1. Civil Registration Process: Place, Time, Cost, Late Registration
Brisbane Accord Group
Session 5. Legal framework, including human rights, in the civil registration, vital statistics and ID systems
Civil Registration Process: Place, Time, Cost, Late Registration
UNITED NATIONS STATISTICS DIVISION
Workshop on the Operation of Civil Registration, Vital Statistics and Identity Management Systems for South American Countries
30 October – 3 November 2017
Bogota, Colombia
with

2. Legal Framework Constitution Law(s) Regulation(s)
Highest law of the land
Major concepts such as individual rights, citizenship …
Generic in character
Law(s)
Derived from the Constitution
Substantive as well as procedural provisions
Some laws are more substantive than others (Family Law, Criminal Law)
Others are more procedural (Law on Criminal Justice Procedure, Civil Registration Law)
Regulation(s)
Derived from laws
Procedural provisions
Easier to enact

3. Legal Framework – civil registration
Principles of civil registration legislation
Principle of legality – civil registration reflects reality, i.e. the events that occurred, once registered, become legally valid
Protecting interest of the individual – providing ready access to the service, full information on procedure and outcomes, ensuring confidentiality and privacy of individual information, easy retrieval
Principle of official status – the law must give the registration agency the power and authority to promote registration; update or correct entries in the register; ensure the integrity of the civil registration system
Compulsoriness of registration – the law has to spell out the obligation to register; to outline that entries in the civil registration constitute the only official and legal proof of civil status
Simplification of the service
Free service

4. Legal Framework – components
General provisions
Definitions of vital events
Compulsoriness of registration
Collection of statistical items
Confidentiality
Privacy
Access and safekeeping
Storage and preservation of records
Civil registration infrastructure
Agency in charge of registration
Chief registrar – authority, responsibilities
Local registrar – authority, responsibilities
Registration units, notifiers, informants

5. Legal Framework – components
Proof of registration
Authorizing officials to issue documents certifying the facts of registration
Statistical reports
Specify the agency where statistical forms need to be sent
Deadlines for submitting statistical forms
Cooperation and division of labor
Inspection and penalties
Oversight procedures and authority
Penalties
Funding
Designates source of funding
Funding procedures

6. Legal Framework – components
Protocols for transferring data to the population register/ID management
Ensuring confidentiality
Security procedures
Authorization
Access to records
Deadlines and frequency

7. Human rights - concept
International human rights embody universal ideals and standards of living
Since its inception, United Nations focusses on establishing, promoting and implementing human rights
In the context, United Nations emphasizes that the role played by civil registration in proving and establishing, implementing and realizing many of the human rights embodied in international declarations and conventions is one of its most important contributions to the functioning of contemporary societies

8. Human rights legislation
Human rights in the context of civil registration are spelled in
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948
Declaration of the Rights of the Child, 1959
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966
Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages, 1962
International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, 1965
Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, 1967
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 1979
Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1990

9. Live Birth Death Foetal death Marriage Divorce
Right to register vital events
Live
Birth
Death
Foetal
death
Marriage
Divorce
Explicitly in
the Int.
Covenant
on Civil and
Political
Rights
Implicitly in
the Int.
Covenant
on Civil and
Political
Rights
Implicitly in
the Int.
Covenant
on Civil and
Political
Rights
Explicitly in
the Int.
Convention on
Consent to
Marriage and
Registration of
Marriages
Explicitly in
General
Assembly
Resolutions

10. Civil registration and human rights
The exercise of many human rights developed and endorsed by the United Nations directly depends on civil registration and the existence of the civil registration system
Denying exercise of human rights by the lack of proper and functioning civil registration – examples
Right to own identity
The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire nationality and, as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents. – Article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

11. Civil registration and human rights
Denying exercise of human rights by the lack of proper and functioning civil registration – examples
Right to marry
The right of men and women of marriageable age to marry should be recognized. – Article 23 of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

12. Civil registration and human rights
Denying exercise of human rights by the lack of proper and functioning civil registration – examples
Right to elect (vote) and be elected
Every citizen shall have the right and the opportunity, without any of the distinctions … to vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret ballot, guaranteeing the free expression of will of the electors – Article 25 of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

13. List of human rights - continued
Right of child to know its parents
Right of child to a name
Right of child to a nationality
Right of the family for protection
Right of protection from forced marriage
Right of minors to protection from marriage
Right to food
Right to clothing
Right to housing
Right to work
Right to property …

14. Concluding remarks
Therefore, civil registration is crucial in enabling the exercise of basic human rights as civil registration is
Continuous
Permanent
Compulsory, and
Universal
recording of the occurrence of vital events, their characteristics and the characteristics of the persons concerned, in accordance with the provisions of the law and regulations of the country. These records, issued by the government, have legal value and can be used as proof of the occurrence in any court of law.

15. Concluding remarks
Universal consensus on the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, 17 Goals and 169 Targets
Vital statistics is a core component for monitoring the implementation of the agenda and assessment of the progress
As per the United Nations recommendations, regular, reliable and accurate small area vital statistics system is dependent of the fully functioning civil registration and reporting of the occurrence of all vital events
The role of civil registration goes well beyond being the source of vital statistics as it is crucial to ensuring legal identity and protection of human rights

16. Concluding remarks
Universal consensus on the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, Goals and Targets
Goal 16, target #9, reads:
By 2030, provide legal identity for all, including birth registration
Goal 17, target # 19, reads:
By 2030, build on existing initiatives to develop measurements of progress on sustainable development that complement gross domestic product, and support statistical capacity-building in developing countries – and the indicator makes is clear:
“Proportion of countries that (a) have conducted at least one population and housing census in the last 10 years; and (b) have achieved 100 per cent birth registration and 80 per cent death registration”

17. Human Rights Civil Registration Vital Statistics 2030 Agenda
Good and efficient governing and achieving all SD goals, especially related to public health, has to be based on informed decisions and accurate statistics
Ensuring basic human right is crucial for the normal functioning and governing of societies worldwide
The exercise of many human rights depends directly on the existence of the functioning civil registration system
Civil registration is, without doubt, the best source for accurate and reliable vital statistics