Extracts issued from the register of the right to officiate at weddings

Information on an officiator with a right to officiate at weddings can be given from the register of the right to officiate at weddings. The request must be made in writing.

The register of the right to officiate at weddings contains the following information:

officiators who have been granted the right to officiate at weddings on application of their own religious community
officiators to whom the Ministry of Education and Culture or the Ministry for Foreign Affairs has granted the right to officiate at weddings outside Finland
officiators to whom the Digital and Population Data Services Agency (or formerly local register offices) has granted the right to officiate at weddings.

The register does not contain information on

priests of the Evangelical Lutheran or Orthodox Church of Finland
registrars or notaries public of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency or the State Department of Åland
chief judges, district judges, assistant judges or trainee judges officiating at weddings in District Courts.

The extract from the register contains the following information:

name and domicile of the religious community
name and personal identity code of the officiator
period of validity of the right to officiate at weddings
the date on which the right to officiate at weddings has been granted or cancelled
the authority that granted the right to officiate at weddings.

Conditions or restrictions on the right to officiate at weddings are also listed in the extract.

Upon written request, from the register of the right to officiate weddings can be given information on an officiator with a right to officiate weddings.

The register of the right to officiate weddings contains the following information:

officiators who have been granted a right to officiate weddings on application of their own religious community
officiators to whom the Ministry of Education or the Ministry for Foreign Affairs has granted a right to officiate weddings abroad
officiators to whom the local register office has granted a right to officiate weddings to ensure a sufficient number of officiators.

The extract contains information on the name and domicile of the community and the name and personal identity code of the officiator. Other information on the extract are the date the right to officiate weddings was granted or revoked, the period of validity and the authority that granted the right to officiate weddings. In some cases, the extract can contain information on the conditions and restrictions for the right to officiate weddings.

Pursuant to the Marriage Act, the priests of an the Evangelic-Lutheran and Orthodox church have the right to officiate weddings in a church. Furthermore, the directors, registrars, and notaries public of local register offices have the right to carry out a civil marriage ceremony, and so have the chief judges, district judges, assistant judges and some trainee district judges of district courts. The register of the right to officiate weddings contains no information on these officiators.