Registrars: General Information for guidance only.
The commonly used term for a Registrar of Births, Marriages and Deaths is simply Registrar.
If they are in charge of the district Register Office or Registry Office then they are a Superintendent Registrar. This may include supervising Registrars depending on the size of the office.
The duties of a Registrar are the collecting and recording of the details of all births, stillbirths, deaths, marriages and civil partnerships within the registration district. The Registrar will issue a Birth Certificate, a Marriage Certificate or a Death Certificate as appropriate.
A Registrar has the authority to perform the following civil ceremonies on behalf of the State:
marriage
civil partnership
citizenship
naming
These ceremonies may be performed by arrangement in Register Offices or elsewhere.
The Registrar has to interview informants registering a birth or death. They will then issue a Birth Certificate or a Death Certificate. However in the event of any suspicious circumstances surrounding a death the Registrar has to alert and inform the Coroner. In Scotland this would be the Procurator Fiscal.
Registrars are responsible for completing the office’s records with the information gained. These records may be in paper form or computerised. These records are regularly submitted to the General Register Office.
With at least two years experience a Registrar in Scotland can take the Certificate of Proficiency in the Law and Practice of Registration. This certificate award is issued in partnership by the General Register Office for Scotland, the Association of Registrars in Scotland and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA).
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