Australian Capital Territory Numbered Acts

BIRTHS, DEATHS AND MARRIAGES (NO. 112 OF 1997) - SECT 51

51. (1) A person shall not forge the Registrar-General's signature or seal on a document or an instrument that purports to have been made or issued under, or for the purposes of, this Act or the repealed Act.

Penalty:

        (a)     if the offender is a natural person—50 penalty units or imprisonment for 6 months, or both;

        (b)     if the offender is a body corporate—250 penalty units.

(2) A person shall not forge or falsify a certificate or other document or instrument under this Act or the repealed Act.

Penalty:

        (a)     if the offender is a natural person—50 penalty units or imprisonment for 6 months, or both;

        (b)     if the offender is a body corporate—250 penalty units.

(3) The Registrar-General may confiscate—

        (a)     a document or instrument that the Registrar-General believes on reasonable grounds to bear a forged impression of the Registrar-General's signature or seal, being a document or instrument that purports to have been made for the purposes of this Act or the repealed Act;

        (b)     a certificate or other document or instrument purporting to be under this Act or the repealed Act that the Registrar-General believes on reasonable grounds to be forged or falsified; or

        (c)     a certificate under this Act or the repealed Act about a registrable event if the entry in the Register about the event has been cancelled or corrected since the issue of the certificate.

(4) Where the Registrar-General believes on reasonable grounds that a person has in his or her possession a certificate or other document referred to in subsection (3), the Registrar-General may—

        (a)     require the person to surrender the certificate or document immediately to the Registrar-General; or

        (b)     by notice in writing sent to the person, require him or her to surrender the certificate or document to the Registrar-General within 14 days of the date of the notice.

(5) A person who, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with a requirement or a notice under subsection (4) is guilty of an offence.

Penalty:

        (a)     if the offender is a natural person—50 penalty units or imprisonment for 6 months, or both;

        (b)     if the offender is a body corporate—250 penalty units.