TNAG-0189-FCO40-225-Chinese-marriages-in-Hong-Kong-1969 — Page 39

(5) the marriage is celebrated within three months from the date of giving notice;

(6) the registration of the marriage is effected by a Deputy Registrar within fourteen days of the marriage, or such longer period as the Registrar may in special circumstances allow, when both parties to that marriage shall attend before a Deputy Registrar during normal registry hours, together with any two persons who were present at the marriage, and shall sign a Certificate in a form to be prescribed; the Registrar may however register a marriage notwithstanding that the requirements as to signature cannot be complied with, when he is notified that the marriage took place and all other requirements have as far as possible been complied with."

22. The Sub-Committee, while it is in agreement with the intention of this recommendation, which is at the very core of the proposed reforms, finds the substance of the proposals made under this head very wide and lacking in clarity.

Condition (1)

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23. This is particularly true of the first condition, - that "both parties to the marriage are free to marry each other under the existing law". It is presumed that the intention of the authors of the Report, as regards the essential validity of the marriage, was that existing Chinese law and custom should to some extent be incorporated into the proposed statutory marriage. The concept of essential validity is not, of course, known as such to Chinese law, though there are rules in that law which govern matters which in English law would be regarded as questions of essential validity. These are (a) rules of affinity (b) rules relating to the part played by parents or senior ascendants in the conclusion of marriages - the converse of Western rules regarding parental consent. Clearly, as regards essential validity, the proposed legislation will have to go beyond the mere codification of the traditional Chinese law and custom. The Sub-Committee finds it surprising that no mention was made of these matters in Recommendation No. 1 of the Report, and it suggests that careful consideration must be given to them.

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