2.—(1) In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires—

“the Act of 1844” means the Marriages (Ireland) Act 1844;

“the Act of 1863” means the Registration of Births and Deaths (Ireland) Act 1863;

F1["Act of 2010" means the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010; ]

F2["Act of 2015" means the Gender Recognition Act 2015;]

F3[F4[…]]

F5["Act of 2019" means the Civil Law (Presumption of Death) Act 2019;]

“the Acts” means the Births and Deaths Registration Acts 1863 to 1996;

F6[…]

“Ard-Chláraitheoir” shall be construed in accordance with section 7;

“authorised officer” shall be construed in accordance with section 17(10);

F7[…]

“birth” does not include stillbirth;

F1["civil partner" has the meaning assigned to it by the Act of 2010;]

F8["civil partnership of convenience" means a civil partnership where at least one of the parties to the civil partnership—

(a) at the time of entry into the civil partnership is a foreign national, and

(b) enters into the civil partnership solely for the purpose of securing an immigration advantage for at least one of the parties to the civil partnership;]

F1["civil partnership registration" means registration under section 59D;]

“Civil Registration Service” shall be construed in accordance with section 8;

“civil servant” has the meaning assigned to it by the Civil Service Regulation Acts 1956 to 1996;

F1["civil status" means being single, married, separated, divorced, widowed, in a civil partnership or being a former civil partner in a civil partnership that has ended by death or been dissolved;]

F8["cohabitant" shall be construed in accordance with section 172 of the Act of 2010;]

F9["decree of divorce" has the meaning assigned to it by the Family Law (Divorce) Act 1996;]

F1["dissolution" means dissolution of a civil partnership under section 110 of the Act of 2010;]

F3["donor-conceived child" has the same meaning as it has in Part 2 of the F10[Children and Family Relationships Act 2015];]

F8["enactment" means—

(a) an Act of the Oireachtas,

(b) a statute that was in force in Saorstát Éireann immediately before the date of the coming into operation of the Constitution and that continues in force by virtue of Article 50 of the Constitution, or

(c) an instrument made under an Act of the Oireachtas or a statute referred to in paragraph (b);]

“event” means a birth, stillbirth, F6[…], F6[…], marriage, death, decree of F11[divorce, decree of nullity, civil partnership registration or dissolution], occurring or granted anywhere in the State or a birth to which section 26 or 27 applies or a death to which section 38 or 39 applies and includes a birth, stillbirth, adoption, foreign adoption, marriage or death that could have been, but was not, registered in a register formerly maintained under the repealed enactments;

F8["evidence" includes documentary evidence;]

F12["Executive" means the Health Service Executive;]

F6[…]

F8["foreign national" means a person who is neither an Irish citizen, nor a citizen of a member state;]

“functions” includes powers and duties and references to the performance of functions include, as respects powers and duties, references to the exercise of the powers and the carrying out of the duties;

F2["gender recognition certificate" has the meaning assigned to it by the Act of 2015;]

F7[…]

F8["immigration advantage" means a determination in a person’s favour by or on behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality of any question relating to the grant of a visa to, or the entry into, presence in or removal from the State of a foreign national or any determination of a right to enter or reside in the State pursuant to the—

(a) European Communities (Aliens) Regulations 1977 (S.I. No. 393 of 1977),

(b) European Communities (Right of Residence for Non-Economically Active Persons) Regulations 1997 (S.I. No. 57 of 1997), or

(c) European Communities (Free Movement of Persons) (No. 2) Regulations 2006 (S.I. No. 656 of 2006);]

F8["immigration status" means entitlement of a person to reside in the State and the basis for that entitlement;]

F8["marriage of convenience2 means a marriage where at least one of the parties to the marriage—

(a) at the time of entry into the marriage is a foreign national, and

(b) enters into the marriage solely for the purpose of securing an immigration advantage for at least one of the parties to the marriage;]

“Minister” means Minister for Health and Children;

F5["missing person" has the same meaning as missing person in section 2 of the Act of 2019;]

“Oifig an Ard-Chláraitheora” shall be construed in accordance with section 12;

F3["parent", in relation to a donor-conceived child, means the parent or parents of that child under section 5 of the F10[Children and Family Relationships Act 2015];]

“personal public service number” has the meaning assigned to it by the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act 1993;

“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister;

F5["presumed death" means a presumed death where a presumption of death order has been made under section 5 of the Act of 2019;]

“qualified informant” in relation to a birth or death, shall be construed in accordance with section 19 or 37, as may be appropriate;

“registered medical practitioner” means a person who is registered or entitled to be registered in the General Register of Medical Practitioners established under section 26 of the Medical Practitioners Act 1978;

“registrar”—

(a) in relation to a marriage or intended marriage or the register of marriages, means a registrar within the meaning of section 17,

F13[(aa) in relation to a civil partnership registration or intended civil partnership registration, or the register of civil partnerships, means a registrar within the meaning of section 17,]

(b) in relation to a birth or stillbirth, a newborn child found abandoned or a death or the register of births, the register of stillbirths or the register of deaths, a registrar within the meaning of section 17,

(c) F6[…]

(d) in relation to a decree of divorce or the register of decrees of divorce, means the Courts Service F14[,]

F15[(e) in relation to a decree of nullity of marriage or the register of decrees of nullity of marriage, means the Courts Service,

(f) in relation to a decree of dissolution, or the register of decrees of dissolution, means the Courts Service, and

(g) in relation to a decree of nullity of a civil partnership or the register of decrees of nullity of civil partnerships, means the Courts Service,]

and references to a registrar include references to a person authorised by the registrar to act on the registrar’s behalf and to the successor of the registrar;

F12["registration area" shall be construed in accordance with section 15(1) and (2A);]

“repealed enactments” means the enactments repealed by section 4;

“the required particulars” means—

F16[(a) in relation to a birth or a living new born child found abandoned, the particulars specified in Part 1 of the First Schedule in relation to the child, the mother of the child and, as applicable, the father or other parent of the child;

(b) in relation to a stillbirth the particulars specified in Part 2 of the First Schedule in relation to the child, the mother of the child and, as applicable, the father or other parent of the child;]

(c) F6[…]

(d) F6[…]

F16[(e) in relation to a death, the particulars specified in Part 5 of the First Schedule in relation to the deceased and, as applicable, the mother, father, parent and guardian of the deceased;]

F5[(f) in relation to a presumed death, the particulars specified in Part 5B of that Schedule;]

F17["scheme" means a scheme approved under section 14;]

“signature” includes an electronic signature within the meaning of the Electronic Commerce Act 2000 and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;

“stillborn child” means a child who, at birth, weighs not less than 500 grammes or has a gestational age of not less than 24 weeks and shows no sign of life and “stillbirth” shall be construed accordingly;

“Superintendent Registrar” shall be construed in accordance with section 17.

(2) For the purposes of this Act there is an impediment to a marriage if—

(a) the marriage would be void by virtue of the Marriage Act 1835 as amended by the Marriage (Prohibited Degrees of Relationship) Acts 1907 and 1921,

(b) one of the parties to the marriage is, or both are, already married,

F18[(c) one or both of the parties to the intended marriage will be under the age of 18 years on the date of solemnisation of the intended marriage and an exemption from the application of section 31(1)(a) of the Family Law Act 1995 in relation to the marriage was not granted under section 33 of that Act—

(i) prior to the coming into operation of subsection (1) of section 45 of the Domestic Violence Act 2018, or

(ii) in accordance with subsection (2) of section 45 of that Act.]

F19[(d) one of the parties to the proposed marriage lacks, or both of the parties to the proposed marriage lack, the capacity (within the meaning of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015) to consent to the marriage,]

(e) F20[…]

F21[(f) one of the parties to the marriage is, or, other than where section 2B applies, both are, already party to a subsisting civil partnership, or]

F22[(g) the marriage would constitute a marriage of convenience.]

F23[(g) the marriage would be void by virtue of section 2A.]

F24[(2A) F25[…]

(2B) F25[…]]

(3) In this Act—

(a) a reference to a birth, stillbirth, F6[…] marriage or death includes a reference to such an event that could have been, but was not, registered in a register formerly maintained under the repealed enactments;

(b) a reference to a section, Part or Schedule is a reference to a section, Part or Schedule of or to this Act, unless it is indicated that a reference to some other provision is intended;

(c) a reference to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph is a reference to the subsection, paragraph or subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs unless it is indicated that a reference to some other provision is intended;

(d) a reference to any enactment or instrument made under statute is a reference to that enactment or instrument as amended, adapted or extended at any time by any enactment or instrument made under statute.