Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977

4 Marriage notice book and list of intended marriages. S

(1) On receipt of a marriage notice or an approved certificate in respect of a party to an intended marriage, the district registrar shall forthwith enter such particulars, extracted from such notice or certificate, as may be prescribed, together with the date of receipt by him of such notice or certificate, in a book (in this Act referred to as “the marriage notice book”) supplied to him for that purpose by the Registrar General.

[F1 (2) The district registrar shall maintain a list of the intended marriages in respect of which he has received a marriage notice or an approved certificate (the “district list”).

(2A) Subject to subsection (2B) below, the district list shall be displayed in a conspicuous place at the registration office.

(2B) If the registration office comprises more than one set of premises, it shall be sufficient for the purpose of subsection (2A) above if the district registrar displays the list in a conspicuous place at the principal premises only.

(2C) The district registrar shall, as soon as practicable after he has received a marriage notice or an approved certificate in relation to an intended marriage—

(a) make an entry in the district list containing the relevant particulars of the marriage; and

(b) provide (in such form and by such means as the Registrar General thinks fit) the relevant particulars of the marriage to the Registrar General.

(2D) The Registrar General shall maintain a list of proposed marriages in Scotland (the “Scottish list”).

(2E) The Registrar General shall make the Scottish list available for public inspection (at such locations, by such means and in such forms as the Registrar General thinks fit).

(2F) The Registrar General shall, as soon as practicable after the relevant particulars of a marriage are provided to him under subsection (2C)(b) above, make an entry in the Scottish list containing those particulars.

(2G) An entry in a district list or the Scottish list shall remain in that list until the proposed date of the marriage to which it relates has elapsed.]

(3) Any person claiming that he may have reason to submit an objection to an intended marriage, or to the issue of a certificate under section 7 of this Act to a party to such marriage, may, free of charge and at any time when the registration office is open for public business, inspect any entry relating to the marriage in the marriage notice book.

[F2 (4) For the purpose of this section, the relevant particulars of a marriage are such particulars, extracted from the marriage notice book, as may be prescribed.]

[F3 (5) In this section and sections 5 and 6 of this Act, “the district registrar” means—

(a) where the marriage is to be solemnised in a registration district, the district registrar for that district;

(b) where the marriage is to be solemnised in Scottish waters—

(i) in the case where the marriage is to be solemnised by an approved celebrant, the district registrar to whom the marriage notices or approved certificates in respect of the marriage were submitted;

(ii) in the case where the marriage is to be solemnised by an authorised registrar, the district registrar for the registration district of the proposed authorised registrar.]

[F4 (6) This section is subject to section 3E.]

Textual Amendments

F1 S. 4(2)-(2G) substituted for s. 4(2) (1.10.2006 for specified purposes, 1.1.2007 in so far as not already in force) by Local Electoral Administration and Registration Services (Scotland) Act 2006 (asp 14), ss. 49(a), 63(2); S.S.I. 2006/469, art. 2, schs. 1, 2 (with art. 4)

F2 S. 4(4) inserted (1.10.2006 for specified purposes, 1.1.2007 in so far as not already in force) by Local Electoral Administration and Registration Services (Scotland) Act 2006 (asp 14), ss. 49(b), 63(2); S.S.I. 2006/469, art. 2, schs. 1, 2 (with art. 4)

F3 S. 4(5) inserted (1.1.2007) by Local Electoral Administration and Registration Services (Scotland) Act 2006 (asp 14), ss. 48(3), 63(2); S.S.I. 2006/469, art. 3, sch. 2 (with art. 4)

F4 S. 4(6) inserted (1.3.2015) by The Referral and Investigation of Proposed Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Scotland) Order 2015 (S.I. 2015/396), art. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 4 (with art. 1(3))