Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953

Registers, certified copies, etc.E+W

25 Provision of registers, etc., by Registrar General.E+W

Registers of live–births, still–births and deaths shall be in such form as may be respectively prescribed, and the Registrar General shall provide any such registers, and any of the forms hereafter mentioned for making certified copies of entries in registers, which may be required for the purposes of this Act.

26 Quarterly returns to be made by registrar to superintendent registrar.E+W

(1)Every registrar shall in the months of January, April, July and October on such days as may be appointed by the Registrar General—

(a)make and deliver to the superintendent registrar in the prescribed form a true copy, certified by him in the prescribed manner, of all the entries of live–births, still–births and deaths made in the registers kept by him during the period of three months ending with the last day of the month immediately preceding that in which the copy is required by this subsection to be made;

(b)if no live–birth, still–birth or death has been registered in his sub–district during that period F1[F2...

(i)deliver to the superintendent registrar [F3a certificate in the prescribed form to that effect.]

F4(ii). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(1A)The duty imposed by subsection (1)(a) of this section does not apply, as regards any particular three-month period, to any registrar who provides the relevant information to the superintendent registrar in an approved electronic form within the time allowed.

[F5(1B)] For [F6the purposes of subsection (1A)] —

(a)the relevant information is the information contained in each entry mentioned in subsection (1)(a) of this section made during the three-month period in question; and

(b)the time allowed, in relation to each such entry, is the period of seven days beginning with the day on which the entry is made.

(2)Where a certified copy is delivered to the superintendent registrar under [F7subsection (1) of this section], the superintendent registrar shall verify the copy and, if the copy is found to be correct, shall certify it [F8in writing] to be a true copy; and where a certificate that there have been no registrations is so delivered, the superintendent registrar shall countersign the certificate.]

[F9(3)Where the superintendent registrar is provided with any certificate or information in electronic form under subsection (1)(b)(ii) or (1A) of this section he shall if satisfied of its authencity apply an electronic signature to it.

(4)In this section—

• F10...

• F10...

• “three-month period” means any such period of three months as is mentioned in subsection (1) of this section.]

27 Quarterly returns by superintendent registrar to Registrar General.E+W

[F11(1)] Every superintendent registrar shall four times in every year, on such days as may be appointed by the Registrar General, [F12either—

(a)send to the Registrar General all certified copies of entries in registers of live-births, still-births or deaths which he has received during the three months immediately preceding the days so appointed respectively, or

(b)provide the Registrar General with the information contained in those entries in an electronic form approved by the Registrar General;

and if the necessary copies have not been duly delivered to him, or the necessary information has not been duly provided to him,] the superintendent registrar shall procure, as far as is possible consistently with the provisions of this Act, that the deficiency is remedied.

[F13(2)If the Registrar General receives any copies under subsection (1)(a) of this section, he may store the information contained in those copies in the electronic form approved by him for the purposes of subsection (1)(b) of this section.]

28 Custody of registers, etc.E+W

(1)Every registrar shall keep safely all registers of live–births, still–births and deaths which are in his custody and, when not in use, the registers shall be kept in the register box provided for the purpose by the Registrar General.

(2)When a register of live–births or a register of deaths is filled, the registrar shall deliver it to the superintendent registrar to be kept by him with the records of his office.

(3)When a register of still–births is filled, the registrar shall deliver it to the superintendent registrar, who shall forward it to the Registrar General.

(4)The certified copies [F14, or information in electronic form, sent or provided] to the Registrar General under the last foregoing section and the registers forwarded to him under the last foregoing subsection shall be kept in the General Register Office in such order and manner as the Registrar General, subject to any directions of the Minister, may think fit:

29 Correction of errors in registers.E+W

(1)No alteration shall be made in any register of live–births, still–births or deaths except as authorised by this or any other Act.

(2)Any clerical error which may from time to time be discovered in any such register may, in the prescribed manner and subject to the prescribed conditions, be corrected by any person authorised in that behalf by the Registrar General.

(3)An error of fact or substance in any such register may be corrected by entry in the margin (without any alteration of the original entry) by the officer having the custody of the register, F15. . . and upon production to him by that person of a statutory declaration setting forth the nature of the error and the true facts of the case made by two qualified informants of the birth or death with reference to which the error has been made, or in default of two qualified informants then [F16either] by two credible persons having knowledge of the truth of the case [F17or, where it applies, in accordance with section 29A of this Act].

[F18(3A)In the case of a death in relation to which the registrar has been given a confirmed attending practitioner's certificate, or a medical examiner's certificate, in accordance with regulations under section 20 of the 2009 Act—

(a)no correction under subsection (3) of this section relating to the cause of death may be made without the approval of the medical examiner concerned;

(b)any error of fact or substance relating to the cause of death in a register of deaths may be corrected by entry in the margin (without any alteration of the original entry) by the officer having the custody of the register on being notified by the medical examiner of the nature of the error and the true facts of the case.

(3B)In the case of a death in relation to which an investigation under Part 1 of the 2009 Act has been discontinued under section 4 of that Act (cause of death [F19becoming clear before inquest])—

(a)no correction under subsection (3) of this section relating to the cause of death may be made without the approval of the senior coroner concerned;

(b)any error of fact or substance relating to the cause of death in a register of deaths may be corrected by entry in the margin (without any alteration of the original entry) by the officer having the custody of the register on being notified by the senior coroner of the nature of the error and the true facts of the case.]

[F20(4)Where—

(a)an error of fact or substance (other than an error relating to the cause of death) occurs in the information given by a coroner’s certificate concerning F21... a death [F22into which he has conducted an investigation under Part 1 of the 2009 Act (other than one that has been discontinued under section 4 of that Act)]; F23...

F23(b). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .]

the coroner, if satisfied by evidence on oath or statutory declaration that such an error exists, may certify [F24in writing] to the officer having the custody of the register in which the information is entered the nature of the error and the true facts of the case as ascertained by him on that evidence, and the error may thereupon be corrected by that officer in the register by entering in the margin (without any alteration of the original entry) the facts as so certified by the coroner.

[F2529A Alternative procedure for certain corrections.E+W

(1)This section applies where, in an entry in a register of live-births, still-births or deaths, a person is wrongly shown as [F26—

(a)the father of the person to whose birth or death the entry relates; or

(b)a parent of that person (having been so registered on the basis of being such a parent by virtue of 42, 43 or 46(1) or (2) of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008).]

(2)Where this section applies, the statutory declaration required by section 29(3) of this Act may be made—

(a)in default of two qualified informants, by one qualified informant of the birth or death to which the entry relates;

(b)in default of any qualified informant, by one credible person having knowledge of the truth of the case.

(3)Such a statutory declaration must be accompanied by documentary evidence of a finding that the person shown as the father was not the father [F27or, as the case may be, that the person shown as a parent was not such a parent by virtue of 42, 43 or 46(1) or (2) of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008] .

(4)But subsection (5) applies if it appears to the officer having custody of the register that the only evidence on which the finding was made was that of the person making the statutory declaration.

(5)In that case, the officer may correct the error only if satisfied that another person, who is either a qualified informant or a credible person having knowledge of the truth of the case, has (whether before or since the making of the declaration) confirmed the material facts stated in the declaration.

(6)“Finding” means a finding made expressly in judicial proceedings in the United Kingdom or elsewhere.]