Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977

19Marriage ceremony and registration of marriage

(1)An authorised registrar shall not solemnise a marriage within 14 days of the date of receipt (as entered in the marriage notice book) of a marriage notice in respect of that marriage, unless—

(a)he has received a written request from one or both of the parties to solemnise the marriage on a specified earlier date stating the reason for the request, and

(b)he has been authorised to solemnise the marriage on that earlier date by the Registrar General.

(2)A marriage shall not be solemnised by an authorised registrar unless—

(a)he has available to him at the time of the ceremony a Marriage Schedule, in respect of the marriage, completed in accordance with this Act and the prescribed fee for the marriage has been paid ;

(b)both parties to the marriage are present; and

(c)two persons professing to be 16 years of age or over are present as witnesses.

(3)Immediately after the solemnisation of the marriage the Marriage Schedule shall be signed by the parties contracting the marriage, by both witnesses present thereat and by the authorised registrar who solemnised it.

(4)As soon as possible after the Marriage Schedule has been signed in accordance with subsection (3) above—

(a)in a case where the marriage has been solemnised in the registration office of the authorised registrar who solemnised it or in any such place as is mentioned in section 18(3) of this Act, that authorised registrar;

(b)in a case where the marriage has been solemnised in the registration office of another authorised registrar, that other authorised registrar,

shall cause the particulars as set forth in that Schedule to be entered in the register of marriages kept by him.