Citation and commencement

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Marriage of Same Sex Couples (Registration of Buildings and Appointment of Authorised Persons) Regulations 2014 and come into force on 13th March 2014.

Interpretation

2. In these Regulations—

“the Act” means the Marriage Act 1949;

“applicant” means the proprietor or trustee of a building who makes an application for registration of the building under section 41( 2 ) or 43A( 3 ) of the Act, or for the cancellation of that registration under section 43C( 4 ), as the context requires, and “application” is to be construed accordingly;

“registered building” means a building registered for the solemnization of marriages of same sex couples under section 43A of the Act;

“relevant superintendent registrar” means the superintendent registrar of the registration district in which the building which is, or is to be, registered is situated.

Shared Buildings

3. —(1) In respect of shared buildings, these regulations are subject to any additional requirements that may be applicable under sections 44A to 44C( 5 ) of the Act and regulations under those sections.

(2) In this regulation and in regulation 4, “shared building” has the same meaning as in section 44D(1)( 6 ) of the Act.

Application for registration of a building

4. —(1) This regulation applies to an application for registration of a building for the solemnization of marriages of same sex couples under section 43A of the Act.

(2) In addition to the matters mentioned in section 43A (as read with section 26A(3)( 7 ) of the Act (opt-in to marriage of same sex couples: places of worship)), the applicant must—

(a) make the application on a form supplied for that purpose by the Registrar General;

(b) provide on the application form—

(i) the name and address of the building to be registered;

(ii) subject to paragraph (4), the denomination of the religious organisation for whose purposes the building is used;

(iii) the name and address of the applicant; and

(iv) such other information as the Registrar General has indicated is necessary to register the building;

(c) sign the application form; and

(d) pay to the superintendent registrar—

(i) if the building is already registered under section 41 of the Act, a fee of £64.00; or

(ii) if the building is not already registered under section 41 of the Act, a fee of £120.00.

(3) The certificate of use for religious worship mentioned in section 43A(3)(c) of the Act—

(i) must be signed in duplicate by each of the householders giving the certificate; and

(ii) must be countersigned by the applicant.

(4) Where an application is made in respect of a shared building, the reference in paragraph (2)(b)(ii) to “the denomination of the religious organisation” is a reference to the denominations of each of the qualifying sharing churches.

(5) For the purposes of paragraph (4), “qualifying sharing churches” means the sharing churches (within the meaning of section 44D(1) of the Act), whose consent to marriages of same sex couples, or for the shared building to be used for the solemnization of marriages of same sex couples (as the case may be), is required under section 44A(5) or (6) of the Act, or by regulations made under section 44A(10) or 44C(1)(a) of the Act, before the building can be registered under section 43A of the Act.

Procedure on registration of a building

5. —(1) On receipt of an application made in accordance with regulation 4, the Registrar General must—

(a) register the building in a book to be kept for that purpose in the General Register Office, or in an approved electronic form;

(b) endorse on the application form the date of registration of the building; and

(c) return a copy of the endorsed application form to the relevant superintendent registrar.

(2) On receipt of the copy of the endorsed application form sent in accordance with paragraph (1)(c), the superintendent registrar must—

(a) enter the date of the registration of the building in a book to be provided for that purpose by the Registrar General;

(b) give a certificate of the registration signed by the superintendent registrar to the applicant; and

(c) if the building is not already registered under section 41 of the Act, give public notice of the registration of the building by advertisement in a newspaper circulating in the county in which the building is situated and in the London Gazette.

Buildings registered under section 43A: appointment of authorised persons

6. —(1) This regulation makes provision for the procedure to be followed in relation to the authorisation of a person under section 43B(1)( 8 ) of the Act.

(2) In addition to the matters mentioned in section 43B(2) of the Act, the trustees or governing body of the registered building who are certifying the authorisation must—

(a) within one working day of the person being authorised, send the certification mentioned in section 43B(2) on a form supplied for that purpose by the Registrar General (a “certification form”);

(b) provide on the certification form—

(i) the name and address of the registered building in respect of which the person is authorised under section 43B(1) of the Act;

(ii) the denomination of the religious organisation, or organisations, for whose purposes the building is registered;

(iii) the name and address of each of the trustees or members of the governing body certifying the authorisation;

(iv) such other information as the Registrar General has indicated is necessary for the purposes of the certification and authorisation; and

(c) each sign the certification form.

(3) The authorised person must sign the certification form to indicate their consent to being authorised under section 43B of the Act.

(4) For the purposes of this regulation, “working day” means any day other than a Saturday, a Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday or a day which is a bank holiday in England and Wales under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971( 9 ).

Cancellation of registration under section 43A of the Act

7. —(1) This regulation applies to an application to cancel the registration of a building under section 43C of the Act.

(2) The applicant must—

(a) make the application to cancel the registration on a form supplied for that purpose by the Registrar General (a “cancellation form”);

(b) provide on the cancellation form—

(i) the name and address of the registered building;

(ii) the date on which the building was registered under section 43A(1) of the Act;

(iii) the name and address of the applicant;

(iv) such other information as the Registrar General has indicated is necessary to cancel the registration of the building; and

(c) sign the cancellation form.

(3) The applicant must also sign a declaration, in the presence of the relevant superintendent registrar, that the registered building will no longer be used for marriages of same sex couples.

Procedure on cancellation of registration of a building

8. —(1) On receipt of an application made in accordance with regulation 7 (including the declaration made under paragraph (3) of that regulation), the Registrar General must—

(a) annotate the book or approved electronic form mentioned in regulation 5(1)(a) to show that the registration has been cancelled; and

(b) notify the relevant superintendent registrar of the cancellation.

(2) On receipt of a notification from the Registrar General under paragraph (1)(b), the superintendent registrar must—

(a) annotate the book mentioned in regulation 5(2)(a) to show that the registration has been cancelled; and

(b) give a certificate of cancellation signed by the superintendent registrar to the applicant.

Modification of section 41: building registered under section 43A of the Act

9. In the case of an application for registration under section 41( 10 ) of the Act of a building that is already registered under section 43A( 11 ), section 41 has effect as if—

(a) for subsection (2) there were substituted—

“ (2) An application under subsection (1) must be made on a form supplied for that purpose by the Registrar General, and must include—

(a) the name and address of the building to be registered;

(b) the date on which the building was registered under section 43A(1);

(c) the denomination of the religious organisation for whose purposes the registration is sought;

(d) the name, address and signature of the applicant; and

(e) such other information as the Registrar General has indicated is necessary to register the building. ”

(b) in subsection (3), for “both certificates” there were substituted “the application”;

(c) in subsection (4)—

(i) for “both certificates” there were substituted “the application”;

(ii) for “one certificate” there were substituted “the original application”; and

(iii) for “the other certificate” there were substituted “an endorsed copy”;

(d) in subsection (5)—

(i) for “the certificate” (in the first place) there were substituted “the endorsed copy of the application”; and

(ii) paragraph (c) (requirement to give public notice) were omitted; and

(e) in subsection (6), for “£120.00” there were substituted “£64.00”.

Modification of procedure for joint applications under section 41 and section 43A

10. —(1) This regulation applies where a proprietor or trustee of a building makes an application for a building to be registered under section 41 and section 43A of the Act at the same time.

(2) The applicant must comply with the requirements of sections 41 and 43A of the Act, and with regulation 4, with the following modifications—

(a) the applicant may submit one certificate of use for religious worship in order to comply with both sections 41(2) and 43A(3)(c), but that certificate must state that the twenty householders who give the certificate wish the building to be registered under both sections; and

(b) the applicant must pay the fee under section 41(6)( 12 ) of the Act, but neither of the fees under regulation 4(2)(d) apply.