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Source: Xinhua News Agency

Beijing, August 16 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry of Civil Affairs recently solicited public opinions on the draft "Marriage Registration Regulations (Draft for Comments)". On August 16, the heads of relevant departments of the Ministry of Civil Affairs interpreted the contents of the draft for comments.

The draft amendment for soliciting opinions has deleted the relevant provisions in the current regulations that require mainland residents to produce their resident household registration books when applying for marriage registration (including marriage registration and divorce registration).

The head of the relevant department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs said that the revision of the "Marriage Registration Regulations" has cancelled the requirement for the parties to produce their household registration books.It is mainly based on the objective laws of population mobility to promote relevant public services to follow people.

The person in charge introduced that the current regulations stipulate that marriage registration must be handled at the marriage registration authority where one of the parties is permanently registered, and the resident household registration book is its effective proof. However, with the rapid development of the economy and society, the mobility of the population has increased, and more and more people choose to work and live in different places. The existing regulations have brought many restrictions to their marriage registration.Going back to the place of household registration to register has invisibly added extra burden, and canceling the requirement for the parties to provide household registration books has solved this problem.

The official said that with the approval of the State Council, a pilot program for cross-provincial marriage registration will be implemented from June 2021. During the pilot program, local governments can register marriages in non-registered places with just one party's ID card and residence permit. This type of pilot program has fully demonstrated that the marriage registration system has actually been decoupled from the parties' registered place of residence, and also indicates that the household registration book has lost its original role in the current regulations.

The person in charge also introduced that under the current marriage registration system, providing household registration books is mainly to clarify the jurisdiction of marriage registration. If the parties are unable to produce their resident household registration books, they can also handle marriage registration with the household registration certificate issued by the public security department or relevant household registration management agency with a seal.

Will canceling the household registration book during marriage registration lead to bigamy, marriage fraud, etc.?

The person in charge said that currently, marriage registration offices across the country have basically achieved real-time online registration, networking and interconnection of marriage registration management information systems, and timely aggregation of marriage registration data.The existing data in the marriage information database of the Ministry of Civil Affairs can be queried and used in real time by marriage registration authorities in all regions.At the same time, in order to ensure the legality and validity of citizens' identity information and optimize marriage management government services,In 2017, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security jointly issued the "Notice on Sharing Information in the National Population Basic Information Database at Marriage Registration Offices" and established a dedicated line to connect to the National Population Basic Information Database. Through this inter-departmental information sharing, population information verification can be achieved nationwide, effectively preventing bigamy, marriage fraud and other phenomena.

The draft for soliciting opinions on the revised bill has formulated relevant implementation clauses for the "divorce cooling-off period", which has attracted much attention from the society.

The heads of relevant departments of the Ministry of Civil Affairs pointed out that the establishment of a "divorce cooling-off period" is an important provision of the Civil Code, as well as a major institutional arrangement made in response to new situations and circumstances in my country's marriage and family field. Its purpose is to reduce impulsive or hasty divorces.

The person in charge said that in order to implement the Civil Code and give full play to the role of the "divorce cooling-off period", the Ministry of Civil Affairs guided local governments to optimize the divorce registration service process, actively carry out marriage and family counseling services, and strive to reduce the phenomenon of impulsive and hasty divorces in society, achieving good results. The draft for comments on the revised draft implements the relevant provisions of the Civil Code on the "divorce cooling-off period" and adjusts the relevant content of the current "Marriage Registration Regulations" based on work practice.

"In the future, we will guide all localities to continue to increase the intensity of legal publicity and education, seize the favorable time window, provide divorced parties with marriage and family counseling services such as emotional communication, psychological counseling, and relationship repair, and promote the construction of happy and harmonious marriages and families." The person in charge said.

The person in charge stressed that the divorce cooling-off period system does not conflict with whether the parties enjoy the right to divorce freely. If the relationship between the parties has indeed broken down, they can apply for divorce registration by agreement in accordance with the law, or file a divorce lawsuit in the people's court.If a party encounters a situation where the personal safety of the individual or family members is threatened during the divorce process, he or she may seek help through relevant legal relief channels in a timely manner.

The draft for soliciting opinions on the revised bill stipulates that "marriage registration authorities should provide marriage and family counseling services."

The reporter learned that laws such as the Family Education Promotion Law and the Women's Rights Protection Law stipulate that marriage registration authorities should provide family education guidance and marriage and family counseling services, and put forward clear requirements for marriage registration authorities to carry out marriage and family counseling services.

"The draft for soliciting opinions on the revised bill stipulates marriage and family counseling services, which is a concrete manifestation of the marriage registration authorities' administration according to law." said the head of the relevant department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

It is reported that currently, marriage registration offices in various places have generally provided marriage and family counseling services. By the end of 2023, the coverage rate of marriage and family counseling rooms in marriage registration offices at or above the county level across the country will have reached more than 90%.

"In practice, marriage registration authorities in various places generally actively provide full-chain and full-cycle marriage and family counseling services such as premarital education, marriage and family relationship adjustment, and divorce intervention through public welfare venture capital, funding subsidies, and government purchase of services. These services help the parties to fully and clearly understand the responsibilities and obligations of marriage and family representatives, learn the skills to resolve marriage and family crises, and effectively promote the harmony and stability of the parties' marriages and families." said the person in charge.