HL Deb 23 July 1924 vol 58 cc942-5

Amendments reported (according to Order).

Clause 1:

Legitimation by subsequent marriage of parents.

(5) No person shall be legitimated, nor shall the birth of any person be reregistered under this Act, unless both parents shall avow in. writing at or before the date of the marriage, the paternity of such person, and the regulations to be made under this Act by the Registrar-General shall make provision for such avowals: Provided that persons who have married one another before the passing of this Act may make their avowal in writing at any time within six months after the date of the passing of this Act, and provision for this purpose shall be made in the regulations.

THE EARL OF MIDLETON moved a series of Amendments with the object of making subsection (5) read as follows:— No person whose parents have married after the passing of this Act shall be legitimated, nor shall the birth of any such person be re-registered under this Act, unless both parents shall avow in writing at or before the date of the marriage, the paternity of such person, and the regulations to be made under this Act by the Registrar-General shall make provision for such avowals. Persons who have married one another before the passing of this Act must make their avowal in writing at some time during their joint lives and provision for this purpose shall be made in the regulation". In all other cases legitimacy must be established by proof of parentage and marriage of such parents.

The noble Earl said: My Lords, perhaps I might explain shortly what is the object of the Amendments which I have put down. The noble and learned Lord in speaking on the clause suggested that there should be further discussion with regard to the position of parents who had married before the passing of the Act. The effect of these Amendments will be that parents who marry after the passing of this Act will have to make a declaration at or before the marriage avowing the parentage of whatever child or children had been born to them previous to the. marriage. Then with regard to those who are married before the Bill passed, they will be forced, as the clause now stands, to make their avowal within six months of the passing of the Bill. That did not seem to us to be an unreasonable proposal; but the noble and learned Lord in charge of the Bill advanced the view that among certain classes there was so much ignorance of the provisions of such Statutes that in all probability a number of persons would be cut out and children would suffer disability, not from any want of desire on the part of their parents to take advantage of the Act but solely from ignorance. In those circumstances the noble and learned Lord pressed that the statement should be made at any time during their joint lives. In order to meet that view those who advise us in the matter, who are also learned in the law, have agreed to accept that Amendment.

There remains the case in which one parent is dead and both parents are unable to join in making the avowal. We have thought it best in that case and in all other cases that the ordinary law should operate and that legitimacy must be established by proof of parentage and of the marriage of such parents under the ordinary rules of evidence. All three classes are, therefore, provided for. Those who come afterwards will have to make the statement at or before the date of the marriage. Those who were married before must make the statement during their joint lives. Where no joint avowal is possible the parentage of such children and the marriage of their parents must be established by the ordinary rules of evidence. I believe that settlement commends itself on the whole to the noble and learned Lord, and will be accepted by those who have taken an interest in the measure. The noble and learned Lord will have noticed, perhaps, that there is a misprint in the last line of the last Amendment as it appears on the Paper. The words "parentage or marriage" ought, of course, to be "parentage and marriage." I beg to move.

Amendments moved—

Clause 1, page 2, line 3, after ("person") insert ("whose parents have married after the passing of this Act")

Clause 1, page 2, line 4, after ("any") insert ("such")

Clause 1, page 2, line 9, leave out ("Provided that")

Clause 1, page 2, line 10, leave out ("may") and insert ("must")

Clause 1, page 2, line 11, leave out ("any") and insert ("some"), and leave out from ("times") to ("and") in line 12 and insert ("during their joint lives")

Clause 1, page 2, line 13, at end insert ("In all other cases legitimacy must be established by proof of parentage and marriage of such parents").—(The Earl of Midleton.)

LORD BUCKMASTER

My Lords, when this Bill was before your Lordships in Committee and a discussion arose upon this clause, I suggested that it might be possible to communicate with the noble Earl and to attempt some agreement upon the matter. I said I felt certain that the conference would be a pleasant one and my anticipation was not mistaken. The noble Earl has shown himself as anxious to meet me as, within the narrow limits imposed by his first Amendment, he found himself able to do, and I am glad to say that in the circumstances I see no means of resisting the Amendments he has proposed. The Amendment he placed on the Paper between now and the Commitee Stage is one which he has undoubtedly introduced to modify the Bill in accordance with my representations. At the same time I should not like to be misunderstood, and I wish to repeat emphatically that I preferred the Bill as it was drawn. The reason why I pursued the matter no further was that I recognised that your Lordships had expressed an opinion when my Bill, in the same form as this measure, was recently before you, and that to prolong argument and to take Divisions upon a matter which was really a foregone conclusion was nothing but weariness and vexation of spirit. Therefore I declined to pursue it. At the same time, in accepting these Amendments, I desire to express my appreciation of the courtesy with which the noble Earl has met me. That appreciation is not lessened by a statement of regret that I find myself unable to ask your Lordships to accept the Bill in the form in which it was drawn.

On Question, Amendments agreed to.