Marriage and Civil Status (Forms, Registration and Fees) Order: Proposed Amendments

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A decision made 13 March 2012:

Decision Reference: MD-HA-2012-0022
Decision Summary Title :	Amendments to the details of procedures involved in arranging and celebrating a wedding		Date of Decision Summary:	8 March 2012
Decision Summary Author:	Executive Officer Home Affairs		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	n/a
Written Report Title :	Amendments to the details of procedures involved in arranging and celebrating a wedding		Date of Written Report:	28 February 2012
Written Report Author:	Superintendent Registrar		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject: Amendments to the details of procedures involved in arranging and celebrating a wedding.
Decision(s): The Minister approved the proposed amendments to the custom and practice of the Office of the Superintendent Registrar, as detailed in the accompanying report.
Reason(s) for Decision: The amendments will modernise practice in the Office of the Superintendent Registrar when arranging weddings. It is desirable to standardise the words used under both the Civil Partnership (Jersey) Law 2012 and the Marriage and Civil Status (Jersey) Law 2001 to describe people and their condition or status As a woman never loses her maiden surname in Jersey, it is appropriate that if a divorced or widowed woman is seeking to remarry or enter into a civil partnership, she should be able to be named, in documents used by the Register Office, with her maiden surname if that is the name that she chooses to use Although the Law states that a couple should sign the marriage documents, couples are required to write their full names clearly thereon. An amendment to the Marriage and Civil Status (Forms, Registration and Fees) Order would add the words ‘sign and print name’ to ensure that couples sign the documents.
Resource Implications: There are no resource implications arising from this decision.
Action required: The Superintendent Registrar to implement the changes to custom and practice and to liaise with the Law Draftsman’s Office over changes to the Civil Status (Forms, Registration and Fees) Order.
Signature:		Position: Minister for Home Affairs
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Marriage and Civil Status (Forms, Registration and Fees) Order: Proposed Amendments

Ministerial Briefing Note

To: Senator I. Le Marquand, Minister for Home Affairs

Steven Austin-Vautier, Chief Officer, Home Affairs

From: Sue Groves, Superintendent Registrar

Date: 28 February 2012

Subject: Amendments to the details of procedures involved in arranging and celebrating a wedding

Reason for note

The aim of this report is to seek the Minister’s approval to modernise practice in the Office of the Superintendent Register when arranging weddings. It is not prescribed by law but by custom and practice within the office.

Background

2.1 Condition or Status

Where possible, the Superintendent Registrar seeks to be able to use the same words under both the Civil Partnership (Jersey) Law 2012 and the Marriage and Civil Status (Jersey) Law 2001 to describe people and their condition.

Thus:

To use the word ‘single’ when a party has not been previously married or previously entered into a previous civil partnership (single is already used when registering the death of an unmarried person)
To use the words ‘previous marriage dissolved or ‘previous civil partnership dissolved’ where applicable and ‘previous marriage annulled’ or ‘previous civil partnership annulled’ where applicable
To use the words ‘widow’ or ‘widower’ if a person’s previous marriage ended by death and ‘surviving civil partner’ if a person’s previous civil partnership ended by death

2.2 Woman’s name

In the arrangement of a marriage it has been custom and practice within the registration service to require a previously married woman to be named with her ex- or late husband’s surname, regardless of the name she uses. The Superintendent Registrar has been advised that as a woman never loses her maiden surname in Jersey, it should be possible to name a divorced or widowed woman with her maiden surname if she is seeking to remarry or enter a civil partnership and if that is the name the woman chooses to use. The Passport Office will issue a new passport in a woman’s maiden surname so long as the original birth certificate and decree absolute are presented to show the link, and both these documents are required by the Register Office as proof of identity and legal status. The Minister is asked to endorse the suggested change in practice.

An illustration of these descriptions is attached.

2.3 Signatures

At present a couple is required to write their full names clearly on the marriage documents rather than sign them (although the law uses the word ‘sign’). The Superintendent Registrar would like to require signatures rather than writing clearly. The couple’s names are already written clearly on the documents by the registrar. To facilitate this change in practice, the Minister is asked to approve a further amendment to the Marriage and Civil Status (Forms, Registration and Fees) Order to prescribe the wording on the returns and certificate (by adding the words ‘sign and print name’ to the lines thereon).

3. Proposal

The Minister is asked to approve these amendments to the custom and practice of the Office of the Superintendent Registrar.

Sue Groves

Superintendent Registrar