Brief Analysis of Transacting Consular Marriage Registration According to Law
Xu Yuhong
Brief Analysis of Transacting Consular Marriage Registration According to Law
As the building block of social identity and property relations, marriage and domestic relations are the focus of individuals, state and the international community. With the deepening of China's reform and opening up. More and more Chinese citizens are now traveling anroaa. The number of “consular marriage registrations” filed with Chinese consulates stationed overseas is accordingly on the rise. This essay shall try to explore the topic of how to serve the Chinese citizens overseas and facilitate the work of “consular marriage registration” under the now universally accepted principle of “administration according to law and diplomatic affairs for the people”.
Ⅰ. Theoretically, “consular marriage registration” is part of the consulate's responsibility of “civil registrations”. When the consulate of sending state is performing his/her duty of “consular marriage registration”, he/she must take the laws and regulations of the receiving state into account. The “civil registration” in this essay refers to the registration transacted by the consulate of the sending state for purpose of marriage or divorce between citizens of the sending state who are traveling in the receiving state, without contradicting the laws and regulations of the receiving state, and pursuant to the laws of the sending state, which are, specifically:
(1) International Conventions
Item 6 of Article 5 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations signed on April 24 1963 provides that consular functions consists in “acting as notary and civil registrar and in capacities of a similar kind, and performing certain functions of an administrative nature, provided that there is nothing contrary thereto in the laws and regulations of the receiving State”. The “civil registrars” refers to the consular officers who transact civil issues such as marriage registration (including marriage and divorce registration) for citizens of the sending state in the sending state's consulate stationed abroad
(2) Sino foreign Bilateral Consular Treaties (Accords)
Among the 42 Sino foreign bilateral consular treaties (accords) signed so far,37 contain articles regarding “consular marriage registration” which are classified as “civil registration”. For example, Article 27 of the Consular Treaty between People's Republic of China and People's Republic of Mongolia provides in “concerning the application and civil registration for nationality, passport and visa” that “consular officers are authorized to within the consular district “transact the marriage and divorce proceedings where both parties are from the sending state and issue the certificates accordingly without violating the relevant laws and regulations of the receiving state.”
(3) Laws and Regulations of China