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    Following is a question by the Hon Cheung Hok-ming and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, in the Legislative Council today (May 18):

Question:

    The Government will propose amendments to the Marriage Ordinance to empower the Registrar of Marriages to appoint civil celebrants of marriages to celebrate marriages and handle related matters, and to relax the restrictions on the time and place for celebrating marriages.  In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) how it will relax the restrictions on the time and place for celebrating marriages, whether there will be any guidelines on the application procedure and the fees to be charged, and how the authorities can ensure that the public's affordability will be taken into consideration in determining the fee levels (particularly those charged by civil celebrants of marriages); and

(b) whether it has any plan to develop Hong Kong into a hot spot for destination weddings similar to Las Vegas, and to allow fairy-tale-like weddings to be held in the Hong Kong Disneyland by amending the above Ordinance?

Reply:

Madam President,

(a) Registration of marriage mainly involves two processes, namely giving notice of intended marriage and celebration of marriage.  In our proposal, if the marrying parties wish to use the services of a civil celebrant of marriages (civil celebrant), they may give a notice of intended marriage (the notice) to the Registrar of Marriages (the Registrar) through the civil celebrant and make before the civil celebrant an affidavit of no impediment of kindred or alliance, or any other lawful hindrance to the marriage.  The Registrar will exhibit a copy of the notice for at least 15 days and then issue a Certificate of the Registrar to allow the celebration of marriage to take place within three months from the date of giving the notice.  The Certificate of the Registrar will be issued through the civil celebrant to the marrying parties, who are free to decide the time and place for celebrating their marriage before the civil celebrant.

    Following the passage of the relevant Bill, the Registrar will make appropriate arrangements to publicise the new scheme (including distribution of information leaflets on the concerned procedures) and issue a code of practice to govern the professional conduct of civil celebrants.

    In our legislative proposal, we do not intend to regulate the fees that a civil celebrant may charge for celebrating marriages, except that a civil celebrant will not be allowed to charge any fee for accepting the notice and transmitting it to the Registrar.  As a civil celebrant may, at the request of the marrying parties, provide tailor-made services and arrangements, it will not be realistic for the Government to stipulate a standard rate for the services rendered.  Following the implementation of the proposal, the five marriage registries in Hong Kong will, subject to demand, continue to provide marriage solemnisation services.  We believe that the discipline of market competition will make it difficult for civil celebrants to charge fees that are unreasonable.

(b) Under the proposal, a marriage celebrated by a civil celebrant may take place at any hour and at any place.  The private sector will therefore be able to provide diversified services more flexibly to meet the demand of the marrying parties.  We believe that such developments, including the convenience, flexibility and wide-ranging choices offered by the private sector, will help attract more tourists to celebrate their marriages in Hong Kong and enhance the attractiveness of Hong Kong as a tourist destination.

Ends/Wednesday, May 18, 2005

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