From 23 March 2026, Northern Ireland will accept electronic signatures on key civil registration certificates. The Deaths and Still‑Births (Signing of Certificates) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2026 provide that a certificate of still‑birth may be signed by a registered medical practitioner or a registered midwife, and that a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) may be signed by a registered medical practitioner, either by approved electronic means or in ink.
The Regulations operationalise powers recently added to the Births and Deaths Registration (Northern Ireland) Order 1976 by the Deaths, Still‑Births and Baby Loss Act (Northern Ireland) 2026, which placed electronic delivery and signing of registration documents on a statutory footing following Assembly scrutiny. (niassembly.gov.uk)
‘Approved electronic means’ will be set by the Registrar General under the Act’s provisions on electronic delivery and signing. Departmental evidence to the Assembly’s Committee for Finance confirmed that guidance for registered medical practitioners and midwives would issue ahead of commencement and that still‑birth certificates and MCCDs should be transmitted directly to district registrars by electronic means, with copies available to informants on request. (niassembly.gov.uk)
For clinicians, this change removes reliance on wet‑ink signatures where secure digital routes are available. The signatory rules are unchanged: still‑birth certificates may be completed by a registered medical practitioner or a registered midwife, and MCCDs remain the responsibility of a registered medical practitioner. The effect is to widen the manner of signing rather than the class of signatories.
For registrars, direct electronic receipt becomes a standard pathway rather than an emergency exception. Committee evidence indicated that permanent electronic transmission improves timeliness and reduces administrative burdens for bereaved families; the Department of Finance and the General Register Office have undertaken to provide operational guidance and training to support consistent practice across offices. (niassembly.gov.uk)
The timing ensures continuity as temporary Coronavirus Act provisions for remote registration-extended to 24 March 2026-come to an end. Moving to an approved electronic‑signing regime ahead of that expiry avoids disruption for hospitals, GP practices and registrars that have used digital workflows since the pandemic. (thegazette.co.uk)
The Regulations do not alter statutory timeframes or the requirement for a qualified informant to register a death. Current government guidance continues to advise registration within five days in most cases, supported by an MCCD completed by a doctor; paper processes remain available alongside electronic routes. (nidirect.gov.uk)
Further secondary legislation will be required to implement the wider early baby‑loss certificate scheme enabled by the 2026 Act, a policy signalled by ministers at the Bill’s Final Stage and intended to complement these operational reforms to civil registration. (niassembly.gov.uk)