C & C

The parties in this matter were C and C. The dispute concerned an application for an order for the registration of a child’s birth, and the court seized of the matter was the Supreme Court of Tasmania, constituted by Guest J.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether it possessed the power to order the registration of a child’s birth in circumstances where the child had been born overseas to a surrogate mother, and the applicants were the intended parents. Specifically, the Court had to consider the scope of its jurisdiction under the *Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1997* (Tas) and the *Supreme Court Civil Procedure Act 1932* (Tas) in relation to the registration of births that occurred outside of Tasmania.

Guest J determined that the Court did not have the power to order the registration of a birth that occurred outside of Tasmania. His Honour reasoned that the *Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1997* (Tas) was confined in its operation to births occurring within Tasmania. While the *Supreme Court Civil Procedure Act 1932* (Tas) conferred broad jurisdiction on the Supreme Court, this jurisdiction did not extend to overriding the specific territorial limitations of the *Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1997* (Tas) in this context. The Court found that the legislative framework did not permit the registration of an overseas birth in the Tasmanian registry.

The application for an order for the registration of the child’s birth was therefore dismissed.