 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act. |
||
1976 Source:
Laws of Fiji. Act No. 7 of 1975. Chapter 49. Subject: birth, death, marriage
Text: Fiji Islands - Legislation - Births, Deaths & Marriages LAWS OF FIJI CHAPTER 49 BIRTHS, DEATHS AND MARRIAGES REGISTRATION ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
CHAPTER 49
BIRTHS, DEATHS AND MARRIAGES REGISTRATION
Act No. 7 of 1975
AN ACT TO CONSOLIDATE AND AMEND THE LAW RELATING TO THE REGISTRATION OF
BIRTHS, DEATHS AND MARRIAGES
[1st July 1976]
PART I - PRELIMINARY
1. This Act may be cited as the Births, Deaths and Marriages
Registration Act.
2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-
"district" means the area within a division for which a district
registrar is appointed for the purposes of this Act;
"district registrar" means a district registrar appointed under
the provisions of section 4 and, subject to the provisions of
subsection (6) of section 4, includes an assistant district
registrar;
"division" means the area for which a divisional registrar is
appointed for the purposes of this Act;
"divisional registrar" means a divisional registrar appointed
under the provisions of section 4 and includes an assistant
divisional registrar;
"house" includes any building, structure or vessel;
"occupier" includes the warden, keeper, master, manager,
director, matron, superintendent, superior, or other chief resident officer of
every public or charitable or religious or educational institution, and, where
a house is let or sub-let in separate floors or rooms or compartments,
includes any person residing in such house who either receives or pays rent
for such separate floors or rooms or compartments. Where a whole house is
occupied by any person without being let or sub-let as aforesaid, such person
shall, whether he is the owner or not, be deemed to be the occupier;
"public institution" includes a prison, approved institution,
approved voluntary institution or mental hospital;
"Registrar" means the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages
who shall be the Registrar-General, and includes any person appointed by the
Registrar-General by notice in the Gazette to perform on his behalf any of the
functions of the Registrar under the provisions of this Act;
"registrar" includes the Registrar, any divisional registrar and
any district registrar.
Duty of Registrar to register gratis all births. deaths and marriages
3. Subject to the provisions of section 13, the
Registrar shall register free of charge every birth and death required to be
registered under this Act and every marriage solemnized under the Marriage Act
of which he shall receive information together with such particulars in each
case as are required to be registered:
Provided that registration by a district registrar of any birth, death or
marriage in accordance with the provisions of this Act shall be deemed to be
registration by the Registrar for the purposes of this Act. (Cap.
50.)
Divisional and district registries
4. - (1) For the purposes of this Act there shall be such divisional
registries, and within each division, such district registries, as the Registrar
may direct.
(2) For each division there shall be a divisional registrar of births, deaths
and marriages and for each district there shall be a district registrar of
births, deaths and marriages.
(3) Any appointment to the office of a divisional registrar or a district
registrar shall be made by the Registrar.
(4) The Registrar shall direct the distribution of business between
divisional registries and between district registries.
(5) The Registrar may from time to time appoint such assistant divisional
registrars as may be required and every assistant divisional registrar may
exercise all the powers, duties and functions of the divisional registrar under
this Act.
(6) The Registrar may from time to time appoint such assistant district
registrars as may be required and every assistant district registrar may
exercise such of the powers, duties and functions of the district registrar as
may be authorised by the Registrar by writing under his hand.
Registration by district registrars
5. Every district registrar shall on behalf of the Registrar enter
and register in duplicate the prescribed particulars touching every birth,
foetal death, death and marriage which takes place in his district.
District registrars to forward returns and original registers to Registrar
6. Every district registrar in charge of a district shall on or
before the seventh day of each month transmit to the Registrar a return of all
births, foetal deaths, deaths and marriages registered by him during the
previous month together with the original register forms received and registered
by him.
District registrars to forward returns and duplicate registers to divisional
registrars
7. Subject to any directions by the Registrar to the contrary every
district registrar shall on or before the seventh day of each month transmit to
the divisional registrar of the division in which his district is situated, a
return of all births, foetal deaths, deaths and marriages registered by him
during the previous month together with the duplicate register forms received
and registered by him during that month.
8. The Registrar shall keep the original registers of all births,
foetal deaths, deaths and marriages in Fiji and, subject to the provisions of
section 7, every divisional registrar shall keep the duplicate
registers of all births, foetal deaths, deaths and marriages registered in his
division.
Registrars may demand particulars
9. A registrar may demand of any person applying to register any
birth or death any of the particulars required by or under the provisions of
this Act to be registered.
Lost original or duplicate copies or entries may 10. Where any of the original or duplicate documents respectively
referred to in sections 6 and 7, or the
entries in respect of them, are lost or mislaid, a divisional registrar shall,
at the request of the Registrar, and the Registrar shall, at the request of a
divisional registrar, make and transmit respectively to the Registrar or to the
divisional registrar true copies, certified under the hand of the divisional
registrar or the Registrar, as the case may be, of the documents or entries, the
originals or the duplicates of which have been lost or mislaid, and any such
copies shall be substituted by the Registrar or divisional registrar, as the
case may be, for the aforesaid lost originals or duplicates.
PART II - BIRTHS
Duty of parent or occupier to register birth
11. The father of every child born alive or stillborn in Fiji, or,
in case of the death, illness, absence, or inability of the father, the mother
of such child, or in case of the death, illness, absence, or inability of both
the father and mother, any person present at the birth, or where there is no
such person, the occupier of the house in which such child has been born, shall,
within two months after the day of such birth, give information to a registrar
according to the best of his or her knowledge and belief, of the several
particulars required to be registered, and shall, in the presence of such
registrar sign the register.
Information respecting certain living new-born children 12.- (1) In case any child is born in, or any new-born child is
admitted to, any public institution or charitable or religious institution, it
shall be the duty of the person having charge of such institution or a person
authorised by him to ascertain from the mother of such child or person bringing
such child such information of the particulars required to be registered
concerning the birth of such child as can be elicited and, unless the provisions
of section 11 have already been observed, to cause such
information to be given to a registrar within two months of such birth or
admission.
(2) In case any living new-born child is found abandoned, it shall be the
duty of any person finding such child to report such finding to a registrar, and
within two months of such finding, to give, to the best of his knowledge and
belief, such information of the particulars required to be registered concerning
the birth of such child as the informant possesses, and, in the presence of such
registrar, to sign the register.
Limit of time for registration
13. After the expiration of two months from the date of the birth of
any child, a registrar shall not register such birth unless the person required
by the provisions of this Act to give information concerning the same makes a
solemn declaration to the best of the declarant's knowledge and belief of the
particulars required to be registered. After the expiration of twelve months
from the date of the birth of any person, such birth shall not be registered
except in accordance with regulations to be made under the provisions of this
Act, and upon payment of the prescribed fee.
Registration of name of child or of addition to name
14. - (1) In every case where it is desired after registration to add
to the name of any person whose birth has been registered with a name, or to
give a name or names to any person whose birth has been registered without a
name, a parent of such person may make a declaration in writing before a
registrar in the prescribed form:
Provided that whenever it is shown to the satisfaction of the Registrar that,
owing to death or absence from Fiji or other reasonable cause, a parent is
unable to attend to make a declaration in writing in accordance with this
section, it shall be lawful for the Registrar, in his discretion, upon such
evidence as he may in the circumstances deem sufficient, to act in all respects
as if a declaration in writing had been made under this subsection and the
Registrar shall thereupon, without erasure of the previous entry, forthwith
enter in the register the name or names proposed to be added and shall, if
required, on payment of the prescribed fee, issue a certificate in the
prescribed form.
(2) For every entry made under the provisions of subsection (1) within a
period of two months from the date of birth no fee shall be paid. For every such
entry made after such period of two months the prescribed fee shall be paid.
(3) No more than one application for an addition to the register in respect
of the name or names of any person shall be made under this section.
Registration of change of name
15. - (1) Any person who has attained the age of twenty-one years or
is married or has at any time been married may by deed poll change his name,
whether as to his surname or as to any forenames.
(2) The parents of any child who has not attained the age of twenty-one years
and has never been married may by deed poll change the name of the child,
whether as to his surname or as to any forenames:
Provided that for the purposes of this subsection the term
"parents"-
(b) where the child has been adopted, means the adoptive parents.
(3) Where the name of any person has been changed by deed poll under this
section or has been changed before the commencement of this section by deed poll
in accordance with the law in force as at the date of the deed, the change of
name may be registered on application in the prescribed manner and by depositing
the deed or, where a deed poll has been filed in the office of the Registrar of
Deeds under the provisions of the Registration Act, a certified copy thereof
together with a certified copy of the entry as to the birth of that
person. (Cap. 224.)
(4) The Registrar shall forthwith enter and sign on the original entry a
memorial of the change of name.
(5) Every certificate or certified copy issued under this Act thereafter
shall show the name as changed and no other name.
(6) For the purposes of this section, "surname" includes a family
or caste name.
16. - (1) In the case of the birth of an illegitimate child, no person
shall, as the father of such child, be required to give information concerning
such birth, and a registrar shall not enter in the register the name of any
person as father of such child except on the written request of both the mother
and of the person acknowledging himself to be the father, and such person shall,
together with the mother, sign the register or the registration form furnished.
(2) If, at any time after registration of the birth of an illegitimate child,
the Registrar is satisfied by statutory declaration or such other evidence as he
may deem sufficient that both the mother and the person acknowledging himself to
be the father require the name of or any other particulars relating to the
father to be entered in the register, the Registrar may enter in the register
the particulars required to be entered as aforesaid:
Provided that-
(a) in any such case it shall not be necessary for the person
acknowledging himself to be the father to sign the register; and
(b) if the mother is dead or cannot be found, it shall be sufficient
if the request is made by the father alone.
Additions and changes of
name, etc. to be entered in duplicate register
17. Where any additional entry is made by the Registrar in the
original register of any birth pursuant to the provisions of section 14,
15 or 16, as the case may be, the Registrar shall, if
a duplicate register of such birth is in the custody of a divisional registrar,
forward to that divisional registrar particulars of such entry and the
divisional registrar shall record such particulars in the duplicate register of
such birth in the same manner as the entry made by the Registrar in the original
register.
PART III - DEATHS
Information of death to be given in various cases to registrar, etc.
18. - (1) When a person dies in a house, it shall be the duty of-
(a) any relative of the deceased person present at the death or in
attendance at his final illness; or, in default of such relative,
(b) any person present at the death; or, in default of such person,
(c) the occupier of the house, if he knew of the happening of the
death; or in default of such occupier,
(d) any inmate of the house who knew of the happening of the death;
or, in default of such inmate,
(e) the person causing the body to be buried or cremated,
to give the particulars required under the provisions of this Act, to be the
best of his knowledge and belief, to a registrar, within seven days from the
date of the death.
(2) Where a person dies in a place which is not a house or a dead body is
found other than in a house, it shall be the duty of-
(a) any relative of the deceased who has knowledge of any of the
particulars required to be registered concerning the death; or, in default of
such relative,
(b) any person present at the death; or, in default of such person,
(c) any person finding or taking charge of the body; or, in default
of such person,
(d) any person causing the body to be buried or cremated,
to give to the officer in charge of the nearest police station, as soon as
possible, such information and particulars required to be registered concerning
the death as the informant possesses together with any other information as may
be required and such particulars shall then be forwarded by such officer in
charge to a registrar.
(3) When an inquest is held by a magistrate into the death of any person, the
magistrate holding the inquest shall inquire into the particulars required to be
registered concerning the death and shall send to the appropriate registrar,
within twenty-four hours after the termination of the inquest, a certificate
under his hand giving information concerning the death and specifying the said
particulars and the time and place at which the inquest was held and the
appropriate registrar shall cause the death and particulars to be duly
registered.
(4) When an inquest is held by a magistrate on any dead body, or the
information and particulars required to be registered have been forwarded by a
magistrate under the provisions of subsection (6), no person shall, in relation
to such dead body or death, be subject to any penalty for failing to give
information in pursuance of any other provisions of this Act.
(5) After the expiration of seven days from the finding by a magistrate, the
death shall be registered in the register book of deaths.
(6) Where a magistrate to whom information concerning the death of any person
has been referred decides that an inquest into such death need not be held he
shall forward to the appropriate registrar as soon as possible the information
and particulars required to be registered concerning the death and the
appropriate registrar shall cause the death and particulars to be duly
registered.
Duty of registrars to procure information
19. (1) Notwithstanding any omission to report, or furnish
information as to any death within the times laid down in section 18,
it shall be the duty of every registrar to procure by all means in his power the
best and most accurate information respecting any death which may have occurred
within his district and to cause the same to be registered.
(2) Any person who, within forty-eight hours of being required so to do,
fails to provide the registrar with such information as in his possession shall
be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of two
hundred dollars.
Provisions as to certificates of cause of death
20. With respect to certificates of the cause of death-
(a) the Registrar shall, on the application of a registered medical
practitioner, registered medical assistant, registered midwife or registered
nurse, furnish him or her with a book of printed forms of certificates of
death in the prescribed form;
(b) in the case of the death of any person who has been attended
during his last illness by a registered medical practitioner, or a registered
medical assistant, that practitioner or medical assistant or, in the case of a
stillborn child, a registered midwife or a registered nurse, shall forthwith
sign and give to some person required by this Act to give information
concerning the death a certificate in duplicate in the prescribed form stating
to the best of his knowledge and belief the cause of death, and such person
shall, on giving information concerning the death, deliver that certificate to
a registrar; and the cause of death as stated in that certificate shall be
entered in the register;
(c) where an inquest is held on the body of any deceased person, or
where a police officer of or above the rank of corporal or a magistrate or a
Justice of the Peace or other authorised person has issued a burial or
cremation order, a medical certificate of the cause of death need not be
given;
(d) for the purpose of securing uniformity in the death returns, the
cause of death certified by a registered medical practitioner, or by a
registered medical assistant, or by a registered midwife or nurse, or by a
police officer of or above the rank of corporal or by a magistrate, or by a
Justice of the Peace, or by any other authorised person, shall, so far as
possible, be described in strict accordance with the International
Classification of Diseases of the World Health Organisation. If in any
certificate the cause of death is not described, it shall be lawful for a
registrar to refuse to register the cause of death as thus certified, and to
proceed in the manner provided by section 21 for cases in
which that officer suspects that the reported cause of death is not the true
cause.
Duty of registrar when in doubt as to cause of death
21. In any case in which a registrar suspects that the reported
cause of death is not the true cause, it shall be the duty of the registrar to
institute or cause to be instituted immediate inquiries with a view to
ascertaining the true cause of death or to inform any police officer of his
suspicions.
Register of persons dying out of Fiji while on war services
22. (1) The Registrar shall keep a separate register of all persons
who are proved to his satisfaction to have died out of Fiji while on service in
any capacity in a war and who at the time of death were domiciled in Fiji or
were members of the Fiji naval or military forces.
(2) The Registrar may accept a grant of probate or administration by a court
of competent jurisdiction as proof of the death in any place out of Fiji of any
person to whom this section applies, or may accept a certificate of death under
the hand of a member of the naval or military forces, or in default of either
such grant or certificate, such other proof of death as he may deem sufficient.
(3) The register to be kept under the provisions of this section shall
contain the particulars required to be registered concerning deaths by the
provisions of this Act in so far as such particulars can be reasonably
ascertained or are applicable and, in appropriate cases, the facts upon which
the Registrar has accepted proof of death.
(4) for the purposes of this section, "a war" means any war in
which Her Majesty may be engaged.
PART IV - GENERAL
Searches of indexes in general registry office and certified copies
23. - (1) The Registrar shall cause indexes of the original register
books of births, deaths and marriages kept by him to be made, and any person on
application in writing giving such information as the Registrar shall require,
shall be entitled on payment of the prescribed fee to require the Registrar to
cause a search to be made of such indexes and register books, and such person
shall be entitled to receive a copy of or extract from any entry in the said
register books, certified under the hand of the Registrar and sealed or stamped
with the seal or stamp of the registry office, for which the prescribed fee
shall be paid.
(2) The Registrar shall, after the registration of every birth, death or
marriage in respect of a Fijian, provide the Native Lands Commission with a
certified copy of the entry in respect of such registration.
Searches of indexes in divisional registry offices and certified copies
24. Every divisional registrar shall cause indexes of the duplicate
register books of births, deaths and marriages kept by him to be made and any
person, on application in writing giving such information as the divisional
registrar shall require, shall be entitled on payment of the prescribed fee to
require the divisional registrar to cause a search to be made of such indexes
and duplicate register books and such person shall be entitled to receive a copy
of or extract from any entry in the said duplicate register books certified
under the hand of the divisional registrar and sealed or stamped with the seal
or stamp of the divisional registry office, for which the prescribed fee shall
be paid.
Searches only by Registrar or divisional registrars and those authorised
25. No person except the Registrar or a divisional registrar and
officers specially authorised by the Registrar or a divisional registrar, as the
case may be, shall search in indexes, registers or register books kept by the
Registrar or a divisional registrar.
Certified copies and certificates signed and sealed by Registrar or
divisional registrar shall be accepted as evidence
26. A certified copy of any entry in a register or register book
signed and sealed by the Registrar or a divisional registrar, as the case may
be, shall be received in all courts as evidence of the birth, death or marriage
to which the same relates and of the particulars therein recorded without
further proof of such matters and every certificate of the Registrar that any
register of births, deaths or marriages for any specified period is lost or
destroyed shall be received in any court as conclusive evidence of that fact.
Penalty for destroying register book
27. Any person who wilfully destroys or injures, or causes to be
destroyed or injured, or makes any unauthorised entry in, any register book or
any part or certified copy of any part thereof, shall be guilty of an offence
and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of four hundred dollars or to
imprisonment for a term of two years or to both such fine and imprisonment.
Correction of errors in registers
28. With regard to the correction of errors in registers of births,
deaths or marriages-
(a) no alteration in any such register shall be made except as
authorised by the provisions of this Act;
(b) an error of fact or substance in any register may be corrected
by an entry in the margin (without any alteration of the original entry) by the
Registrar on payment of the prescribed fee and on production to him by the
person requiring such error to be corrected of a declaration in the prescribed
form setting forth the nature of the error and the true facts of the case, and,
in the case of a birth or a death, made by two persons required by this Act to
give information concerning the birth or death with reference to which the error
has been made and in the case of a marriage, by the parties to the marriage with
reference to which the error has been made, or, in the absence of any such
persons, then by two credible persons to the satisfaction of the Registrar
having knowledge of the truth of the case, and the Registrar shall sign such
marginal entry and shall add thereto the day and month and year when such
correction is made;
(c) where an error of fact or substance (other than an error
relating to the cause of death) occurs in the information given to a registrar
by a magistrate concerning a dead body upon which he has held an inquest, or in
the case of any dead body in respect of which a burial or cremation order has
been issued, the magistrate or the person who issued the burial or cremation
order may, if satisfied by evidence upon oath or a statutory declaration that
such error exists, certify under his hand to the Registrar the nature of the
error and the true facts of the case as ascertained by him on such evidence, and
the error may thereupon be corrected by the Registrar in the register by
entering in the margin (without any alteration of the original entry) the facts
as so certified by such magistrate or other person, and the Registrar shall sign
such marginal entry and shall add thereto the day and month and year when such
correction is made; and
(d) the Registrar shall forthwith upon making any correction in
accordance with any of the provisions of this section in any register of births,
deaths or marriages send to the appropriate divisional registrar particulars of
such correction and the divisional registrar shall enter and sign an identical
entry in the duplicate register of the birth, death or marriages with reference
to which the correction has been made.
Report of births and deaths at sea
29. All masters or commanders of Fiji registered vessels shall, on
arrival in any port in Fiji, furnish to the Chief Officer of Customs the
particulars of every birth and death which shall have occurred on board such
vessel while at sea according to the prescribed forms. Such forms shall on being
so required by any such master or commander as aforesaid, be supplied to him by
the said Chief Officer of Customs, who shall, when the form is duly completed
and signed forward the same to the Registrar.
30. Every person who shall refuse or neglect to give any notice or
information required by this Act or shall knowingly register any birth, death or
marriage contrary to any of the provisions of this Act shall be guilty of an
offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of two hundred dollars or to
imprisonment for a term of six months or to both such fine and imprisonment.
Any registrar may administer oaths under the Act
31. Where, by or under the provisions of this Act, any evidence,
information or particulars are required to be given on oath, such oath may be
taken before any registrar.
32. The Registrar-General may, subject to the approval
of the Minister, make regulations from time to time for carrying out the
provisions of this Act, prescribing the particulars required to be registered,
the forms to be used, and the fees to be charged or payable, for the services to
be performed in connexion with the provisions of this Act, and for the
management of registries.
Controlled by Ministry of the Attorney-General
|
||
Go to Top
