Cap. 258 《婚姻(戰爭時期)(效力)條例》Marriage (War Period) (Validity) Ordinance
生效中For the removal of doubts as to the validity of certain marriages celebrated in Hong Kong after the outbreak of hostilities with Japan.
[18 June 1948]
(Format changes—E.R. 4 of 2019)
1. Short title
This Ordinance may be cited as the Marriage (War Period) (Validity) Ordinance, and shall be construed as one with the Marriage Ordinance (Cap. 181), hereinafter referred to as the principal Ordinance.
2. Interpretation
In this Ordinance, unless the context otherwise requires—
Registrar (登記官) means the Registrar of Marriages under the principal Ordinance and includes a deputy registrar; war period (戰爭時期) means the period from 8 December 1941 to 15 October 1945. (Amended E.R. 4 of 2019)3. Application
Save as hereinafter appears this Ordinance shall apply to all marriages duly celebrated in Hong Kong during the war period except non-Christian customary marriages celebrated according to the personal law and religion of the parties.
(Amended 71 of 1999 s. 3)
4. Validation of marriages celebrated during the war period
A marriage celebrated in Hong Kong during the war period shall not be deemed invalid by reason of its having been celebrated in a place which had not been duly licensed under section 4 of the principal Ordinance, or without compliance with the requirements of such Ordinance concerning notice of marriage, certificate of notice, licence or competency of the officiating minister, and, subject as is herein provided, all such marriages are hereby declared to be and always to have been valid.
(Amended 71 of 1999 s. 3)
5. Prevailing grounds of invalidity
Nothing in this Ordinance shall validate any marriage which was invalid on the ground of kindred or affinity, or because one of the parties was under the age of 16 years, or any marriage which would have been invalid notwithstanding compliance with all the requirements of the said Ordinance, or any marriage which before the commencement* of this Ordinance has been declared invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction: (Amended E.R. 4 of 2019)
Provided further that where any marriage to which this Ordinance applies would, but for this Ordinance, have been invalid and either party has subsequently during the life of the other party, but before the commencement of this Ordinance, lawfully married any other person, this Ordinance shall not render the first marriage valid or affect the validity of the subsequent marriage.
6. Relief against penalties applicable to ministers
No minister who has complied with section 7 shall be liable to any penalties under the principal Ordinance in respect of any matter referred to in section 4 hereof and no proceedings shall be taken without the consent of the Secretary for Justice against a minister who has not so complied in respect of a marriage to which this Ordinance applies.
(Amended L.N. 362 of 1997)
7. Certificate by officiating minister
Every minister who has officiated at a marriage to which this Ordinance applies and who has not already given the parties a certificate in the prescribed form under the principal Ordinance shall, at the request of either party, give such a certificate:
Provided that if such minister satisfies the Registrar that he is unable to give such a certificate because he is unable to secure the signatures of the two witnesses to the marriage and has no certificate with their signatures in his possession, or because he is unable to obtain information necessary to enable him to complete the certificate, it shall suffice if the officiating minister, with the consent of the Registrar, gives a certificate which, in lieu of being signed by two witnesses of the marriage, states the names of two such witnesses and gives such information as he and the parties or either of them are able to supply.
(Amended 20 of 1948 s. 4)
8. Effect of certificate of marriage issued by the officiating minister
A certificate in the prescribed form under the principal Ordinance whether given before or after the commencement* of this Ordinance, or a certificate in the alternative form authorized by section 7 if countersigned by the Registrar, shall, if given in respect of a marriage to which this Ordinance applies, be admissible as evidence of the marriage to which the same relates in any court or before any person having by law or by consent of parties authority to receive evidence.
(Amended 20 of 1948 s. 4)
9. Duties of the Registrar
The Registrar shall collect and preserve in a register in a convenient form such information in relation to marriages to which this Ordinance applies as has already been, or may subsequently be, furnished to him, and shall for a fee of $5 supply any person requiring it with the information in his possession regarding a particular marriage. (Amended E.R. 4 of 2019)
The Registrar shall enter in a convenient place in such register the fact of his consent in any particular case to the form of certificate secondly referred to in section 7, and shall note on such certificate that his consent was obtained and sign the same.
10. Regulations
The Chief Executive in Council may make regulations prescribing— (Amended 71 of 1999 s. 3)
rules, forms and fees for any application by an officiating minister for the Registrar’s consent under section 7 and for information under section 9;
for further cases in which an officiating minister should be relieved from penalties notwithstanding that he has been unable to give any certificate under section 7;
generally for carrying this Ordinance into effect.