5. The Marriage Registration Ordinance is hereby amended as follows:-
| (A) by the repeal of section 27 thereof, and the substitution therefor, of the following section: "Issue of licence.
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| | | (1) At any time after the entry of the notice, and upon the production of a certified copy of such notice, the District Registrar within whose district such notice has been given or the registrar to whom notice has been given, may issue, subject to the provisions of subsection (3), a licence under his hand substantially in form G in the First Schedule authorizing the District Registrar or the registrar to whom notice has been given or, in any case referred to in section 28 such other registrar as he may specify in the licence, to issue the certificate under section 26, if in the meantime no lawful impediment to the issue of such certificate is shown to the satisfaction of such registrar or if the issue of such certificate has not been forbidden or a caveat entered in the manner hereinafter provided, |
| (2) Where the parties to the intended marriage have given notice to two registrars under subsection (2) of section 23, the District Registrar within whose district one or both of such notices have been given or either of the two registrars to whom notice has been given, may issue, upon the production of a certified copy of each such notice, and subject to the provisions of subsection (3) of this section, a licence to each of the registrars, or, in any case referred to in section 28, to such other registrar as may be specified therein, and such licence shall be substantially in the form H in the First Schedule. |
| (3) Before the issue of such licence one of the parties to the intended marriage shall appear personally before the District Registrar or the registrar, or where notice has been given to two registrars, before either of those two registrars and make and subscribe a written declaration that-
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| (4) Where the declaration is made before the District Registrar it shall bear stamps to the value of thirty rupees to be supplied by the party making the declaration and where the declaration is made before the registrar of a division it shall be accompanied by a receipt issued by the District Registrar in proof of payment of a sum of thirty rupees, |
| (5) The registrar to whom the licence is issued shall, upon the receipt thereof, issue his certificate, and every such certificate shall state the particulars set forth in the notice and the day on which it was entered, and that the issue of the certificate has been authorized by the licence of the District Registrar or the registrar."; |
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| (B) in section 34 thereof by the repeal of subsection (6) of that section and the substitution therefor, of the following subsection: -
| | '(6) The District Registrar shall, upon receipt of the minister's duplicate statement, together with the stamps equal in value to the amount of the fee payable to such registrar for the registration of the marriage, forthwith send to the minister an acknowledgment of the same, and enter or cause to be entered the particulars thereof or of the copy prepared under section 37 (2) in triplicate, that is to say, the original, the second copy (hereinafter referred to as the " duplicate "), and a third copy in a marriage register book to be kept by him, in the form M in the First Schedule, and shall certify that the particulars have been obtained from the minister's statement, and shall carefully preserve the said minister's statement until despatched to the Registrar-General as in section 37 provided. The third copy shall bear an endorsement under the hand of the District Registrar to the effect that it is issued under section 35A.'; | | |
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| (C) in section 85 thereof, by the repeal of sub-section (5) of that section and the substitution therefor, of the following subsection: -
| | ' (5) The registrar shall then enter in triplicate, that is to say, the original, the second copy (hereinafter referred to as the " duplicate ") and a third copy, a statement of the particulars of the marriage in his marriage register book in the form M in the First Schedule, and shall cause the entry to be signed by the parties and witnesses, and himself sign it in the manner prescribed in regard to a marriage solemnized by a minister. The third copy shall bear an endorsement under the hand of the registrar to the effect that it is issued under section 35A.'; | | |
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| (D) by the insertion, immediately after section 35 thereof, of the following new section which shall have effect as section 35A thereof:
| | 35A. The third copy referred to in the preceding section shall forthwith, free of charge, be delivered or transmitted by post to the female party to the marriage by the District Registrar or the registrar. " ; | | |
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| (E) in section 37 thereof -
| | (i) by the repeal of subsection (2) of that section, and the substitution therefor, of the following subsection: -
| | | "(2) Where a duplicate of an entry in a marriage register made under section 34 or section 35 or section 40 is lost, damaged, has become illegible or is in danger of becoming illegible, the Registrar-General may, after such inquiry as he may consider necessary, cause such duplicate to be replaced by a copy of the original entry, certified by the District Registrar or, if the original entry is in the custody of the registrar or the minister, certified by such minister or registrar, as the case may be, and countersigned by the District Registrar after verification of the copy with the original, and shall cause such copy to be filed and preserved. Every copy so filed and preserved shall, for all purposes, be deemed to be a duplicate duly filed and preserved in the office of the Registrar-General, under subsection (1)."; |
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| | (ii) by the insertion, immediately after subsection (2) of that section, of the following new subsection: -
| | | "(3) Where an original of an entry in a marriage register made under section 34 or section 35 or section 40 is lost, damaged, has become illegible or is in danger of becoming illegible, and the duplicate is available, the Registrar-General may, after such inquiry as he may consider necessary, cause to be substituted therefor a copy of the duplicate certified by him to have been made after verification with the duplicate and to be a true copy of the duplicate. Such copy shall replace the aforesaid original of the registration entry and shall, for all purposes, be deemed to be the original of the registration entry which was lost, damaged, had become illegible or was in danger of becoming illegible, as the case may be. |
| (4) Where both the original and the duplicate of an entry in a marriage register made under section 34 or section 35 or section 40 are lost, damaged, have become illegible or are in danger of becoming illegible, the provisions of section 13 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to and in relation to the substitution of copies of such original and duplicate. Such copies shall, for all purposes, be deemed to be the Original Of tilt marriage registration entry and the duplicate, respectively," ; and |
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| | (iii) by the substitution, for the marginal note to that section, of the following marginal note: - | | |
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| (F) in section 51 thereof, by the repeal of sub- section (2) of that section, and the substitution therefor, of the following subsection: -
| | " (2) The applicant shall supply in respect of every written application and in respect of every certified copy or certified extract thereof a stamp or stamps of such value as may from time to time be prescribed."; | | |
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| (G) by the repeal of section 52 thereof, and the substitution therefor, of the following section:
| | 52. Such copy or extract if purporting to be made under the hand of the Registrar-General or the District Registrar or an Additional District Registrar or under the hand of the registrar or the third copy issued under section 35a shall be received as prima facie evidence of the matter to which it relates, without any further or other proof of such entry. " and | | |
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| (H) by the substitution for the Second Schedule thereto, of the following new Schedule: |
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Sri Lanka Consolidated Acts