Civil Registration

The Civil Registration Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 modernizes and simplifies laws on civil registration. The basic framework for the registration of births and deaths is allowed in the Births and Deaths Registration (Northern Ireland) Order 1976, Marriage (Northern Ireland) Order 2003, updated Victorian statutes on the subject.

The legislation enables a birth occurring in Northern Ireland to be registered in any registration office in Northern Ireland. It removes the requirement for the informer to sign the register. A birth includes a stillbirth.

Information is to be given in a prescribed manner in relation to the birth of living children found exposed.

Unmarried persons may give information separately at the time of registration as well as together so that the father’s details are included in the birth entry. The time of registration of a stillbirth is increased to 12 months.

Unmarried fathers of a stillborn child are to have their name included in an entry without the mother being required to be present. The Registrar may reregister stillbirths of an unmarried person where the mother disputes details of registration.

The Registrar General may no longer require an informant who has failed to reregister the birthrate within the separate period to attend personally to sign the register in the case of re-registration of births of legitimated persons.

Provision may be made for a new short form death certificate excluding the cause of death.

Regulations may be made which make provision for persons to have access to birth and death registration records, make provision for the registrar to enter or arrange with third parties for providing access contained in such records, and make provision for the registrar to transfer registration to third parties subject to conditions for the purpose of providing access.

The requirement to produce documentary evidence that the new name or surname has been in use for two years is removed.

The Registrar General is enabled to notify persons as he deems appropriate that a change of name or surname has been recorded in the register. He may enable any person who has made an application to have a change of name recorded to apply to the registrar to have that notified to other persons. He may require payment of a fee. The registrar may impose conditions in relation to information on changes of names.

Regulations may be made to issue a short form birth certificate by the Registrar General or any register.

The Marriage Order and Civil Partnership Act are amended to enable regulation to be made to make provision for persons to have access to information contained in any marriage or civil partnership registration records to enable the Registrar General to enter into arrangements with third parties for providing access and to transfer registration information to third parties for the purpose of providing access.

Regulations may be made to make provisions for persons to have access to information contained in the Adopted Children Register. They may make provision for the Registrar General to enter into arrangements with third parties for providing such access and for the transfer of information to third parties for the purpose of access.

Similar provision may be made for access to information in the Gender Recognition Register, Gender Recognition Act 2004.

The Registrar General is required to maintain a record of Northern Ireland connection. This section enables people with Northern Ireland connections to apply to the Registrar General for an event listed below to be entered in the Northern Ireland Record of Connections. The index may be searched.

Births and Deaths Registration (Northern Ireland) Order 1976 is the basic legislation dealing with registration of births and deaths. The Marriages Order 2003 deals with the registration of marriage and updates some very old legislation in that regard.

The legislation reestablishes the Registrar General of Births and Deaths in Northern Ireland. The registrar is to send the Head of the Department of Finance, in particular, an annual report setting out numbers of births and stillbirths throughout the year.

The registrar maintains and continues to maintain the General Registrar’s Office. The Department is to appoint officers to the Registrar General’s office as may be necessary for the purpose of discharging its functions.

Each local government district is a registration district for the purpose of registration of births and deaths. The district council is the local registration authority. It is to act as an agent of the Department and in accordance with directions as the Department may give.

Local registration authorities are to provide and maintain suitably equipped Registrar’s Offices in such premises as they may agree and to provide approved repositories for the safekeeping of records.

Registers shall be maintained recording particulars of deaths, births, and other matters as may be prescribed. There is provision for searches of the indices and issue of a certified copy entry.

There is limited provision for the correction of entries where an error of fact or substance, other than one relating to the cause of death, occurs in the coroner’s certificate in relation to a death. Where an inquest is held, the coroner shall, if he is satisfied by evidence on oath or statutory declaration that an error exists, give a certificate in the prescribed form to the registrar who may direct the correction of the error.

The following applies only to persons whose births are registered in Northern Ireland. If, within two years from the date of birth of a child, the name by which it is registered is changed or was registered without a name, a name given to the child may be registered on delivery within two years with the Registrar General on a certificate in the prescribed form.

If the name is changed or given a baptism, this is to be given by the person who performed the baptism or who has custody of the baptismal records or if it is otherwise changed, it is to be given by a qualified applicant. Only one such entry may be made in respect of any child.

Where an application in the prescribed form is made in respect of a change of name or surname of a child under 18, the registrar may record the change of name by causing an appropriate entry to be made in the register. The provision requires evidence that the name or surname which the qualified applicant wishes to have recorded has been in use by or in respect of the child for at least two years.

The registrar may require a notice to be inserted in a newspaper where the child is resident specifying the intention to apply for a change of a surname. Only one change of name is allowed in respect of any one child to be recorded.

Where an application for a change of name in respect of a person over age 18 is made, the Registrar General may do so if satisfied by evidence that the name or surname which the applicant wishes to have recorded is one which has been in use by him for a period of not less than two years prior to the application.

If the registrar is not satisfied with the evidence produced, he may require a copy of a notice inserted in the newspaper circulating in the area notifying the intention to apply for the recording of a change of name, which has not been in use for two years. One change of name and three changes of surname may be made in respect of any person under this provision. A period of five years must lapse after one change of surname is recorded before another change can be recorded.

The Department may make regulations for the issue of a short-form birth certificate. Entries in the register of births and deaths are not evidence of the birth and death unless the entry is signed by a person professing to be an informant and to be a person as might be required by the law, at the date of death, to give the information concerning the birth or death to be made in pursuance of corresponding statutory provision in the United Kingdom, relate to death or stillbirth, and are made upon a certificate issued by a coroner following an inquest; relate to births or deaths outside the United Kingdom.

Where the age or death of a person is required to be proved for the purpose of certain statutory provisions, any person shall, on presenting a written requisition and payment of fees, be entitled to a certified copy of the entry of the birth or death on the relevant register. The legislation concerned is social security, education, electoral insurance of any society legislation, and pension schemes.