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ficate of Consul to be

17. And be it enacted, That in any and every action The certior suit for forfeiture, and upon any and every prosecution for perjury as aforesaid, the declaration and certificate of evidence. the Consul, under his hand and Consular seal, shall be received and taken as good and valid evidence in the law of all facts and matters stated in such declaration and certificate, without its being necessary for the said Consul to attend in person to prove the same.

Act.

18. And be it enacted, That this Act shall be taken to be Provisions of Registration part of the said Act for registering Births, Deaths, and Act extendMarriages in England, as fully and effectually as if incor- ed to this porated therewith; and that every Consul shall be deemed a Registrar under the said Act; and that all the provisions and penalties of the said Act relating to any Registrar, or register of marriages or certified copies thereof, shall be taken to extend to every such Consul, and the registers of marriages under this Act, and to the certified copies thereof, so far as the same are applicable thereto.

be autho

State to so

19. And be it enacted, That every British Consul-General Consuls may and Consul already appointed or hereafter to be appointed rised by to reside in any foreign country or place, who shall be Secretary of directed or authorised, by writing under the hand of one of lemnize marriages. her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, to solemnize and register marriages, and any person duly authorised to act in the absence of such Consul, or, in any foreign place where there is no British Consul resident, any Vice-Consul or Consular agent who shall be directed or authorised as aforesaid by one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State to solemnize and register marriages in such place, shall, in the country or place in which he is so appointed to reside, or in which he is directed or authorised to solemnize and register marriages as aforesaid, be a Consul duly authorised for all the purposes of this Act; and in the construction of this Act the term "Consul" shall (save where such construction would be inconsistent with the context) be construed to mean a Consul so authorised; and the district of every such Consul for the purposes of this Act shall be all or such parts of the foreign country in which (or at a place within which) such Consul is appointed to reside, or is so directed or authorised as aforesaid, as such Secretary of State may, by such writing under his hand, direct, or where there shall be no direction in this behalf, shall be the district of the Consulate of such Consul.

20. And whereas many marriages have been entered Certain past

marriages confirmed.

Extent of
Act.

into abroad by British subjects under circumstances which may occasion doubts as to the validity of such marriages, and it is expedient that such marriages should be confirmed in the cases hereinafter mentioned: Be it enacted, That all marriages, both or one of the parties being subjects or a subject of this realm, which, before the passing of this Act have been solemnized in any foreign country or place, or on board a British vessel of war on any foreign station, by a minister in holy orders according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England or of Ireland, or of the United Church of England and Ireland, or by an ordained minister of the Church of Scotland; and all marriages of the like parties which have been solemnized according to any religious rites or ceremonies or contracted per verba de præsenti in any foreign country or place in the presence of any British Ambassador, Minister, Chargé d'Affaires, Consul-General, Consul, or Vice-Consul exercising his functions within the foreign country or place in which such marriages have been had, or on board a British vessel of war on any foreign station in the presence of the officer commanding such vessel; and all marriages of the like parties which have been solemnized according to any religious rites or ceremonies or contracted per verba de præsenti in any foreign country or place, and registered by or under the authority of any British Consul-General, Consul, or ViceConsul exercising his functions within such foreign country or place, the signatures of the parties being written in the register, shall be deemed and held to be as valid in the law and cognizable in the like manner as if the same had been solemnized within Her Majesty's dominions, with a due observance of all forms required by law : Provided always, that this enactment shall not extend to render valid any marriage which before the passing of this Act has been declared invalid by any Court of competent jurisdiction in any proceeding touching such marriage, or any right dependent on the validity or invalidity thereof, or any marriage where either of the parties has afterwards, during the life of the other, lawfully intermarried with any other person.

21. Provided always, and be it enacted, That nothing in this Act contained shall confirm or impair or in anywise affect, or be constructed to confirm or impair or in anywise affect, the validity in law of any marriage solemnized beyond the seas, otherwise than as herein provided; and this Act shall not extend to the marriage of any of the Royal Family.

SCHEDULES.

SCHEDULE (A.).—Notice of Marriage.

To the [British Consul-General or Consul] at

I hereby give you notice, that a marriage is intended to be had within three calendar months from the date hereof, between me and the other party herein named and described; (that is to say):

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I at

SCHEDULE (B.).

[Consul-General or Consul] residing

do hereby certify that this is a true copy of the entries of marriages registered in my office, from the entry of the marriage of John Brown and Elizabeth Reeve, number One, to the entry of the marriage of Michael Jones and Maria Tomkins, number Fourteen.

Witness my hand and seal, this 1850.

day of January,

Signature and Consular Seal of the Consul-General or Consul.

SECTION THE THIRD.

18 & 19 VICT., CAP. 42.

An Act to enable British Diplomatic and Consular Agents
Abroad to administer Oaths and do Notarial Acts.

[2nd July, 1855.]

6 G. 4, c. 87. WHEREAS by an Act of the sixth year of King George the Fourth, chapter eighty-seven, powers are given to British Consuls-General and Consuls to administer oaths and do notarial acts in the foreign places to which they are appointed; and it is expedient that the like powers should be given to Ambassadors and other diplomatic agents and to Vice-Consuls and Consular agents abroad: Be it enacted by the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

Oaths may be adminis

tered by ambassadors and other

nisters

abroad.

1. From and after the passing of this Act, it shall and may be lawful for every British Ambassador, Envoy, Minister, Chargé d'Affaires, or Secretary of Embassy or of Legation British mi- exercising his functions in any foreign country, and for every British Vice-Consul, Acting Consul, Pro-Consul, or Consular agent (as well as every Consul-General or Consul) exercising his functions in any foreign place, whenever he shall be thereto required, and whenever he shall see necessary, to administer in such foreign country or place any oath or to take any affidavit or affirmation from any person whomsoever, and also to do and perform in such foreign country or place all and every notarial acts or act which any notary public could or might be required and is by law empowered to do within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; and every such oath, affidavit, or affirmation, and every such notarial act, administered, sworn, affirmed, had, or done by or before such Ambassador, Envoy, Minister, Chargé d'Affaires, Secretary of Embassy or of Legation, Vice-Consul, Acting Consul, Pro-Consul, or Consular agent, shall be as good, valid, and effectual, and shall be of like force and effect, to all intents and purposes, as if such oath, affidavit, or affirmation, or notarial act, respectively, had been adminis

tered, sworn, affirmed, had, or done before any Justice of the Peace or Notary Public in any part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain or Ireland, or before any other legal or competent authority of the like nature.

Courts in

Kingdom.

2. Affidavits and affirmations so taken as aforesaid under Affidavits taken before the said Act of King George the Fourth or this Act shall Ambassaand may be received, read, and made use of in and before dors, etc., abroad, may any Court of Law or Equity or other judicature whatever in be used in any part of the United Kingdom, and the judges and officers the United thereof, in or in relation to any action, suit, cause, matter, or proceeding in or before any such Court or judicature, in like manner, and shall be of the same force and effect, as affidavits and affirmations taken in or before such Court or judicature, or by any person duly commissioned or authorised by such Court or judicature to take such affidavits or affirmations, and shall be filed and dealt with accordingly.

mitted in

without

3. Any document purporting to have affixed, impressed, Documents or subscribed thereon or thereto the seal and signature of to be ad any British Ambassador, Envoy, Minister, Chargé d'Affaires, evidence Secretary of Embassy or of Legation, Consul-General, Con- proof of the seal or sigsul, Vice-Consul, Acting Consul, Pro-Consul, or Consular nature of the Ambassador agent, in testimony of any such oath, affidavit, affirmation, or other offior act having been administered, sworn, affirmed, had, or cial person. done by or before him, shall be admitted in evidence, without proof of any such seal and signature being the seal and signature of the person whose seal and signature the same purport to be, or of the official character of such person.

swearing or

4. Any person knowingly and wilfully making any false Persons oath, affidavit, or affirmation before any person having au- atfirming thority to administer such oath or take such affidavit or falsely guilty of perjury. affirmation under the said Act of King George the Fourth or this Act, shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and such offender may be charged, proceeded against, tried, and dealt with in any county or place in the United Kingdom in the same manner in all respects as if the offence had been committed in such county or place.

felony.

5. If any person shall forge any such seal or signature as Persons forging seal aforesaid, or shall tender in evidence any such document as or signature aforesaid with a false or counterfeit seal or signature thereto, guilty of knowing the same to be false or counterfeit, he shall be guilty of felony, and shall upon conviction be liable to penal servitude for the term of four years, or to be imprisoned, with or without hard labour, for any term not exceeding

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