1.1(1)The Registrar shall, under the direction of the Minister, be responsible for the administration of this Act, and shall perform such other duties as may be prescribed by the regulations or by the Minister.

1.1(2)The Minister may appoint a person to act on behalf of the Registrar.

2(1)Any person being resident in the Province, duly registered under this Act and charged with the solemnization of the ceremony of marriage by a church or religious denomination

2(2)The Registrar may recognize a church or religious denomination for the purposes of paragraph (1)(b) where that church or religious denomination

2(3)A decision by the Registrar to recognize, or a refusal to recognize, a church or religious denomination may be reviewed by the Minister, and any decision of the Minister to recognize a church or religious denomination shall be deemed to be a recognition under subsection (2).

2(4)The Registrar shall keep or cause to be kept a register showing the names of every church or religious denomination recognized under subsection (2), and such other particulars as he considers advisable.

4(1)The Registrar may from time to time on application made to him on the form provided by the Registrar, which application may be made by the applicant or on his behalf by the ecclesiastical authority or governing body of the church or religious denomination to which he belongs, register the applicant as a person who is authorized to solemnize marriage in the Province.

4(1.1)The Registrar shall not register an applicant under subsection (1) unless the application is supported in writing by a church or religious denomination that is recognized under this Act.

4(2)The Registrar shall issue a certificate of registration to any person registered under subsection (1) and may, where a request is made on reasonable grounds, issue one or more additional certificates to that person.

5(1)The Registrar may grant temporary registration to a person who is not resident in the Province upon being satisfied that the person, if he were resident and officiating in the Province could be registered as authorized to solemnize marriage under the foregoing provisions of this Act, and may thereby register that person as authorized to solemnize marriage in the Province during a period to be fixed by the Registrar and any certificate of registration issued thereon shall state the period so fixed during which the authority to solemnize marriage thereunder may be exercised.

5(1.1)The Registrar shall not grant a temporary registration under subsection (1) unless the request for temporary registration is supported in writing by a church or religious denomination that is recognized under this Act.

5(1.2)An application for registration referred to in subsection (1) shall be on a form provided by the Registrar.

7.1(1)The Registrar shall, at the request of any person who wishes to know if a person is registered as authorized to solemnize marriage, search the register referred to in section 7 and issue a certificate in respect of the results of the search, along with any relevant particulars as are set out in section 7.

7.1(2)A certificate issued under this section that purports to be signed by the Registrar is for all purposes prima facie proof of its contents without proof of the appointment or signature of the Registrar who issued it and is admissible as evidence in any court of the Province.

7.1(3)A certificate issued under this section that purports to be signed by the Registrar is not invalid because the Registrar ceased to hold office before the issuance of the certificate.

7.1(4)A certificate issued under this section that purports to be signed by the Registrar is sufficient evidence of the due execution of the certificate by the Registrar for all purposes respecting the registration or filing of the certificate under any Act, and no further evidence of execution by or the signature of the Registrar is required for the purpose of registration or filing.

8(1)The ecclesiastical authority or governing body of a church or religious denomination whose clerics are registered as authorized to solemnize marriage under this Act shall notify the Registrar of the name of any cleric belonging to that church or religious denomination who

8(2)A cleric registered under this Act shall forthwith notify the Registrar when he removes from the Province or ceases to belong to, or for any other reason is no longer charged with the solemnization of marriage by, the church or religious denomination to which he belongs or belonged.

12(1)A clerk of the Court may solemnize a marriage for which a marriage licence has been issued.

12(4)The contracting parties shall pay the fee prescribed by regulation for the solemnization of their marriage by a clerk of the Court.

12(5)If the parties to a marriage solemnized by a clerk of the Court desire a religious ceremony in addition thereto, a certificate of the clerk that he has solemnized the marriage shall be sufficient authorization to a cleric to perform a religious ceremony.

12(6)A clerk of the Court who solemnizes a marriage shall prepare and transmit the statement of marriage required under the Vital Statistics Act but a cleric who performs a religious ceremony after the marriage has been solemnized by a clerk of the Court is not required to prepare and transmit the statement respecting that marriage.

13(1)The Registrar may appoint one or more competent persons who are employed in the public service of New Brunswick, as set out in Part I of the First Schedule of the Public Service Labour Relations Act, to issue marriage licences under this Act.

13(2)In case of the death, disqualification, illness or temporary absence of an issuer of marriage licences the Registrar may appoint an acting issuer of marriage licences who, during the period for which he is appointed, shall have and exercise all powers and authority herein vested in an issuer of marriage licences.

13(3)No action lies against an issuer or acting issuer of marriage licences for any act done or performed by him in pursuance of the provisions of this Act or any regulation.

13(4)An issuer or acting issuer of marriage licences is, for the purposes of this Act and by virtue of his or her appointment, a commissioner of oaths for taking affidavits to be read in The Court of Queen’s Bench of New Brunswick.

14(1)Every marriage licence shall be under the hand of the Registrar and bear date on the day on which it is issued, and shall authorize the solemnization of the intended marriage at any time within three months from that date.

14(4)No irregularity in the issue of a marriage licence obtained and acted on in good faith invalidates a marriage solemnized in pursuance thereof.

14(5)Every licence under the hand of the Registrar issued for the purpose of the solemnization of a marriage is and remains valid notwithstanding that the Registrar has ceased to hold office before the time of the issue of the licence.

14(6)All unissued licences are the property of the Crown and every issuer of licences or any other person having unissued licences in his possession, power, custody or control shall, whenever requested so to do by the Registrar, forthwith transmit the same to him.

14(8)Every issuer of marriage licences shall keep a record of every marriage licence issued by the issuer in such form and containing such information as may be required by the Registrar.

14(9)The record is the property of the Crown and the issuer of marriage licences or any person having the same in his possession, power, custody or control shall, whenever requested so to do by the Registrar, forthwith transmit the same to him.

16(1)An application for the issue of a marriage licence shall be made in manner following: both parties to the intended marriage shall personally attend before the issuer of marriage licences and being examined separately and apart from one another, each shall make an affidavit, on the form provided by the Registrar, that shall state

16(2)The affidavits shall be taken and subscribed before the issuer of marriage licences to whom the application is made.

16(3)The issuer before administering the oath to an applicant shall see that the applicant is aware of what degrees of affinity and consanguinity are a bar to the solemnization of marriage.

16(4)The affidavits provided for herein shall be filed with the issuer of marriage licences to whom the application is made, and in case of a divorced person seeking to marry, proof of divorce, in accordance with the regulations, and in the case of a previously married and widowed person seeking to marry, proof of death, in accordance with the regulations, shall also be filed and the issuer shall transmit it to the Registrar.

16(5)Where the proof of divorce or death required to be filed under subsection (4) or any part of that proof is not in the English or French language, it shall be accompanied by a translation of it satisfactory to the Registrar.

18(1)Any person on payment of a fee prescribed by regulation may lodge with any issuer of marriage licences a caveat against the issuing of a licence for the marriage of any person named in such caveat, and if a caveat is lodged with the issuer and is duly signed by or on behalf of the person who lodges the same and states his place of residence and the ground of objection on which his caveat is founded, no marriage licence shall be issued by the issuer until either he has examined into the matter of the caveat and is satisfied that it ought not to obstruct the issuing of the licence or the caveat is withdrawn by the person who lodged the same.

18(2)The issuer may in case of doubt refer the matter of the caveat to the Registrar for his advice.

19(1)Where, in the case of an intended marriage, either of the parties thereto, not having been previously married, is under the age of eighteen years, the consent of the father and the mother of such party or, if either is dead or living apart and not contributing to the support of such person, the consent of the living or supporting parent or, if both are dead, the consent of a guardian if any has been duly appointed, shall be required before a licence is issued, which consent shall be verified by the affidavit as provided by the Registrar of the father, mother or guardian, as the case requires.

19(2)Where the consent is necessary under subsection (1), no licence shall be issued unless the consent is produced and the issuer is satisfied of its genuineness.

19(3)Where, in the case of a party who is of the age of sixteen years or over but under the age of eighteen years and who has not been previously married, both the father and mother are dead and there is no guardian of such party duly appointed, the issuer on the production and filing with him of an affidavit of that party setting forth the facts and of a duly authenticated certificate of birth of that party and on being satisfied as to the facts, may grant the licence.

19(4)Where the person whose consent is required is mentally incompetent, or resides outside of the Province or unreasonably or arbitrarily refuses or withholds his consent to the marriage, the person in respect of whose marriage consent is required may apply by Notice of Application to a judge of The Court of Queen’s Bench of New Brunswick for a declaration under this section, and the judge so applied to shall proceed upon the Notice of Application in a summary manner and if the marriage proposed appears upon cause shown to be proper, the judge shall judicially declare the same to be proper; and his judicial declaration shall be as effectual for all purposes as if the person whose consent is so required had consented to the marriage.

19(5)The consent required by subsection (1) or the declaration of a judge under subsection (4) shall, before a licence is issued authorizing the solemnization of the marriage, be filed with the issuer of marriage licences.

19.1(1)Except as provided in this section, no marriage of any person under the age of sixteen years shall be solemnized and no licence shall be issued to such a person.

19.1(2)Subject to subsection (3), where a party to an intended marriage is under the age of sixteen years, that party may apply by Notice of Application to a judge of The Court of Queen’s Bench of New Brunswick for a declaration under this section and the judge so applied to shall proceed upon the Notice of Application in a summary manner and if the marriage proposed appears upon cause shown to be proper, the judge shall judicially declare the same to be proper.

19.1(3)Where a party to an intended marriage under the age of sixteen years makes an application under subsection (2), that party shall file with The Court of Queen’s Bench of New Brunswick the consent or consents and affidavits required under subsection 19(1) or, if subsection 19(3) applies, the required affidavit under that subsection and, if the required consent or consents cannot be obtained for any of the reasons mentioned in subsection 19(4), the judge of The Court of Queen’s Bench of New Brunswick applied to may dispense with the required consent or consents and may make the declaration referred to in subsection (2).

19.1(4)The judge of The Court of Queen’s Bench of New Brunswick to whom an application has been made under subsection (2) may require the Minister to investigate whether or not the proposed marriage appears to be proper and to submit to him a report and recommendation.

19.1(5)Every declaration made under subsection (2) shall be filed in a manner similar to that provided in subsection 19(5).

24(2)The Registrar may cancel the appointment of any issuer of marriage licences who violates any provision of this Act or who, in the opinion of the Registrar, provides service that is unsatisfactory.

26(1)No marriage shall be solemnized under the authority of a licence unless the marriage takes place within three months after the day on which the licence was issued.

26(2)No marriage shall be solemnized without the presence of two or more credible witnesses who have attained the age of majority besides the person who performs the ceremony.

26(3)The licence to marry shall be left with the person who solemnized the marriage and he shall forthwith after the solemnization endorse upon the licence the date and place of the marriage and the names and descriptions of the witnesses and preserve the same in the records of his church, congregation or court, as the case may be, as his authority for the solemnization of the marriage.

29(1)Whenever it is made to appear to the Lieutenant-Governor in Council by affidavit that a marriage has been solemnized in the Province in good faith and in ignorance of the requirements of the law by a person who was not at the time duly authorized to solemnize marriage, the Lieutenant-Governor in Council may by order ratify and confirm all marriages performed by that person during a period fixed by such order, or may ratify and confirm any particular marriage or marriages solemnized by that person, and upon such order being made all marriages so ratified and confirmed shall be deemed to be valid from the time of the solemnization thereof, but nothing herein or in any such order has the effect of confirming or rendering valid a marriage between parties not legally competent to enter into the marriage contract by reason of consanguinity, affinity or otherwise.

31(2)Every person who fails to prepare and transmit the statement required under the Vital Statistics Act is liable to have his registration cancelled and his authority to solemnize marriage in the Province thereby revoked.

32(1)A person who violates or fails to comply with section 8, subsection 14(6), 14(8), 14(9), 16(4), 24(1) or 26(3) or section 27 commits an offence punishable under Part II of the Provincial Offences Procedure Act as a category C offence.

32(2)A person who violates or fails to comply with section 10 or 34 commits an offence punishable under Part II of the Provincial Offences Procedure Act as a category E offence.