ENG-1966 — Page 328

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MARRIAGES

POPULATION

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 15 clear days before the date of the marriage. The Registrar has discretion to reduce the period of notice in special circumstances, and the Governor has power to grant a special licence dispensing with notice altogether, but this is done very rarely and then only in the most exceptional circumstances. Marriages may take place either at places of public worship licensed for the celebration of marriages or at any of the nine full-time marriage registries and four part-time sub-registries located in the main urban districts and rural centres. During the year 15,435 marriages were performed in the registries and 1,835 at licensed places of worship. The total was 2,379 more than in 1965. All marriage records are maintained at the principal marriage registry at the City Hall.

The Marriage Ordinance does not apply to non-Christian cus- tomary 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 available, but it is thought that there are still as many unregistered marriages taking place each year as there are registered marriages. The position with respect to unregistered marriages has long been recognized as being very unsatisfactory, and the government is now actively considering proposals for new legislation to deal with this matter.