Registrar-Generals-Department-Annual-report-1969-1970 — Page 51

the number is definitely decreasing as more and more couples display a preference for registered marriages under the Marriage Ordinance. An analysis based on changes in the conjugal status of the population suggests that there are now in the region of three unregistered marriages for every seven registered, excluding remarriages of the type mentioned in paragraph 155. As mentioned in previous Reports the position with respect to these unregistered marriages is far from satisfactory, the great majority being of doubtful validity since they have been con- tracted not in accordance with the full traditional forms prescribed by Chinese custom, but in supposed conformity with articles 980 to 988 of the Civil Code of the former Nationalist Government of China. There are also large numbers of irregular unions in which the two parties live together, have children, and are regarded by themselves and others as to all intents and purposes married. Much thought has been given in the past to this unsatisfactory situation and the measures required to deal with it, and a number of reports on the subject have been published. In mid-1965 unanimous agreement was reached between the Attorney General, the Secretary for Chinese Affairs and the Chinese unofficial members of the Executive and Legislative Councils as to the recommendations that should be put to the Govern- ment, and these were submitted in the form of a joint report known as the McDouall-Heenan Report. Subsequently the Executive Council endorsed the recommendations, which were then transmitted to the Colonial Office and approved by the Secretary of State. In May 1967, the Secretariat published a White Paper setting out the approved recommendations in relatively simple terms for the information of the public at large, and on 18th July 1969 a draft Marriage Reform Bill was published in the Gazette for general information and comments before its introduction to the Legislative Council.

147. The principal Marriage Registry is located in the City Hall. In addition there are in the urban areas full-time registries at Causeway Bay, Western District, Aberdeen, Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon City and Kwun Tong, and a 'part-time' registry at Shau Kei Wan open two days a month. In the New Territories there are full-time registries at Tai Po, Tsuen Wan and Yuen Long, 'part-time' registries at Cheung Chau and Sai Kung open two days a month, and at Sha Tau Kok open once a week. The City Hall Registry opens on Sunday mornings throughout the year for the performance of Registry marriages. The main reason for the Sunday opening, which was instituted in 1966, was that not

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