Births and Deaths (Registration) (CAP. 53 1

CHAPTER 53

THE BIRTHS AND DEATHS
(REGISTRATION) ACT

Arrangement of Sections
Section

1. Short title.
2. Interpretation.
3 . General Register Office.
4. Power to make regulations.
5. Seal of Office.
6. Public Service Commission to appoint an Assistant

Registrar for each parish.
7. Deputy Registrars.
8. Registrars to reside in their several parishes.

9. Registrar-General to furnish books at public expense to
every Registrar.

Police to aid in carrying out provisions of Act.
10. Register books not in use to be kept in fit receptacle.
11. Indexes.
12. Searches of register books may be made.

Fees payable.
13. Provisions for enforcing delivery of books, documents,

&c., from Registrar to his successor.
14. Registrar-General to inspect offices of Registrars.
15. Registers, &c., under former Acts valid.
16. Registrar-General to furnish abstract of births and deaths

to Minister.

17. Notice to be given of births and deaths to Registrar of
parish.

18. Particulars of death to be reported to Registrar.

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2 CAP. 53) Births and Deaths (Registration)

19. Coroner to communicate to Registrar after holding an
inquest the finding of any jury, &c.

20. Coroner to communicate to Registrar after holding
inquest the finding of jury or particulars ascertained
by him, when he grants a permissive warrant.

21. Master or keeper of public institutions to give notice
in writing of births and deaths.

22. Forms of certificate of deaths to be supplied to medical
practitioners.

23. Registrar may at the instance of any proper person
register birth of a child within six months after such
birth.

24. Parents may have child baptized within six months after
registration recorded by Registrars or Registrar-
General as the case may be on certificate of
officiating minister.

25. Provision as to still-born children.
26. Child of unmarried mother.
27. Father's particulars.
28. Correction of errors in registration.
29. Person giving information of birth or death to sign

register.
30. Person not being able to write to make a cross or mark

before Registrar as his signature.
31. Registrars to furnish quarterly returns to

Registrar-General.
32. Registration of birth or death after six months.
33. Person failing to register birth or death.

Registrar to issue summons requiring attendance of such
person.

Penalty.
34. Registers of births, marriages, baptisms, deaths and

burials kept by Ministers of Religion not of Church
of England to be admitted in evidence.

35. Certificate to be given by Registrar before interment
of dead body.

Interment of dead body removed into Antigua and
Barbuda.

Penalty.

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Births and Deaths (Registration) (CAP. 53 3

36. Registration of death before removal of dead body out
of Antigua and Barbuda.

37. Penalty for neglect of duty and carelessness on part of
Registrar.

38. Person wilfully destroying, counterfeiting or forging
records or extracts or signatures to be guilty of
felony.

39. Penalties for false statements, &c.

40. Recovery of penalties.
41. Penalty not to be exacted in certain cases.

42. Remuneration to Registrars.
43. Power to alter forms.

SCHEDULE A.
SCHEDULE B.
SCHEDULE C.
SCHEDULE D.
SCHEDULE E.
SCHEDULE F.
SCHEDULE G.

BIRTHS AND DEATHS (REGISTRATION)

(1st January, 1871.) 1511870.
1511923.

611924.
2111927.

511932.
311949.

1011953.
1511985.
1911986.
1811989.

S.1 3911989.

1. This Act may be cited as the Births and Deaths short title.
(Registration) Act.

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Interpretation.

General Register
Office.

Power to make
regulations.

Seal of Office.

Public Service
Commission to
appoint an
Assistant
Registrar for
each parish.

CAP. 53) Births and Deaths (Registration)

2. In this Act-

"general search" means a search during any number
of successive days not exceeding six, without stating
the object of search;

"particular search" means a search over any period not
exceeding five years for the registry of any given
birth or death;

"Registrar" means any person holding office or acting
as a Registrar, Assistant Registrar or Deputy
Assistant Registrar.

3. The office of the Assistant Registrar for the Parish
of Saint John shall be the General Register Office for keeping
a register of all births and deaths in Antigua and Barbuda,
and the said Assistant Registrar for the time being shall be
the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

4. The Registrar-General may make regulations for
carrying out the purposes of this Act, which regulations shall
be laid before the Legislature, and shall upon approval by
the Legislature, and upon being confirmed by the Minister
have the force and operation of law.

5 . The seal of the General Register Office now in use
in the, said office shall continue to be used as the seal of the
General Register's Office, and all certified copies of entries
sealed or stamped with the said seal shall be admissible in
all Courts whatever as evidence of the matter, to which the
same relate, without any proof of the said seal or of the
signature, or of the official character of the person certifying
such copies, and no certified copy of any such entry shall
be of any validity or admissible for any purpose as evidence,
unless sealed or stamped with the seal of the said Register
Office.

6. (1) It shall be lawful for the Public Service
Commission to appoint for each parish of Antigua (and for
the purposes of this Act the Island of Barbuda shall be deemed
to be a parish of Antigua) an Assistant Registrar of Births
and Deaths to hold office during the pleasure of the Governor-
General. The said Assistant Registrars shall in their several
parishes discharge the duties of the said office, and shall be
entitled to the fees provided under this Act for the
performance of the same.

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Births and Deaths (Registration) (CAP. 53 5

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (I),
the Cabinet may by order declare any town, village or other
area in Antigua and Barbuda to be a separate parish for
the purposes of this Act, and may in like manner revoke,
amend or vary any such order.

7. (1) The Registrar-General shall for every parish iz;;;rrs.
for which there is an Assistant Registrar appoint a person
resident therein to be Deputy Assistant Registrar to act
whenever occasion arises in the stead of such Assistant
Registrar.

(2) A Deputy Assistant Registrar while so acting shall
have all the powers of an Assistant Registrar and in the event
of the death or resignation or removal of any Assistant
Registrar of any parish, the Deputy Assistant Registrar
thereof shall act as Assistant Registrar therefor until some
other person be appointed by the Public Service Commission.

8. The persons so appointed Registrars shall reside ~ ~ ~ ; ~ ~ i r
in the parishes for which they shall severally be appointed. parishes.

9. The Registrar-General shall furnish at the public Ee:z;G;,":;,"'
expense to every Registrar a sufficient number of register at public expense
books of births and deaths, and forms for certified copies Ee;zr.
thereof, and for making entries of all births and deaths in Schedules A,
Antigua and Barbuda according to the forms of Schedules B & E.
A, B and E, and the said register books shall be of durable
materials, and on them shall be printed on each side of every
leaf the heads of information required to be known and
registered of births and deaths respectively, and every page
of such books shall be numbered progressively from the
beginning to the end, beginning with number one, and every
entry shall be also numbered progressively from the beginning
to the end of the book, beginning with number one, and
every entry shall be divided from the foregoing entry by a
printed line; and every Registrar is hereby required to inform
himself carefully of every birth and death which shall happen
within his parish, and to learn and register as soon after the
event as conveniently may be done, without fee or reward
save as herein mentioned, in one of the said books the
particulars required to be registered according to the forms

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Police to aid in
carrying out
provisions of
Act.

Register books
not in use to be
kept in fit
receptacle.

Indexes.

Schedule G .

Searches of
register books
may be made.

Fees payable.

Schedule G .

Provisions for
enforcing
delivery of
books,
documents, &c
from Registrar
his successor.

CAP. 53) Births and Deaths (Registration)

of Schedule A, B and E, respectively touching every such
birth or death which shall not have been already registered,
every such entry being made in order from the beginning
to the end of the book. And every officer of police or other
member of the Police Force shall aid and assist in discovering
any birth or death, and when he shall have discovered any
birth or death, such officer or member of the Police Force
is hereby required to inform the registrar of the parish in
which the same shall have occurred of such birth or death.

10. The said books before mentioned while in the
custody of the Registrar and not in use shall be kept in an
iron safe or other fit receptacle, and such iron safe or other
fit receptacle shall always be kept locked, and the key thereof
shall be kept by the Registrar.

1 . The Registrar-General shall cause indexes of all
the registers herein mentioned to be made and kept in the
General Register Office; and any person shall on payment
of the fees authorized by Schedule G be entitled to search
the said indexes during the office hours of the General
Register Office; and any person shall on payment of such
fees be entitled to search any of the said registers, and to
have a copy of any entry therein certified under the hand
of the Registrar-General.

12. Every Registrar who shall have the keeping for
the time being of any register books of births or deaths, shall,
subject to such regulations as shall be made from time to
time by the Registrar-General with the approval of the
Minister, allow searches to be made of the register books
in his keeping, and shall give a copy certified under his hand
of any entry or entries of the same on the payment of the
fees authorized by the Schedule G.

13. In every case in which any Registrar shall be
removed from or cease to hold his office, all books,
documents, or other papers in his possession as such Registrar
shall be given as soon as conveniently may be to his successor
in office, and if any person refuse to give up any such books
or documents or papers in such case as aforesaid, it shall
be lawful for any Magistrate to issue a warrant under his
hand and seal for bringing such person before him, and such

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Births and Deaths (Registration) (CAP. 53 7

person appearing or not being found, it shall be lawful for
the Magistrate to hear and determine the matter in a
summary way, and if it shall appear to such Magistrate that
such books, documents or other papers are in the custody
or power of any such person, and that he has refused or
wilfully neglected to deliver the same, the Magistrate is hereby
required to commit such offender to prison there to remain
without bail until he shall have delivered up the same, or
until satisfaction shall have been given in respect thereof,
to the person then entitled to such books, documents or other
papers, and the said Magistrate may grant a warrant to search
for such books, documents and other papers as in the case
of stolen goods in any dwelling house or other premises in
which any credible witness shall declare on oath before him
that there is reasonable ground to suppose the same to be,
and the same when found shall be delivered to the custody
of the person then entitled to them.

14. The Registrar-General or some fit and proper Registrar-General
to inspect offices

person appointed under his hand and seal, shall from time ~ ~ ~ i ~ t ~ ~ ~ ~ .
to time as occasion may be, visit the offices of the Registrars
and report the result of his visit to the Minister.

15. All registers, certificates, entries or other Registers, &c..
under former

documents duly made under and by virtue of any Act or A,,, ,,lid.
Acts of the time of the date thereof in force in Antigua and
Barbuda relating to any birth or death shall be valid, not-
withstanding any provision to the contrary of this or of any
other Act of Antigua and Barbuda, and certified copies of
all such registers, certificates, entries, or other documents
shall be admissible as evidence in every Court of Antigua
and Barbuda.

16. The Registrar-General shall furnish yearly to the 2ft:;;Genera1
Minister and Parliament a general abstract of the number .bstnct births
of births and deaths registered during the foregoing year in $%,$* to
such form as the Parliament may with the approbation of
the Minister require.

INFORMATION AS TO BIRTHS AND DEATHS

17. (1) The father and mother of every child born z:;$G;ths
in Antigua and Barbuda or in the case of the death, illness, and deaths to
absence, or inability of the father or mother, the occupier ;;;:;L~a

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CAP. 53) Births and Deaths (Registration)

of the apartment or the dwelling in which the child is born,
or the head of the family or the household or of persons
residing or being in such apartment or building, shall within
thirty days after the birth of any child whether the same be
born alive or be stillborn, give notice or cause to be given
notice of the birth of the child to the Registrar of the parish
in which the child is born.

(2) The notice referred to in subsection (1) shall contain
the following particulars-

(i) the day of the birth of the child,

(ii) the sex of the child,

(iii) the name of the child, or a name given it, or
a proposed baptismal name;

(iv) the name of the father and mother, and

(v) the residence of the father or mother;
and if the child is stillborn that fact must be stated.

(3) In the case of any new born child being found, the
person finding such child or first having charge of it shall
within seven days give to the Registrar of the parish notice
and information thereof and of the place where the new born
child was found.

(4) The master or keepers of the gaol, poor house,
infirmary, mental home, or other public or charitable
institution are deemed to be the occupier thereof.

(5) Any person offending against any of the provisions
of this section is liable on summary conviction to a fine not
exceeding five hundred dollars.

Particulars of
death to be

18. When any death shall have occurred, the owner
reported to or occupier of the house, apartment or dwelling in which
Registrar. such death shall have occurred, or the head of the family

or of the household or of the persons residing or being in
such house or apartment or dwelling in which such death
shall have occurred, or the person ordering or causing the
interment of the dead body, shall, within thirty hours after
such death, give or cause to be given to the Registrar of
the parish in which such death shall have taken place, notice

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Births and Deaths (Registration) (CAP. 53 9

in writing of such death, in which shall be stated the residence
of the deceased, together with a certificate of the cause of
death in the form contained in Schedule D, from the medical Schedule D.
practitioner who shall have been in attendance during the
last illness and until the death of the deceased, or in case
there has been no medical practitioner in attendance, a
warrant of interment under the hand of the Coroner of the
district, and the particulars of such certificate or warrant
shall, in each case, be entered in the Registrar's book. In
case of the finding of any dead body, the Coroner shall within
five days give notice thereof, and of the locality in which
the body was found, to the Registrar of the parish:

Provided that, notwithstanding the provisions to the
contrary contained in this section, in the case of a still-born
child, any medical practitioner may issue a certificate of
death. in the form contained in Schedule E. in anv case where schedule E.
it shall appear to that medical practitioner, from credible
information, or otherwise that no useful purpose would be
served by his viewing the body of that still-born child.

19. In every case in which an inquest shall be held Coroner to
communicate to on any dead body, the jury shall enquire of the particulars Resistrar after

therein required to be registered concerning the death, and Poldins
Inquest the the Coroner shall communicate the finding of the jury in finding of any

writing under his hand to the Registrar, and the Registrar jury, &c.
shall make the entry accordingly, provided that the Coroner
shall not be required to sign the register as the informant,
but the Registrar shall state in the entry of such death that
the information was received from the Coroner, and shall
transmit all such information to the Registrar-General who
shall preserve such information with the records of his office.

20. In every case in which an inquest shall be held Coroner to
communicate to

on any dead body, the jury shall enquire, and in every case Registrar after
in which a Coroner shall grant a permissive warrant to bury ~ ; ~ d ~ ; ~ ~ ; ; ~ t
any dead body without holding an inquest, the Coroner shall jury
ascertain the particulars herein required to be registered ~ ~ f ~ ~ ~ ; ; by
concerning the death, and the Coroner shall communicate him, ,hen he
the particulars found by the jury, or ascertained by him, rr",';;ve
in writing under his hand, to the Registrar, and the Registrar
shall make the entry accordingly:

Provided that the Coroner shall not be required to sign
the register as the informant, but the Registrar shall state

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Master or keeper
of public
institutions to
give notice in
writing of births
and deaths.

Forms of
certificate of
deaths to be
supplied to
medical
practitioners.

Registrar may at
the instance of
any proper
person register
birth of child
within six
months after
such birth.

CAP. 53) Births and Deaths (Registration)

in the entry of such death that the information was received
from the Coroner, and shall transmit all such information
to the Registrar-General, who shall preserve such information
with the records of his office.

21. In every case in which the master or keeper of
the gaol, poor house, mental home, infirmary, hospital, or
other public or charitable institution, shall have occasion to
give notice of a birth or death, it shall be allowable for him
to do so in writing under his hand, and he shall not be called
upon to sign the entry in the register books, but the Registrar
shall make the entry, stating from whom the information
was received. and shall transmit the information to the
~ e ~ i s t r a r - ~ e n e r a l to be preserved with the records of his
office:

Provided that such birth shall be reported within thirty
days from the date of birth, and that such death be reported
within thirty hours from the date of death.

22. The Registrar-General shall, from time to time,
furnish gratis to every duly qualified medical practitioner
the necessary forms of certificate as set out in Schedule D;
and such forms shall be filled up and delivered gratis by every
medical practitioner to any persons entitled under the fore-
going section to require the same, and any medical
practitioner refusing or neglecting to furnish such certificate
on application or charging or demanding any fee for the same
shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding two hundred and
fifty dollars.

23. It shall be lawful at any time within six months
after the day of the birth of any child for any Registrar at
the instance of any person present at the birth of such child
or of the guardians or any other person interested, on behalf
of such child, who shall make a solemn declaration of the
particulars required to be known touching the birth of such
child according to the best of his or her knowledge and belief
then and there to register the birth of such child according
to the information of the person making the declaration, and
for every such registry as last aforesaid, the Registrar shall
be entitled to have a fee over and above the fee hereinafter
enacted, in respect of every birth of five dollars from the

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Births and Deaths (Registration) (CAP. 53 1 1

person requiring the same to be registered. And no entry
of births shall be given in evidence to prove the birth of any
child wherein it shall appear that thirty days have intervened
between the day of birth and the day of registration of the
birth of such child, unless the entry be signed by the
Registrar-General or a Justice of the Peace as well as the
Registrar, who shall likewise be entitled to a fee of five dollars
from the person desiring to have the entry made, and every
person who shall register or cause to be registered the birth
of any child otherwise than hereinbefore is last mentioned
after the expiration of thirty days from the day of the birth
of such child shall forfeit and pay for every such offence a
sum not exceeding three thousand dollars.

24. If any child born in Antigua and Barbuda, whose :';Y:;~~Y
birth shall have been registered as hereinbefore directed, shall baptized within
within six calendar months next after it shall have been so Egiz:;;:after
registered, have any name given to it in baptism, the parent recorded by
or guardian of such child or other person procuring such Registrarsor

Registrar-General
name, may within seven days next after the day of such bap-
tism, procure and deliver to the Registrar or Registrar- be certificate

of officiating General in whose custody the register of the birth may then ,inister.
happen to be a certificate according to the form of Schedule C schedule C.
signed by the minister who shall have performed the rite
of baptism, which certificate such minister is hereby required
to deliver immediately after the baptism whenever the same
shall be demanded on payment of the fee of five dollars, which
he shall therefor be entitled to receive; and the said Registrar -
or Registrar-General upon receipt of such certificate, and
on payment of the fee of five dollars which he shall therefor
be entitled to receive, shall without any erasure of the original
entry forthwith register therein that the child was baptized
by such name, and the Registrar shall thereupon certify on
the said certificate the additional entry so made, and shall
forthwith send the said certificate to the Registrar-General.

25. All the provisions of this Act touching the register- Provision as to still-born
ing of births and deaths shall be held to apply to all still- children.
born children who shall have arrived at a period of viability.

26. (1) The Registrar shall not enter the name of any Child of
unmarried

person as the father of a child born out of wedlock except- ,,,her.

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12 CAP. 53) Births and Deaths (Registration)

(a) at the joint request of the mother and person
acknowledging himself to be father of the child (in which
case that person shall sign the register together with the
mother), or

(b) at the request of the mother on production of-

(i) a declaration in the prescribed form made by
the mother stating that the said person is the
father of the child; and

(ii) a statutory declaration made by that person
acknowledging himself to be the father of the
child.

(2) If on registration of the birth of a child no person
has been entered in the register as the father, the Registrar
may re-register the birth so as to show a person as the father-

(a) at the joint request of the mother, and of that
person (in which case the mother and that person shall
both sign the register) in the presence of the Registrar; or

(b) at the request of the mother on production of-

(i) a declaration in the prescribed form made by
the mother stating that the person in question
is the father of the child; and

(ii) a statutory declaration made by that person
acknowledging himself to be the father of the
child,

but no birth shall be re-registered as aforesaid except
with the authority of the Registrar-General; and any
such re-registration shall be effected in such manner as
may be prescribed.

(3) If at any time after the registration of the birth of
a child whose father's name is not registered the Registrar-
General is satisfied that a paternity order in respect of the
child has been made by the High Court, or that a judgment
of paternity has been made by a Magistrate's Court, or that
the child's parents were married after the registration he shall
authorise the entry in the register of the father and such other
particulars relating to the father as are supplied to him.

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Births and Deaths (Registration) (CAP. 53 13

27. ( 1 ) Where the birth of any child whose parents Father's
were not married to each other at the time of the child's particulars'
birth is registered pursuant to section 17, the name of or
any other particulars relating to the father shall not thereafter
be entered in the register unless the Registrar-General is
satisfied that-

(a) the parents of the child were married to each
other; or

(b) a paternity order in respect of the child has been
made by the High Court or a judgment of paternity
has been made by a Magistrate's Court or both the
mother and the person acknowledging himself to be the
father of the child consent to the entry; but in the last
mentioned case, if the mother is dead or cannot be
found, the consent of the father alone shall be sufficient.

(2) In any proceedings in respect of matrimonial causes,
the registration of the name of a person as the father of a
child is not by reason only of such registration prima facie
evidence of adultery.

28. (1) NO alteration in any register of births or Correction of
errors in

deaths shall be made except as authorized by this Act. reg;strat;on.

(2) Any clerical error in any register may be corrected
by the Registrar-General or any person duly authorized in
that behalf by the Registrar-General.

( 3 ) An error of fact or substance in any register may
be corrected-

(a) by entry in the margin without any alteration
of the original entry; or

(6) if the Registrar-General deems it necessary, by
the making of a further entry with a reference therein
to the original entry by the Registrar-General or by a
person duly authorized in that behalf by the
Registrar-General,

upon production to the Registrar-General or such duly
authorized person by the person requiring such error to be
corrected of an affidavit setting forth the nature of the error
and the true facts of the case, and made by the person

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14 CAP. 53) Births and Deaths (Registration)

Person giving
information of
birth or death to
sign register.

Person not being
able to write to
make a cross or
mark before
Registrar as his
signature.

Registrars to
furnish quarterly
returns to
Registrar-
General.

Registration of
birth or death
after six months.

required to give information concerning the birth or death
with reference to which the error has been made, or in default
of such person then by two credible persons having knowledge
of the truth of the case.

29. Every person (other than those hereinbefore men-
tioned as not to be required to sign the register) by whom
the information contained in any register of births or deaths
under this Act shall have been given, shall sign his name,
description and place of abode in the register or shall make
his mark thereto, and no register of births and deaths accord-
ing to this Act shall be given in evidence which shall not
be so signed by some person professing to be the informant,
and such party as is herein required to give such informa-
tion to the Registrar.

30. In case of the inability to write of any person
whose signature is required or necessary under this Act, it
shall be lawful for such person to exhibit in the presence
of the Registrar a cross or other mark, and such cross or
other mark shall be in all respects as binding and effectual
as the signature of such person if capable of writing would
have been.

3 1. Every Registrar shall make out and transmit to
the Registrar-General four times in each year an account
of the number of births and deaths, which shall have been
registered since the last quarterly account, and the Registrar-
General shall verify the same and shall keep and preserve
the same as a record in his office.

32. After the expiration of six months-
(a) next after the birth of any child; or

( b ) next after any death or after the finding of a
dead body elsewhere than in a house,

that birth or death, as the case may be, shall not be registered
except with the written authority of the Registrar-General
for registering the same, and except in accordance with any
regulations made in that behalf under section 4, and the fact
of such authority having been given shall be entered on the
register.

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Births and Deaths (Registration) (CAP. 53

33. When any person shall have failed to register a ~~~~~' 'r f$~;g~;
birth or death, being the person required by this Act to give death.
information of such birth or death, the Registrar of the parish
in which such birth or death shall have occurred, either per-
sonally or by written or printed summons, shall call upon Regi"rar to issue

summons
such person to attend at a time and place specified in such requiring
summons, and to give information to such Registrar accord- t:C-E:in:f
ing to the best of his knowledge and belief of the several
particulars required to be registered according to the forms
A and B respectively, and for each death so registered the
Registrar shall be entitled to demand and to receive over
and above the fee hereinafter mentioned five dollars (cost Penalty.
of summons being included) from the persons giving informa-
tion, and every person who shall fail to attend at the summons
of the Registrar or shall refuse to sign the entry shall be liable
to a penalty not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars,
such fees and penalties being payable into the public
Treasury.

34. And whereas registers of births, marriages, Registers of
births, marriages,

baptisms, deaths and burials have been duly made and kept baptisms, deaths
by ministers of the Christian religion not belonging to the and burials kept

b Ministers of
Church of England, and it is expedient that they should be RY eligion not of
receivable in evidence in all Courts of Justice in Antigua Church of

England to be
and Barbuda. Be it therefore enacted that all registers pro- admitted in
duced by the person having the lawful care thereof, and all evidence.
copies thereof respectively certified under the hand of the
person for the time being having the lawful care of the same
to be true copies, shall be and the same are hereby declared
to be good evidence of such births, marriages, baptisms,
deaths, and burials as aforesaid respectively as fully as if
such registers had been made and kept, and such certified
copies had been made respectively by persons appointed by
law to make and keep the same, and shall be received as
evidence in all Courts and before all Judges and Magistrates.

INTERMENT OF THE DEAD

35. (1) No interment of a dead body shall take place z;:F$e to be
unless the death has been previously registered and the Registrar before
Registrar of the parish in which such death shall have been E;;yo;;rf
registered shall give a certificate to that effect:

LAWS OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

16 CAP. 53) Births and Deaths (Registration)

Provided that whenever thirty hours shall have elapsed
from the death without such certificate being produced, any
minister of religion may inter or cause to be interred the
dead body, and shall within thirty hours give notice of such
interment to the Registrar of the parish in which the death
took place, such notice stating the name of the deceased,
the place in which he died and the name of the person at
whose request or instance the grave was dug or vault opened:

Interment of
dead body

Provided also that where the body of a deceased person
removed into has been removed into Antigua and Barbuda for interment
Antigua and
Barbuda.

(and no order has been given by a Coroner in respect thereof)
the Registrar of the parish in which it is intended to inter
the body, if it appears that the death is not required by law
to be registered in Antigua and Barbuda shall give upon
application by the person procuring the interment and upon
payment of a fee of five dollars a certificate in the form

Schedule F. contained in Schedule F. and such certificate shall be deemed
to authorize the interment of such body

Penalty. (2) Any person who shall inter a dead body, save as
provided in the first proviso to subsection ( I ) , in respect of
which a certificate by a Registrar as required by this section
has not been issued, or any minister of religion who shall
fail to give the notice required by the first proviso to sub-
section (1) shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding two
hundred and fifty dollars.

Registration of
death before

36. The body of a deceased person whose death is
removal of dead required to be registered under this Act shall not be removed

Out out of Antigua and Barbuda unless the death of such person
Antigua and
Barbuda. shall have been previously registered and the Registrar of

the parish in which such death shall have been registered
shall have given a certificate to that effect. Any person
offending against the provisions of this section shall be liable
to a penalty not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars.

OTHER OFFENCES UNDER THIS ACT

Penalty for
neglect of duty

37. Every Registrar who shall refuse or without
and carelessness reasonable cause omit to register any birth or death of which
on part of he shall have had due notice as aforesaid, and every person
Registrar.

having the custody of any register book or of any sheet of

LAWS OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

Births and Deaths (Registration) (CAP. 53 17

forms in which any entry of any birth or death shall have
been made who shall carelessly lose or injure the same or
carelessly allow the same to be injured while in his keeping
shall forfeit a sum not exceeding three thousand dollars for
every such offence.

38. Every person who shall wilfully destroy or injure za;;;;f,fdI~
or cause to be destroyed or injured any register book or any counterfeiting or
part thereof or any sheet of forms upon which any entry forging records

or extracts or or entries shall have been made under the authority of this signatures to be
or any former Act, or shall falsely make or counterfeit or ~ i l t y o f felony.
cause to be falsely made or counterfeited part of such register
book or certified extract thereof or any entry in such sheet
of forms, or shall wilfully insert or cause to be inserted in
any register book or sheet of forms as aforesaid any false
entry of any birth or death or shall wilfully give any false
certificate or shall certify any writing to be a copy or extract
of any register book knowing the same register to be false
in any part thereof, or shall forge or counterfeit the signature
of any Registrar of births and deaths or of the Registrar-
General or of any other person to an entry or certificate by
this Act authorized or required to be made or given shall
be guilty of felony, and on conviction thereof shall suffer
punishment by imprisonment with or without hard labour
for any time not exceeding five years, as the Court in which
the conviction shall take place shall in its discretion impose.

39. Any person who-
( a ) wilfully makes any false answer to any ques-

tion put to him by the Registrar-General or a Registrar
relating to the particulars required to be registered con-
cerning any birth or death or wilfully gives to the
Registrar-General or a Registrar any false information
concerning any birth or death; or

(b) wilfully makes any false affidavit, certificate or
other document relating to the registration of any birth
or death, or forges or falsifies any such affidavit,
certificate or other document, or knowing any such
affidavit, certificate or other document to be forged or
false uses the same as true, or gives or sends the same
as true to any person; or

Penalties for false
statements, etc.

LAWS OF ANTlGUA AND BARBUDA

CAP. 53) Births and Deaths (Registration)

(c) wilfully makes any false statement with intent
to have the same entered in any register of births or
deaths,

shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding
one thousand dollars or to imprisonment with or without
hard labour for a term not exceeding six months, and on
conviction on indictment to imprisonment with or without
hard labour for a term not exceeding five years.

Recovery of
penalties. 40. All penalties imposed by this Act shall and may

be sued for and recovered by any person who may sue and
prosecute for the same before any Magistrate, and upon
information lodged or complaint made before any Magistrate,
he shall issue a summons requiring the party offending or
complained against to appear at a time and place named
therein, and every such summons shall be served on the party
offending or complained against, or shall be left at his last
known place of abode or business, and if such party shall
not appear accordingly, then upon proof of the due service
of the summons a Magistrate may hear and determine the
case in the absence of the party, or if he appear, upon proof
of the offence either by confession of the party offending or
complained against, or upon the oath of one or more credible
witnesses (and the Magistrate is hereby authorized to sum-
mon and swear any witnesses who may be deemed necessary)
it shall be lawful for such Magistrate to convict the offender,
and upon every such conviction to order the offender to pay
such penalty as is hereinbefore imposed, and if the moneys
and costs mentioned in such conviction shall not be paid
immediately or within the time limited in the order, it shall
be lawful for the said Magistrate by warrant to cause the
party offending to be committed to the gaol, there to be
imprisoned according to the discretion of such Magistrate
for any term not exceeding six months, unless such moneys
and costs be sooner paid and satisfied.

Penalty not to be
exacted in 41. NO penalty imposed by this Act on persons fail-
certain cases. ing to give any notice required by this Act shall be exacted

if any of the parties so required shall have given such notice,
and no penalty shall be exacted in any case wherein it shall
appear that the failure has not been occasioned by wilful

LAWS OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

Births and Deaths (Registration) (CAP. 53 19

negligence, but that such failure has been occasioned by
unavoidable accident or by circumstances over which the
person failing to comply with the provisions of this Act had
no control, and where he had used every reasonable
endeavour towards compliance with such provisions.

42. Every Registrar shall receive the sum of five ~ ~ ? ; ~ ~ : ~
dollars for each registry of either births or deaths.

43. The Registrar-General may from time to time, Power to a l t e~
forms.

with the approval of the Cabinet, by order, alter all or any
of the forms contained in the Schedules or in any order made
under this section in such manner as may appear to him
best for carrying this Act into effect, or prescribe new forms
for that purpose.

LAWS OF ANTlGUA AND BARBUDA

2 0 CAP. 53) Births and Deaths (Registration)

SCHEDULE A S. 9

SCHEDULE B S. 9

No.

10

SCHEDULE C S. 24

When
Born

1869

May
10

No'

I, A.B., do hereby certify that I have this day baptized by
the name of C.D. a male child produced to me by Thomas Styles
as the son of Thomas and Charlotte Styles and declared by the
said Thomas Styles to have been born at on the

day of , 19 .

Witness my hand this day of , 19 .

Name
(if any)

John

When
Died

Sex

Male

Name
and

Surname

Name
and

Surname
of Father

Henry

Martin

Sex

Name
and

Maiden
Name of
Mother

Mary
Martin

formerly
Williams

Rank
or

Profession
Age

Rank or
Profes-
sion of
Inform-

ant

Henry
Martin,
Cooper,
Cedar
Village

Cause
of

Death

Signature
of

Registrar

When
Regis-
tered

1869
May 13

Signa-
ture of

Registrar

John
Cook

P, L O
E b o z
g c G - 0

* .2 -0
7 'o 2
.g 2 2 ' - m m B
3% 2 2 m

LAWS OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

Births and Deaths (Registration) (CAP. 53 2 1

SCHEDULE D S. 18

MEDICAL CERTIFICATE OF CAUSE OF DEATH

(For use only by a Registered Medical Practitioner)

Antigua and Barbuda ................ Parish

Name of Deceased
Residence Occupation
Sex Age as stated to me

Date of death as stated to me: Place of death:
*Seen/Not seen after death by me Last seen alive by me:
*Post Mortem heldlnot held Approximate interval between

Onset and death:

*Strike out whichever is inapplicable.

I.
?Disease or condition directly

leading to death (a) .................................
due to (or as a consequence of)

Antecedent causes ( b ) .................................
due to (or as a consequence of)

Morbid conditions, if any, giving
rise to the above cause, stating the
underlying condition last ( 6 ) .................................

Other significant conditions con-
................................. tributing to the death, but not

related to the disease or condition
causing it .................................

'i This does not mean the mode of dying, e.g. heart failure, asthenia, etc.
It means the disease, injury, or complication which caused death.

I hereby certify that the particulars and cause of death above
written are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Signature:

Residence: Date:

@alification as
registered:

LAWS OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

2 2 CAP. 53) Births and Deaths (Registration)

SCHEDULE E S. 18

I do hereby certify that (name of informant) of (address of
informant) a (office of informant) in the Service of the Govern-
ment reported to me on the day of
19 and that report was confirmed by (name of informant)
of (address of informant), a (office of informant) in the Service
of the Government, that the body of a still-born child of (name
of Father) and (name of Mother) of (address) had been viewed
by at
in the Medical District of Antigua and Barbuda
and that they reported to me that they had no reason to think
that the death occurred by other than natural causes.

In my opinion no useful purpose would have been served
by my viewing the body.

Name.
Profession.
Residence.

Countersigned by the
above named
this day of

SCHEDULE F S. 35

CERTIFICATE BY REGISTRAR

(Given under section 35 of the Births and Dea th (Registration) Act)

I hereby certify that the body of ................................
has been removed into Antigua and Barbuda for interment, and

.......................... that the death of the said is not required
to be registered by the law of Antigua and Barbuda.

................................................................

Registrar of the Parish of .................................
Dated the ................. day of ......................... , 19

LAWS OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

Birth and Death (Registration) (CAP. 53 23

SCHEDULE G S. 12

For every search $3.00
For every certified copy of an entry in the

register book $3.00