The Births, Deaths, Marriages and Divorces (Fees) (Scotland) Regulations 1998

Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Births, Deaths, Marriages and Divorces (Fees) (Scotland) Regulations 1998 and shall come into force on 1st April 1998.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations–

“the Act” means the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Scotland) Act 1965;

“the 1977 Act” means the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977;

“general search” means a search (other than an Internet search) over any period of years for any number of entries, made by any person with the permission of the Registrar General or the district registrar;

“Internet search” means a search, in the indexes to the statutory registers and in the indexes to the parochial registers made available on the Internet, made by any person by means of the Internet with the permission of the Registrar General;

“Internet search session” means the period of time beginning with the time at which a person has–

(a)

access to the indexes made available on the Internet; and

(b)

agreed to pay the prescribed fee for an Internet search session,

and ending–

(a)

24 hours after that time; or if sooner,

(b)

with the time at which that person has retrieved 30 computer screens or part screens of index data;

“particular search” means a search for a specified entry caused to be made by the Registrar General or made by a district registrar;

“search” means a general search, an Internet search or, as the case may be, a particular search;

“working day” means a day on which the General Register Office is open for the purpose specified in section 38(2) of the Act.

(2) Any reference in these Regulations to an application made by post includes an application made by facsimile.

Fees payable to Registrar General

3.  Subject to regulation 7, the fees payable under the provisions of the Act specified in–

(a) column 1 of Part I of Schedule 1 to these Regulations for the services described in column 2 of that Schedule (namely, searches in the indexes to the statutory and parochial registers) shall be the amounts specified in column 4 thereof (the amounts previously prescribed(1) being specified in column 3 of that Schedule);

(b) column 1 of Part II of Schedule 1 to these Regulations for the services described in column 2 of that Schedule (namely, the issue of extract entries and abbreviated certificates of birth) shall be the amounts specified in column 4 thereof (the amount previously prescribed(2) being specified in column 3 of that Schedule);

(c) column 1 of Part III of Schedule 1 to these Regulations for the services described in column 2 of that Schedule (namely, recording of names or changes of names) shall be the amount specified in column 4 thereof (the amount previously prescribed(3) being specified in column 3 of that Schedule).

Priority handling fee

4.  Subject to regulation 7, where–

(a) a person applies for a service which is described in the entry numbered 1 in column 2 of Part II of Schedule 1 to these Regulations;

(b) the application is made–

(i) in person before 1300 hours and the person requests that the extract be issued after 1600 hours on the same day, or

(ii) in person after 1300 hours and the person requests that the extract be issued after 1000 hours on the next working day following the application, or

(iii) by post and the person requests that the extract be issued by post on the next working day following receipt of the application; and

(c) the Registrar General considers that the request can reasonably be complied with,

then, in addition to the amount specified in column 4 of Part II of that Schedule as the fee payable for that service, a further fee of £10 per extract issued shall be payable, but, if the extract is not issued within the time requested, the further fee shall be refunded.

Fee payable to district registrars

5.  Subject to regulation 7, the fees payable under the provisions of the Act specified in–

(a) column 1 of Part I of Schedule 2 to these Regulations for the services described in column 2 of that Schedule (namely, searches in statutory registers) shall be the amounts specified in column 4 thereof (the amounts previously prescribed(4) being specified in column 3 of that Schedule);

(b) column 1 of Part II of Schedule 2 to these Regulations for the services described in column 2 of that Schedule (namely, issue of extracts of entries in statutory registers and of abbreviated certificates of birth) shall be the amount specified in column 4 thereof (the amount previously prescribed(5) being specified in column 3 of that Schedule).

Fees payable under the 1977 Act

6.  The fees payable under the provisions of the 1977 Act specified in column 1 of Schedule 3 to these Regulations for the services described in column 2 of that Schedule (namely, submission of marriage notice and civil marriage ceremony) shall be the amounts specified in column 4 thereof (the amounts previously prescribed(6) being specified in column 3 of that Schedule).

Remission of fees

7.  The Registrar General may remit any fee or part of a fee payable under the Act where–

(a) the payment of the fee is likely to cause hardship to the person by whom it is payable; or

(b) the service in respect of which the fee is payable is performed for research purposes; or

(c) an extract has been requested by the father or mother of a still-born child within one month of the date of registration of the still-birth, and the Registrar General consents in terms of section 37(3) of the Act to the extract being issued from the register of still-births; or

(d) the person named as the informant on an entry in the register of deaths (“the relevant entry”) has requested an extract of the relevant entry in the following circumstances:—

(i) the informant has previously been issued with an extract of the relevant entry on payment of the prescribed fee,

(ii) the informant has subsequently been notified by the Registrar General that an entry has been made in the Register of Corrections Etc. relating to the relevant entry following a notice received by the Registrar General from a procurator fiscal under section 28(1)(b) of the Act, and

(iii) the request has been made in writing within one month of the date of receipt of the notification by the Registrar General.

Revocation

8.  The Marriage Fees (Scotland) Regulations 1996(7), the Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Divorces (Fees) (Scotland) Regulations 1997(8), and the Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Divorces (Fees) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 1997(9) are hereby revoked.

James Meldrum

Registrar General

New Register House,

Edinburgh

6th March 1998

Approved by the Secretary of State for Scotland

Henry B McLeish

Minister of State, Scottish Office

St Andrew’s House,

Edinburgh

9th March 1998