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Reasons and content for the revision of the Marriage Registration Regulations
Time:2025-08-28 Views:1949
Reasons and content for the revision of the Marriage Registration Regulations
On August 19th, the Ministry of Civil Affairs held a press conference on the revision of the Marriage Registration Regulations, announcing the reasons for the revision, the main contents of the revision, and the next steps of work.
1、 The reason for revising the regulations is that the original Marriage Registration Management Regulations were approved by the State Council and promulgated and implemented by the Ministry of Civil Affairs in 1994. This regulation has played a positive role in regulating marriage registration work and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of marriage parties. However, with the development of the social economy, especially the amendment in 2001, the Marriage Registration Management Regulations can no longer fully meet the needs of the new situation. Firstly, revising the regulations is necessary for the government to transform its functions and serve the people. The new regulations have removed the word "management" from the "Marriage Registration Management Regulations" and cancelled the requirement for mainland residents to obtain a certificate from their unit or village (community) committee for marriage or divorce registration. The registration authority is required to process eligible applicants on the spot (the original regulations stipulated that divorce should be processed within one month). These reforms fully reflect the government's transformation of functions, weakening the administrative management color of civil acts such as marriage and divorce, strengthening service awareness, and adhering to the purpose of governing for the people. They are concrete manifestations of the government's efforts to practice the important thought of the "Three Represents", attach importance to social affairs management, and improve public services. Secondly, revising the regulations is necessary to ensure the implementation of the Marriage Law. The new Marriage Law, adopted by the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People's Congress on April 28, 2001, added supplementary and revocable marriages, which requires supporting administrative regulations to supplement the above contents and standardize procedures, so as to make the implementation of the Marriage Law more operational. Thirdly, revising the regulations is also necessary for the marriage registration work to keep up with the times, reform and innovate. The Marriage Registration Management Regulations have been implemented for nine years, and some of its provisions are no longer able to adapt to the development of the social economy and changes in people's ideological concepts. Therefore, the newly revised regulations have eliminated some outdated provisions and clarified effective reform experiences in the regulations. For example, the system of requiring proof from the unit or village (community) committee for marriage and divorce has been reformed, and a pragmatic attitude has been taken towards implementing marriage checkups without mandatory regulations. The practice of centralized marriage registration in counties with conditions has been affirmed.
2、 The main content of the revision (1) cancels the practice of marriage registration being certified by the unit or village (neighborhood) committee, and instead requires the parties to make a signed statement stating that they have no spouse and no prohibited family relationship with the other party. According to the old regulations, marriage should be accompanied by a marriage status certificate issued by the unit or village (neighborhood) committee, and divorce should be accompanied by an introduction letter issued by the unit or village (neighborhood) committee. With the reform of China's labor employment system and the strengthening of population mobility, the method of issuing certificates by units or village (neighborhood) committees is no longer suitable for the needs of social development, and even to some extent restricts the freedom of marriage of the parties involved. The establishment of the system of invalid marriage and revocable marriage in China's Marriage Law, as well as the provisions on crimes in the Criminal Law, have formed institutional guarantees that the responsibility for marital status lies with the parties themselves. The networked construction of marriage registration work will also provide technical support for the reform. Therefore, the Marriage Registration Regulations have abolished the practice of requiring proof from the unit or village (community) committee for marriage and divorce. Marriage now requires the parties to make a signed declaration of no spouse and no prohibited family relationship with the other party. Divorce does not require the submission of an introduction letter.
（2） According to the old regulations, the authorities responsible for handling marriage registration for rural residents have been appropriately centralized. The marriage registration management authority in rural areas is the people's government of townships, ethnic townships, and towns. In order to solve the long-standing problems of ride hailing fees and illegal registration in rural marriage registration from a systemic perspective, and further standardize the work of marriage registration, the Ministry of Civil Affairs has piloted the practice of centralized marriage registration by the civil affairs departments of county-level people's governments in rural areas, effectively curbing ride hailing fees, improving the level of legal administration, and enhancing the environment for marriage registration. Based on the pilot experience in various regions and considering the significant differences in transportation, geography, and other aspects in rural areas of China, the Marriage Registration Regulations stipulate that the civil affairs department of the county-level people's government or the township (town) people's government is the authority for mainland residents to handle marriage registration. Provincial, autonomous region, and municipality people's governments can determine the specific authority for rural residents to handle marriage registration based on the principle of convenience.
（3） There are no mandatory regulations for pre marital medical examinations. According to the old regulations, in places where pre marital examinations are conducted, the parties applying for marriage must go to designated medical and health institutions for examination and submit examination certificates to the marriage registration authority. In the implementation of the premarital medical examination system, two problems have arisen due to the lack of clear definition of "diseases medically deemed unfit for marriage" as stipulated in the Marriage Law. One is that the marriage registration authority cannot determine whether the parties suffer from diseases that should not be married based on the examination results issued by the marriage examination institution, and whether registration can be processed. Secondly, due to the lack of targeted inspections, there are problems such as multiple inspection items and high fees in premarital checkups, which have been strongly reflected by the public. The newly revised regulations do not require parties applying for marriage registration to submit a pre marital medical examination certificate. Therefore, currently holding a pre marital medical examination certificate cannot be considered a necessary condition for marriage registration, as it would only be a formality and increase the burden on the public. If the parties to the marriage consider the health of both parties, they can voluntarily go to the hospital for a physical examination. [page]
（4） The Marriage Law has added provisions for retroactive marriage registration, invalid marriages, and revocable marriages. Regarding retroactive marriage registration, it is required that both men and women must personally go to the marriage registration office to register their marriage. Those who have not registered their marriage should apply for registration again. Considering that there is no difference in the procedures for reissuing marriage registration and marriage registration, the Marriage Registration Regulations stipulate that if both men and women apply for reissuing marriage registration, the provisions of this regulation on marriage registration shall apply. Regarding invalid marriages, the Marriage Law stipulates that "a marriage is invalid under any of the following circumstances: (1) bigamy; (2) family relationships that prohibit marriage; (3) illness that is medically considered unfit for marriage before marriage and has not been cured after marriage; (4) under the legal age of marriage." The Marriage Law does not specify whether invalid marriages should be accepted by the people's court or the marriage registration authority. The Supreme People's Court on the Application<中华人民共和国婚姻法>The Interpretation of Several Issues (1) stipulates that the parties may apply to the people's court for the declaration of invalidity of the marriage. As marriage is a civil legal relationship, the validity of marriage is related to a series of issues such as the personal relationship, property, and debt handling of the parties to the marriage. Therefore, it is appropriate for the people's court to accept invalid marriages. Therefore, the Marriage Registration Regulations do not stipulate that the registration authority can accept invalid marriages, but only stipulate that after receiving a copy of the judgment of the people's court declaring the marriage invalid, the marriage registration authority should include the copy of the judgment in the parties' marriage registration files. With regard to revocable marriage, the Marriage Law stipulates that: "In the case of a marriage under duress, the coerced party may request the marriage registration authority or the people's court to revoke the marriage." Considering that the marriage registration authority has certain difficulties in reviewing and identifying the facts of a revocable marriage, as well as in dealing with issues related to child rearing, property and debt, after repeated research with the Legal Working Committee of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and the Supreme People's Court, the Marriage Registration Regulations stipulate that if a coerced party requests the marriage registration authority to revoke his marriage, he or she shall produce his or her identity card, marriage certificate and supporting materials that can prove the coerced marriage. If the marriage registration authority finds through examination that the coerced marriage is true and does not involve child custody, property, or debt issues, the marriage shall be revoked and the marriage certificate shall be declared invalid.
（5） At present, the existing regulations on marriage registration have been merged. At present, the regulations on marriage registration are too scattered. In addition to the Regulations on the Administration of Marriage Registration between mainland residents, different regulations and measures have been formulated for different marriage registration subjects, such as Chinese citizens and foreigners, overseas Chinese and domestic citizens, Hong Kong and Macao compatriots and mainland citizens, mainland residents and Taiwan residents. This is not conducive to the parties' understanding and mastery of relevant regulations, nor is it convenient for the registration authority to operate in practice. Moreover, these regulations do not differ significantly in other aspects except for the required documents and proof materials provided by the parties. The newly promulgated Marriage Registration Regulations are an effective merger of these regulations and methods, and are the unified regulations applicable to marriage registration in China. 3、 The next step of work
To ensure the implementation of the newly promulgated Marriage Registration Regulations, civil affairs departments at all levels should conscientiously carry out the following work: firstly, do a good job in publicity. Through the promotion and implementation of the Marriage Law, various forms and channels will be adopted to extensively and deeply publicize the basic spirit and main reform measures of the new regulations, so that the general public can understand the significant significance of the reform of the marriage registration system and consciously abide by the relevant provisions of the Marriage Law and the Marriage Registration Regulations. Secondly, increase training efforts. Due to the extensive content and strong efforts of the new regulations reform, civil affairs departments at all levels should increase their training efforts, guide marriage registration management personnel and registration personnel to accurately understand the meaning of the new regulations, conscientiously implement the provisions of the new regulations, and strive to build a team of marriage registration officers who are proficient in business, have standardized behavior, strict law enforcement, and thoughtful service, fully demonstrating the new face of marriage registration work. Thirdly, improve management level. By formulating and implementing the "Marriage Registration Work Standards" and "Marriage Registration File Management Measures" that are in line with the new regulations, we will further standardize the management of marriage registration. We need to accelerate the informatization construction of marriage registration work. At present, a marriage registration software for foreign-related, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and overseas Chinese that can be connected nationwide has been developed and is in the trial operation stage. At the same time, we need to promote local networking of marriage registration in various regions to ensure the smooth progress of marriage registration work from a technical perspective. Sichuan Faneng Law Firm is dedicated to serving you.