CO129-282 - Acting Governor Major Gen Black - 1898 [3-4] — Page 197

COPY.

ENCLOSURE

Minute by the Attorney General.

196

VLG 2 M 38

Hon. Colonial Secretary.

The point seems to be this:- Can a minister

properly perform a marriage at the United States Consulate

in Hong-Kong between an American Citizen and a bride who is

a widow,her deceased husband being an Englishman (and her

nationality, therefore, being English) without the preliminary requirements' of the local law regarding marriages being com -

plied with.

The local Ordinance, 14 of 1875,requires the

Registrar General's Certificate or the Governor's Special

Licence to be obtained, before a marriage takes place, and

Section 22 enacts as follows:-

"No minister shall celebrate any marriage un -

til the parties deliver to him the Registrar General's Cer-

tificate or the Governor's Special Licence."

Section 31 makes it a misdemeanour

for a

minister to wilfully celebrate a marriage knowing that any

provision of this Ordinance has not been complied with.

The U. S. Consul and the minister who cele-

brated the marriage at the Consulate, both appear to consi-

der the requirements of the local Ordinance mentioned do

not apply to the case of a marriage at the U. S. Consulate in

Hong Kong