New Zealand Legislation: Acts

26 Appointment of civil union celebrants

• (1) Any person may apply to the Registrar-General to be appointed as a civil union celebrant.

  (2) The Registrar-General may appoint a person as a civil union celebrant if the person has paid any prescribed application fee and the Registrar-General is satisfied that—

  • (a) the person is of good character; and

  • (b) the person will conscientiously perform the duties of a civil union celebrant under this Act and under the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Act 1995; and

  • (c) it is in the interests of the public generally, or of a particular community (whether defined by geography, interest, belief, or some other factor) that the person be appointed as a civil union celebrant.

  (3) The Registrar-General must give notice in the Gazette of the name of every person who is appointed or reappointed as a civil union celebrant.

  (4) A person named in a notice given under subsection (3) is entitled to act as a civil union celebrant on and from the date specified in the notice, and ceases to be entitled to act as a civil union celebrant when his or her appointment ceases under section 28(1).

  Section 26(2)(b): amended, on 24 January 2009, by section 47 of the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Amendment Act 2008 (2008 No 48).