The Deregulation (Validity of Civil Preliminaries to Marriage) Order 1997

• Citation: S.I. 1997/986
• Sections: 3

Section 1 Citation and commencement

This Order may be cited as the Deregulation (Validity of Civil Preliminaries to Marriage) Order 1997 and shall come into force on 1st October 1997.

Section 2 Extension in period of validity of certificate and licence issued by superintendent registrar

(1) The Marriage Act 1949 shall be amended in accordance with the following provisions of this Article.

(2) In section 33 (period of validity of certificate and licence)—

(a) in subsection (1) for the words from “three” to the end there shall be substituted “the period which is the applicable period in relation to that marriage”; and

(b) in subsection (2) for “the said period of three months” there shall be substituted “the applicable period”.

(3) At the end of that section there shall be inserted—

(3) For the purposes of this section, the applicable period, in relation to a marriage, is the period beginning with the day on which the notice of marriage was entered in the marriage notice book and ending—

(a) in the case of a marriage which is to be solemnized in pursuance of any of the following provisions of this Act, namely—

(i) section 26(1)(dd),

(ii) section 37, and

(iii) section 38,

on the expiry of three months; and

(b) in the case of any other marriage, on the expiry of twelve months.

(4) In section 75 (offences relating to solemnization of marriages), in each of the following provisions, namely—

(a) subsection (2)(e), and

(b) subsection (3)(b),

for the words from “three” to the end of the provision there shall be substituted “the period which is, in relation to that marriage, the applicable period for the purposes of section 33 of this Act”.

Section 3 Transitional provision

The amendments made by Article 2(2) and (3) of this Order shall not apply to any certificate or licence issued by the superintendent registrar in relation to a marriage in respect of which the notice of marriage was entered in the marriage notice book before the day on which this Order comes into force.