The Name Game - The Registrar-General Of Births, Deaths, And Marriages And The Unwarranted State Intervention In Naming

Abstract

This paper examines the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages ability to reject the registration of names under the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Act 1995, and examines it through the lens of whether the exercise of that power is a justifiable limitation on the freedom of expression. This paper suggests that the limitation on the freedom of expression is unjustifiable for a number of reasons. In particular, the harm alleged to be caused from undesirable name registration is fanciful, the process used to implement the rejection decision is non-transparent, and ultimately the exercise of the power does nothing to mitigate any of the harms that might potentially exist.