REGISTRATION (BIRTHS A N D DEATHS) 1
THE REGISTRATION (BIRTHS AND DEATHS)
ACT
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
Preliminary
1. Short title.
2. In terprc ta t ion.
3. Entries in register admissible.
The Registrar-General
4. Appointrncnts of Registrar-General and of General Register
5 . Avpointment of clerks, etc.
6. Payment of salaries, etc.
7. Assistant to the Registrar-General.
8. Power to make regulations for the government of office, etc.
9. Fees of Registrar-General to be paid into Treasury.
Office.
10. Publication of acts required to be done in registering births and
dcaths.
Registration of Births
1 1. Whose duty it is to inform Registrar of Birth.
12. Birth in public institution or private hospital.
13. Power of Registrar to require persons to attend.
14. Whose duty it is to inform as to birth of a new-born child found
15. Midwife to notify Registrar of birth.
16. Duty of Registrar as to births and registering same
17. Registration of a birth.
18. How a person who has removed from the proper district may
19. Child of unmarried mother.
1 9 ~ . Father’s particulars.
1 9 ~ . Procedure where father named under section 19(1) (d).
exposed.
give information.
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2 REGISTRATION (BIRTHS A N D DEATHS)
20. Registry of name or altered name of child given since first
21. Registrar’s certificate of registration. Fee therefor.
regi s t ra tion.
Registration of Deaths
33. Death and cause of death to be registered.
33. Inforination and registry of any death in a house.
24. Information of any death or of any body found elsewhere than
25. Extension of time if written notice, etc., sent.
26. Powers of Registrar to require persons to attend.
27. Duty of Registrar as to deaths and registering them.
28. Certificate of death for friendly society.
29. Registration of a death after twelve months.
30. Coroner to certify as to inquest and finding, registration thereon.
3 1 . Registration of still-births.
32. Registrar’s certificate and order for burial.
33. Burial of still-born child.
34. As to burial of two bodies in one cof€in.
in a house.
Certificate of Cause of Death
35. As to certificate of cause of death.
36. As to uncertified deaths.
Births or Deaths on Ships in Coastal Waters
31. Report of births and deaths on board ships or coasting vessels.
Registrars
38. Kegistrar’s districts; their formation and alteration.
39. Appointment, etc., of Registrars.
40. Appointment and duties, etc., of deputies of Registrars.
41. Registrar to reside or have his office within his district.
42. Registrar to furnish certified returns as required.
43. Register books and forms to be provided.
44. How births and deaths to be registered.
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REGISTRA TION (BIRTHS AND DEATHS) 3
45. Transmission monthly of registration forms as filled up.
46. Custody of registration form book by District Registrars.
47. Registration form books to be examined by the Registrar-General.
48. Examination and custody thereof, by Registrar-General.
49. Constitution of general register of births and deaths.
50. Transfer of books, etc., to successor in office of Registrar.
Correction of Errors
5 1 . How errors to be corrected.
52. Re-registration of birth of legitimated persons.
Report
53. Registrar-General to report annually to the Minister.
Indices
54. Indices to registers in General Register Office .Searching and ofice
copiers.
Certified Copies
55. Certified copy of entry in registers.
Periodical Accounts
56. Registrar to forward account to Registrar-General.
Seal of Office
57. Seal of office; its use.
Evidence
58. How far certified copies evidence.
Exemption from Stamp Dury
59. Exemption from Stamp Duty.
Financial
60. Expenses of canying out this Act.
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4 REGISTRA TION (BIRTHS AND DEATHS)
Civil Statlrs Records
60. Registrar-General to keep civil status registers.
62. Existing Registers in Record Office to be transferred to the
Registrar-General.
63. Entries in registers, how far evidence.
Otnission to Register and Ogences in respect of False Statetnents
64. Refusal or omission to register, or losing or injuring register books.
65. Omissions to give information or certificate required by this Act.
66. False certificates and documents.
67. Accidental or unavoidable failures to comply with Act.
68. Penalties. in what Courts, and how recoverable and applicable.
68A. Minister may amend monetary penalties.
69. Prosecution by Registrar.
70. Time limit of prosecution on indictment.
Miscellaneotrs
7 1. Forms in First Schedule incorporated.
72. Powers to alter forms, and make and alter regulations.
72A. Penalties in regulations.
73. Power to alter appointed fees.
I SCHEDULES
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REGISTRA TION, (BIRTHS AND DEA THS) 5
THE ,REGISTRATION (BIRTHS AND DEATHS) Cap. 337. . t' . . . . . . . . Acts
: . i . , ' J . I T ' > . , ACT 32 or 1969
S. 2 (2).
3rd Sch., [3lsr March, 1881.1 36 1976
Sch.
17 of 1980.
6 of 1982.
2nd Sch.
7 of 201 I
sch.
' . ( I _ . * , - 1
. , . , b
' .-, '- ' .
". . '3 . 3 ' - . t Preliminary
.., 1. This Act may be cited as the Registration (Births and Shorttitle.
Deaths) Act:. . ? . , ,
2. In this Act- Interprets-
tian.
lapbointed fee" means the fees appointed in the Second ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ , e ~
1 * Schedule;
"civil status registers" means and includes all registers con-
. ~ 1 . 4 . : , ltaining records or transcripts of records relating to
, . - .L--.births, baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials; ..
+ "'counterfoil" means the duplicate portion of the registration
' 4 . form which is bound in the registration form book and
which remains in the registration form book after the
,, a registration form has been separated;
C I "general search" means a search during'any numb-of suc-
cessive hours, not exceeding six, without stating the
object of the search; - + , f :,.,
. .
. ':"'house" includes a public institution as herein defined;
"ocdupier" includes the governor, keeper, master, matron,
superintendent or other chief resident officer, of any
public institution, and where a house is let in separate
apartments or lodgings includes any person residing in
such house who is the person under whom such lodg-
ings or separate apartments are immediately held, or
his agent;
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REGISTRATION (BIRTHS AND DEATHS)
"particular search" means a search over any period not I
exceeding five years for any given entry; I I
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"prescribed form" in any section shall mean the form pre-
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scribed for the purpose of that section by regulations
made under section 72;
I
"private hospital" means any hospital or nursing home, not I
being a public institution, which is established under
any enactment and any nursing home registered under !
the Nursing Homes Registration Act; I
"public institution" means a prison, lock-up, work-house,
mental hospital, hospital, and any prescribed public or
charitable institution conducted by the Government of
Jamaica, or by the Kingston and Saint Andrew Cor-
poration or by any Parish Council;
"register" shall be deemed to refer to the "general register ~
of births" or the "general register of deaths", as the
case may be;
i
"Registrar" in connection with any birth or death or other
event shall, unless the contrary is expressed, be I
deemed to refer to the Registrar for the district
within which such birth, death or other event took
place; I
,
"Registrar-General" means the Registrar-General of births !
and deaths for the time being appointed under this i
Act; 1
"registration form" means a birth, death or still-birth
registration form in accordance with Form A, B or C
F~rst Schedule respectively in the First Schedule; i
"relative" includes a relative by marriage;
"still-born" and "still-birth" shall apply to any child
which has issued forth from its mother after the
twenty-eighth week of pregnancy and which did
I
not at any time after being completely expelled
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REGISTRATION ( B I R T H S A N D DEATHS) 7
from its mother, breathe or show any other signs
of life.
3. All entries in the registers kept under and in pursuance Entries in
of Law 19 of 1877 (repealed) and all certified copies of the admissible.
same shall be admissible as evidence of the birth or death to
which they relate.
register
The Registrar-General
4. It shall be lawful for the Governor-General to appoint Appoint-
a fit person to be the Registrar-General of Births and Deaths Registrar-
in Jamaica, who shall hold office during the pleasure of the Fg2Gpd
Governor-General and be removable by him, and there shall
be appointed an office to be the office of the Registrar-
General and the General Register Office for keeping a
register of all births and deaths in this Island.
ments of
5. The Governor-General may from time to time appoint Appoint-
such officers, clerks and servants, as he may deem n e w - clerks,&.
sary for carrying on the business of the General Register
Office, and may at pleasure remove any of them.
ment of
6. The salaries of the officers, clerks and servants, and Paymentof
salaries. etc. all such salaries and all other expenses of carrying this Act
into execution not herein otherwise provided for, shall be
paid out of the Consolidated Fund; and the salary appointed
for the Registrar-General’ shall be deemed to include the
remuneration for all duties which he may be at any time
required to perform.
7. It shall be lawful for the Governor-General to appoint to Assistant the
a fit person to be assistant to the Registrar-General and Registrar-
such assistant shall have all the powers and duties of the
Registrar-General, and be subject to all the provisions and
penalties declared by this Act, except that such assistant
shall not have power to make or declare any general rule,
or to rescind or alter any order, regulation or approval,
signified by the Registrar-General, or made by the Registrar- 42/1%9
General in writing under his hand. 3rd Sch.
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REGISTRATION (BIRTHS AND DEATHS) 1 1 ;
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registers the same at the residence of the person making such
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requisition, or at the house in which the birth took place, he ,
shall, unless the birth took place in a public institution, be I
entitled to the appointed fee. I
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17. After the expiration of three months next after the birth Reg~strationi
of any child a Registrar shall not register such birth except as ofa b ~ n h
in this section provided; that is to say, in case the birth of I
any child has not been registered in accordance with this Act -
the Registrar may, after three and not later than twelve months I
I
next after the birth, by notice in writing, require any of
the persons required by this Act to give information concerning
the birth to attend personally at the Register Office within such
time (not less than seven days after the receipt of the notice, I
and not more than twelve months after the date of the birth) as
may be specified in the notice, and make before him and
some Justice or in default of such Justice some other respectable
witness, a solemn declaration, according to the best of the I
declarant's knowledge and belief, of the particulars required
!
to be registered concerning the birth, and sign the registration
form and counterfoil in the presence of the Registrar and Justice
or other witness; and upon any of the said persons attending
before a Registrar and Justice or other witness, whether in pur-
suance of a requisition or not, and making such a declaration as
!
aforesaid, and giving information concerning the birth, the
Registrar shall then and there in the presence of such Justice or
witness register the birth according to the information of the
declarant, and the Justice or witness before whom the declara-
tion is made shall, as well as the Registrar and declarant, sign I
the entry of the birth.
, .
After the expiration of twelve months next after the birth of any
child that birth shall not be registered, except with the written
authority of the Registrar-General for registering the same, and
except in accordance with the prescribed rules, and the fact of
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8 REGISTRATION (BIRTHS A N D DEATHS)
Power to 8. The Minister or the Registrar-General with the
regulations approval of the Minister, shall from time to time make
for*e g vernment regulations for the management of the General Register
ofoffice9etc. Office, and for the discharge of the duties of the Registrar-
General, officers, clerks and servants of the said office, and
of the Registrars, and their deputies hereinafter mentioned,
and from time to time may add to, rescind, or modify the
same, so that such regulations be not contrary to the provi-
sions of this Act: And the regulations so made and
approved shall be binding on such Registrar-General,
officers, clerks and servants of the said office, and on the
Registrars and their deputies respectively.
make
Fees of
Registrar-
General to
be paid into
Treasury.
Publication
of acts
required to
be done in
registering
births and
deaths.
Whose duty
it is to
inform
Registrar
of Birth.
361 1976
Sch.
Form A.
First
Schedule.
9. All fees received by or on account of the Registrar-
General under the provisions of this Act shall be accounted
for and paid by the Registrar-General, at such times as the
Minister shall from time to time direct, into the Treasury.
10. The Registrar-General shall from time to time cause
printed notices to be placed on the outside of the several
churches and chapel doors, or in other public and con-
spicuous places within the respective registration districts,
which said notices shall specify the several acts required
to be done for the purpose of registering any birth or death
under the provisions of this Act.
Registration of Births
11.-(1) Subject to the provisions of section 12 in the case
of every child born alive after the coming into operation of
this Act, it shall be the duty of the father and mother of the
child, and in default of the father and mother of the
occupier of the house in which to his knowledge the child
is born, and of each person present at the birth, and of the
person having charge of the child, to give to the Registrar,
within forty-two days next after such birth, information
of the particulars required to be registered concerning such
birth, and indicated in Form A of the First Schedule, and
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REGlSTRATlON (BIRTHS AND DEATHS) 9
in the presence of the Registrar to sign the registration form
and counterfoil.
word “father” means a person who is married to the mother Sch*
of the child at the time of conception or at any time there-
after and prior to the child’s birth.
12.41) In the case of any child born alive in any public Birthin
institution or in any private hospital it shall not be neces- gtipltionor
sary for the person in charge of such institution or private
hospital to attend personally before the Registrar to give
information of the particulars required to be registered
concerning such birth or to sign the registration form and
counterfoil; but it shall be the duty of the chief resident
officer of any such institution and of the person in charge
of such private hospital within fourteen days of the birth
to send to the Registrar a certificate in the prescribed form
giving the particulars required to be registered concerning
such birth and thereupon the Registrar shall, if the birth
(2) The paient or other person furnishing the
particulars required to be registered shall subscribe his
signature to the said particulars on the certificate provided
under this section.
(3) The Registrar-General, whether by reason of
the small number of births occurring in any private hospital
or for any other reason, may, by notice published in the
Gazette, exempt such private hospital from the provisions
of this section.
13. Where a birth has, from the default of the parents powerof
or other persons required to give information concerning to require
it, not been duly registered, the Registrar may, at any time z;;ssm
after the end of forty-two days from such birth, by notice
in writing require any of the persons required by this Act to
give information concerning such birth to attend personally
(2) In subsection (U, in relation to any child, the 36/1976
public in-
‘ has not been previously registered, register the same.
Registrar
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10 REGISTRATION (BIRTHS AND DEATHS)
at the Registrar’s Office, or at any other place appointed by
the Registrar within his district, within such time (not less
than seven days after the receipt of such notice and not more
than three months from the date of the birth) as may be
specified in such notice, and to give information to the best
of such person’s knowledge and belief of the particulars
required to be registered concerning such birth, and to sign
the registration form and counterfoil in the presence of the
Registrar, and it shall be the duty of such person, unless the
birth is registered before the expiration of the time specified
in such requisition, to comply with such requisition.
moseduty 14. In case any living new-born child is found exposed,
inform as to it shall be the duty of any person finding such child, and of
bk*ofa any person in whose charge such child may be placed, to
child found give to the best of his knowledge and belief to the Registrar,
exposed. within seven days after the finding of such child, such
information of the particulars required to be registered
concerning the birth of such child as the informant possesses,
and in the presence of the Registrar to sign the registration
form and counterfoil.
15. In the case of any birth other than a birth in a public
institution or private hospital, at which a midwife shall be in
attendance, it shall be the duty of the midwife to give, within
forty-eight hours of such birth, notice thereof in writing to
the Registrar.
it is to
new-born
Midwifeto
notify Registrar
of birth.
Duty of
Registrar as
to births and
registering
same.
16. It shall be the duty of‘the Registrar to inform himself
carefully of every birth which happens within his district,
and upon receiving personally from the informant, at any
time within three months from the date of the birth of any
child or the finding of any living new-born child, information
of the particulars required to be registered concerning the
birth of such child, forthwith in the prescribed form and
manner to register the birth and the said particulars (if not
previously registered), without fee or reward from the infor-
mant, except that if in pursuance of a written requisition he
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REGISTRATION (BIRTHS AND DEATHS) 1 1 ;
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registers the same at the residence of the person making such
I
requisition, or at the house in which the birth took place, he ,
shall, unless the birth took place in a public institution, be I
entitled to the appointed fee. I
I I
17. After the expiration of three months next after the birth Reg~strationi
of any child a Registrar shall not register such birth except as ofa b ~ n h
in this section provided; that is to say, in case the birth of I
any child has not been registered in accordance with this Act -
the Registrar may, after three and not later than twelve months I
I
next after the birth, by notice in writing, require any of
the persons required by this Act to give information concerning
the birth to attend personally at the Register Office within such
time (not less than seven days after the receipt of the notice, I
and not more than twelve months after the date of the birth) as
may be specified in the notice, and make before him and
some Justice or in default of such Justice some other respectable
witness, a solemn declaration, according to the best of the I
declarant's knowledge and belief, of the particulars required
!
to be registered concerning the birth, and sign the registration
form and counterfoil in the presence of the Registrar and Justice
or other witness; and upon any of the said persons attending
before a Registrar and Justice or other witness, whether in pur-
suance of a requisition or not, and making such a declaration as
!
aforesaid, and giving information concerning the birth, the
Registrar shall then and there in the presence of such Justice or
witness register the birth according to the information of the
declarant, and the Justice or witness before whom the declara-
tion is made shall, as well as the Registrar and declarant, sign I
the entry of the birth.
, .
After the expiration of twelve months next after the birth of any
child that birth shall not be registered, except with the written
authority of the Registrar-General for registering the same, and
except in accordance with the prescribed rules, and the fact of
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REGISTRA TION (BIRTHS AND DEA THS)
such authority having been given shall be entered on the regis-
tration form and counterfoil. Such authority shall not, however,
be given by the Registrar-General after any child is ten years.of
age, unless the Registrar-General is .satisfied by evidence, that
there were good and sufficient reasons to accounts for the delay
in registration.
.. ', 1' t ,
Every person who registers or causes to be registeied ,the
birth of any child in contravention of this,.section shalllLbe
7/20] I liable to a penalty not exceeding two hundred and.fifty.tho
P ~ . , . ?
(b) the prescribed notice did not in'bfact come to ' ;he . ,
attention of the person named as father; or 4 ' . , I . . .
C
(c) having regard to the circumstances .of- the particular
case, the time permitted for denial of paternity was in-
adequate, and
I
it is reasonable so to do, may direct that the Registrar-General,
in such manner as may be prescribed-
(aa) cause the name of, or any particulars relating to, that
person to be removed from the'register; and
. L
(bb) cause the mother of the .child or any othe; person to
deliver up for cancellation any certificate of registra-
tion issued in respect of that child; and ,
(cc) cause a new certificate of rkgistration to' be issued
omitting reference to the applicani.&'b&iig the father
of the child.
. a
I (3) A person who-
(a) wilfully for the purposes of section 19 ( 1 ) (4 or of this
section, gives to the Registrar any information which
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REGISTRATION (BIRTHS AND DEA THS) 15
/ that person knows to be false or does not reasonably
believe to be m e ; or
(b) fails, without reasonable excuse, to deliver up a certifi-
cate of registration when requested by the Registrar-
General so to do pursuant to subsection (2),
, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction
before a Resident Magistrate to a fine not exceeding two hun-
dred and fifty thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not 7 ~ 0 1 1
exceeding three months. Sch.
(4) The Minister, 'or the Registrar-General with the
approval of the Minister, may make regulations prescribing all
matters which are required or authorized to be prescribed under
the provisions of section 19(1) ( 4 or this section and, without
prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, may make regula-
tions for any of the following matters-
(a) the form A d content of notices and counter notices and
other documents required for the purposes of section
19(1) ( 4 or this section;
(b) the manner in which, and the time within which, any
such notice or other document as aforesaid is to be
I served;
(c) the manner in which any change to entries on the regis-
tration form and counterfoil or the register is to be
effected;
(d) the payment of any fees under this section.
(5) Regulations made under subsection (4) shall be sub-
ject to negative resolution of the House of Representatives.
(6) In this section "court" means a Resident Magis-
trate's Court or the Family Court.
20.-41) When the birth of any child has been registered Registryof
and .the name (if any) by which it was registered is altered, :Fedorname
or if it was registered without a name, when a name is ofchild
given to it, the parent or guardian of such child, or other f ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ -
tion.
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REGISTRATION (BIRTHS AND DEATHS)
person procuring such name to .be altered- or given, may
within twelve months next after the registration of the birth
deliver to the Registrar such certificate as .hereinafter men-
tioded; and the Registrar on receipt of such ckrtificate, and on
payment of the appointed fee, ' shall fohhwith,.' if he still
have in his possession the registration form' booE containing
the tounterfoil of the registration of such child,-without any
erasure of the original entjr, enter on*tsuch cohterfoil 'the
name mentioned in the certificate as hiving been given to'the
child, and shall state on the certificate thef'fact.*of such
entry having been made, and shall send the certificate to the
Registrar-General, who shall thereupon, withou! any, erasure of
the original entry, enter into .the general register
