Hong Kong Ordinances

BIRTHS AND DEATHS REGISTRATION ORDINANCE - SECT 27

Correction of errors in register

Caution: This is a past version. See the current version here.

(1) With regard to the correction of errors in registers of births or deaths,
the following provisions shall have effect- (Amended 80 of 1997 s. 64)

   (a)  no alteration in any such register shall be made except as authorized
        by this Ordinance;

   (b)  any clerical error which may be discovered in any such register shall,
        as soon as possible, be corrected by a registrar, who shall place his
        initials in the margin opposite the entry in which such error has been
        discovered;

   (c)  an error of fact or substance in any such register may be corrected by
        entry in the margin (without any alteration of the original entry) by
        a registrar on payment of the fee of $425 and on production to him by
        the person requiring such error to be corrected of a declaration in
        the prescribed form setting forth the nature of the error and the true
        facts of the case, and made by 2 persons required by this Ordinance to
        give information concerning the birth or death with reference to which
        the error has been made, or, in default of such persons, then by 2
        credible persons to the satisfaction of the registrar having knowledge
        of the truth of the case, and the registrar shall initial such
        marginal entry and shall add thereto the day and month and year when
        such correction is made; (See Form 19) (Amended 1 of 1965 s. 11; 48 of
        1975 s. 6; 67 of 1984 s. 9; 51 of 1986 s. 5; L.N. 73 of 1991; L.N. 196
        of 1993; L.N. 362 of 1994; L.N. 241 of 1995; L.N. 283 of 1996; 27 of
        1997 s. 72; L.N. 452 of 1997)

   (d)  where an error of fact or substance (other than an error relating to
        cause of death) occurs in the information given to the Registrar by a
        coroner concerning a dead body upon which he has held an inquest, or
        in respect of which he has issued a burial or cremation order-

        (i)    that coroner or any other coroner may, if satisfied by evidence
               upon oath or statutory declaration that such error exists,
               certify under his hand to the Registrar the nature of the error
               and the true facts of the case as ascertained by him on such
               evidence; and

        (ii)   the error may thereupon be corrected by the Registrar in the
               register by entering in the margin (without any alteration of
               the original entry) the facts as so certified, and the
               Registrar shall initial such marginal entry and shall add
               thereto the day and month and year when such correction is
               made; (Replaced 27 of 1997 s. 72)

   (e)  where-

        (i)    an error of fact or substance relating to the cause of death
               occurs in the information given to the Registrar by a coroner
               concerning a dead body upon which he has held an inquest or in
               respect of which he has issued a burial or cremation order; and

        (ii)   that error is a clerical error, then- (A) that coroner or any
               other coroner may certify under his hand to the Registrar the
               clerical error; and (B) the clerical error may thereupon be
               corrected by the Registrar in the register by entering in the
               margin (without any alteration of the original entry) the
               clerical error as so certified, and the Registrar shall initial
               such marginal entry and shall add thereto the day and month and
               year when such correction is made; (Added 27 of 1997 s. 72)

   (f)  where-

        (i)    an error of fact or substance relating to the cause of death
               occurs in the information given to the Registrar by a coroner
               concerning a dead body upon which he has not held an inquest
               (including any case where he has issued a burial or cremation
               order); and

        (ii)   that error is not a clerical error, then- (A) that coroner, or
               any other coroner, who subsequently holds an inquest concerning
               the dead body may certify under his hand to the Registrar the
               nature of the error and the true facts of the case as
               ascertained by him under the inquest; and (B) the error may
               thereupon be corrected by the Registrar in the register by
               entering in the margin (without any alteration of the original
               entry) the facts as so certified, and the Registrar shall
               initial such marginal entry and shall add thereto the day and
               month and year when such correction is made; (Added 27 of 1997
               s. 72)

   (g)  where it comes to the attention of a coroner holding an inquest

(either during the inquest or upon its conclusion) that an error of fact or
substance (including an error relating to cause of death) has occurred in the
information given to the Registrar by a coroner concerning the body of that
person upon which an earlier inquest has been held, or in respect of which a
coroner has issued a burial or cremation order-

        (i)    that first-mentioned coroner may certify under his hand to the
               Registrar the nature of the error and the true facts of the
               case as ascertained by him under the inquest so ordered; and

        (ii)   the error may thereupon be corrected by the Registrar in the
               register by entering in the margin (without any alteration of
               the original entry) the facts as so certified, and the
               Registrar shall initial such marginal entry and shall add
               thereto the day and month and year when such correction is
               made. (Added 27 of 1997 s. 72)

(2) Any correction of errors referred to in subsection (1) in a register or
any part of it which is in the form of microfilm shall be made on a
reader-printer hard copy of the relevant microfilm. (Added 80 of 1997 s. 64)

(3) Where an error is corrected on a reader-printer hard copy of the relevant
microfilm under subsection (2), the Registrar shall-

   (a)  record on microfilm the duly corrected reader-printer hard copy; and

   (b)  remove from such register or such part of the register the relevant
        microfilm referred to in subsection (2), substituting it with the
        microfilm of the duly corrected reader-printer hard copy, and may then
        destroy or otherwise dispose of the relevant microfilm so removed in
        such manner as he thinks fit. (Added 80 of 1997 s. 64)

(4) Any correction of error made under this section on the births  register or
the death register shall be noted, using the same wording as that in which
such correction is noted in the births register or the deaths register, on the
computer record in the entry in which such error occurs. (Added 80 of 1997 s.
64) [cf. 1874 c. 88 s. 36 U.K.]