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LAW, ORDER AND RECORDS
Marriages. All marriages, except non-Christian customary marriages, are governed by the Marriage Ordinance. Under this, notice of an intended marriage must be given to the Registrar at least fifteen clear days before the date of the marriage. The Registrar has discretion to reduce this period in special circum- stances, and the Governor may grant a special licence dispensing with notice altogether. Special licences are, however, granted only in the most exceptional circumstances. Marriages may take place either at places of public worship licensed for the celebration of marriages or at a Marriage Registry. Eighty five places of public worship have been licensed for this purpose and there are three full-time Marriage Registries (two with two marriage rooms) in the urban areas, and six Sub-Registries in outlying districts and the New Territories operating one day a week or fortnight. During the period preceding Chinese New Year, which is the most popular time to be married, special arrangements, including extensions of the normal office hours, are made to deal with the large numbers of marriages which have to be celebrated. During the year 10,969 marriages were performed in the Marriage Registries and Sub- Registries, and 1,286 at licensed places of worship. The total was 2,200 more than in 1960.
The Marriage Ordinance does not apply to non-Christian customary marriages duly celebrated according to the personal law and religion of the parties, and such marriages do not require to be registered. No statistics of such marriages are therefore avail- able, but it is thought that there are, despite the rapidly growing popularity of Registry marriages, still as many unregistered mar- riages as there are registered marriages. The position with respect to these other marriages is far from satisfactory, the great majority being of doubtful validity, since they are contracted not in accord- ance with the full traditional forms prescribed by Chinese custom, but in supposed conformity with the pre-war Civil Code of China. This unsatisfactory position has long been a matter of concern to the Government, and in March a report by the Attorney General and the Secretary for Chinese Affairs was published, seeking the comments and advice of interested associations and the general public. In the light of this Report and the public comments upon it, it is hoped eventually to produce concrete proposals for remedy- ing the situation.