Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953

Offences

35Offences relating to registers

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 fifty pounds.

36Penalties for failure to give 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 living newborn child 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 within the meaning of the Legitimacy Act, 1926, 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 forty shillings for each offence.

37Penalty for forging certificates, etc.

If any person forges or falsifies any certificate, declaration or order under this Act, or knowingly uses, or gives or sends to any person, as genuine any false or forged certificate, declaration or order for the purposes of this Act, he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding ten pounds.

38Prosecution 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)Any sum paid to the Secretary of State in pursuance of section twenty-seven of the Justices of the Peace Act, 1949, in respect of a fine recovered under this Act shall be deemed to be Exchequer moneys within the meaning of that section and shall be paid by the Secretary of State into the Exchequer.