Page:Civil Union Act 2006 from Government Gazette.djvu/6



(5) Each marriage officer must keep a record of all civil unions conducted by him or her.

(6) The marriage officer must transmit the civil union register and records concerned to the official in the public service with the delegated responsibility for the population register in the area in question.

(7) Upon receipt of the said register the official referred to in subsection (6) must cause the particulars of the civil union concerned to be included in the population register in accordance with the provisions of section 8(e) of the Identification Act.

Legal consequences of civil union

13. (1) The legal consequences of a marriage contemplated in the Marriage Act apply, with such changes as may be required by the context, to a civil union.

(2) With the exception of the Marriage Act and the Customary Marriages Act, any reference to―

marriage in any other law, including the common law, includes, with such changes as may be required by the context, a civil union; and husband, wife or spouse in any other law, including the common law, includes a civil union partner.

Offences and penalties

14. (1) Any marriage officer who purports to solemnise a civil union which he or she is not authorised under this Act to solemnise or which to his or her knowledge is legally prohibited, and any person not being a marriage officer who purports to solemnise a civil union, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine or, in default of payment, to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 12 months.

(2) Any marriage officer who demands or receives any fee, gift or reward for or by reason of anything done by him or her as marriage officer in terms of this Act, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine or, in default of payment, to imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months.

(3) Any marriage officer who knowingly solemnises a civil union in contravention of the provisions of this Act, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine or, in default of payment, to imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months.

(4) Any person who, for the purposes of this Act, makes any false representation or false statement knowing it to be false, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to the penalties prescribed by law for perjury.

Regulations

15. (1) The Minister may make regulations relating to―

the form and content of certificates, notices, affidavits and declarations for the purposes of this Act; the fees payable for any certificate issued or any other act performed in terms of this Act; and generally, any matter which by this Act is required or permitted to be prescribed or which he or she considers necessary or expedient to prescribe in order that the purposes of this Act may be achieved or that the provisions of this Act may be effectively administered.

(2) Such regulations may prescribe penalties for a contravention thereof, of―

a fine not exceeding the amount that, in terms of the Adjustment of Fines Act, 1991 (Act No. 101 of 1991), may be imposed as an alternative to imprisonment for a period of six months; or in lieu of payment of a fine referred to in paragraph (a), imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months.