Section 3 - Definition of public officer

(1) The expression “public officer” shall be construed by reference to the definition of “public office” in article 295 of the Constitution, and for the purposes of this Act, includes a person holding an office by election or appointment under an enactment or under powers conferred by an enactment.

(2) A person acting as a minister of religion or as an ecclesiastical officer, of a denomination, is a public officer where that person performs functions in respect of the notification of intended marriage, or in respect of the solemnisation of marriage, or in respect of the making or keeping of a register or certificate of marriage, birth, baptism, death, or burial, but not in any other respect.

(3) For the purposes of this Act,

(a) “civil office” means a public office in the Armed Forces;

(b) “judicial officer” means the holder of a judicial office as defined in article 161 of the Constitution.

(4) It is immaterial, for the purposes of this section, whether a person is or is not entitled to a salary or any other remuneration in respect of the duties of office.

(5) The expression “public election” shall be construed by reference to article 49 of the Constitution, and includes an election the qualification for voting at which, or the mode of voting at which, is determined or regulated by an enactment.