation to any birth or death, means the registrar of births and deaths for the sub–district in which the birth or death takes place, or where any still–born child is found exposed or any dead body is found and no information as to the place of birth or death is available, for the sub–district in which the child or the dead body is found;
“relative” includes a relative by marriage or civil partnership ....
“still–born child” means a child which has issued forth from its mother after the twenty -fourth week of pregnancy and which did not at any time after being completely expelled from its mother breathe or show any other signs of life, and the expression “still–birth” shall be construed accordingly;
“superintendent registrar” in relation to any registrar, means the superintendent registrar of births, deaths and marriages for the district in which that registrar’s sub–district is situate.
(2) A person is the partner of a deceased person if the two of them (whether of different sexes or the same sex) were living as partners in an enduring relationship at the time of the deceased person's death.
(3) A reference in this Act to an investigation under Part 1 of the 2009 Act being conducted includes a reference to the case where such an investigation has begun and—
(a) has not yet finished,
(b) is suspended under Schedule 1 to that Act (whether temporarily or otherwise), or
(c) is discontinued under section 4 of that Act.
(1) Any registration effected, certificate issued, notice or information given, order, regulations or return made or other thing done under any enactment repealed by this Act shall, if in force at the commencement of this Act, continue in force, and have effect as if effected, issued, given, made or done under the corresponding provision of this Act.
(2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(4) Any document referring to an enactment repealed by this Act shall unless the contrary intention appears to be construed as referring to the corresponding provision of this Act.
(5) Nothing in this Act shall affect any provision of the Population (Statistics) Act 1938, requiring particulars to be furnished for the purposes of that Act.
(6) Nothing in this Act shall affect the registration of baptisms or burials, or the right of any officiating minister to receive any fees now usually paid for the performance or registration of any baptism or burial.
(7) Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this section shall be taken as prejudicing the operation of sections 16(1) and 17(2)(a) of the Interpretation Act 1978 (which relate to the effect of repeals).
(1) This Act may be cited as the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953.
(2) This Act shall not extend to Scotland or to Northern Ireland.
(3) ThisAct shall come into force on the thirtieth day of September, nineteen hundred and fifty–three.
FIRST SCHEDULE Consequential Amendments of other Enactments
Section 43.
1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
B. The Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1926 (16 & 17 Geo.5. c.88)
2 In subsection (1) of section one, for the reference to a certificate of the registrar given in pursuance of that Act there shall be substituted a reference to a certificate of the registrar given under subsection (2) or (3) of section eleven or under section twenty–four of this Act.
3 In section five, for the reference to a certificate given by the registrar under the provisions of that Act relating to still–births, there shall be substituted a reference to a certificate given by the registrar under subsectin (2) or (3) of section eleven of this Act.
The Legitimacy Act, 1926 (16 & 17 Geo. 5. c.60)
4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .