1. CRVS Legal and Regulatory Review Tools and Methodology Ashley Frederes Technical Advisor Bangkok, 30 January 2019

2. Importance of CRVS Legal Frameworks
Significant potential benefits for:
Governance & accountability
Efficiency & effectiveness
Legal status
Human rights
Reliable health data
Aid effectiveness
Demand for civil registration is low & must increase to achieve complete CRVS data
CRVS systems are important as they have potential benefits for governance, health and documenting the legal status of individuals – among other things. In particular, there is evidence that countries with better-functioning CRVS systems have better health outcomes in terms of life expectancies.
But demand for CRVS services in many countries is currently too low. And we can only address that by improving access and efficiency and by creating incentives to use CRVS services (for example by linking CRVS systems with other services like health and national IDs).
Good CRVS data and increased demand are difficult to achieve without a well–conceived legal framework.

3. Health and Human Rights Implications

4. The Problem

5. The UN defines CRVS as the:
Continuous
Permanent
Compulsory
Universal
recording of the occurrence and characteristics of vital events

6. But CRVS Laws tend to be:
Continuously Contradictory
Permanently Poorly-Written
Compulsively Complicated
Universally Unclear

7. Questions without clear answers
Notification and Registration
Can medical facilities notify vital events directly to a local or national registrar?
Can facilities be required to do so?
If a relative fails to notify a vital event, who has the legal duty to ensure it is registered?

8. Questions without clear answers
Cause of Death
Must a MCCOD be signed by a treating physician?
Do these rules limit the use of verbal autopsy for legal or statistical purposes?
Who has access to sensitive info collected?
Can relatives seek info on COD of loved ones?

9. Questions without clear answers
Who can access each data element?
How is the information transmitted and stored?
How is the information protected from hacking and destruction?

10. How can I untangle the mess?

11. The Legal Review Toolkit
Which are covered by law?
Which are covered by regulation?
Where is there alignment and where are there gaps?
If gaps, can they be quickly patched by the agencies, or are legislative or other processes required?

13. Structured review of the CRVS legal framework
Includes review of all “laws”: includes any legally-binding measure, including constitutional provisions, legislation, regulations, decree, ministerial orders, official instructions to government agencies, employee manuals, and standard operating procedures for government officials, judicial orders, international treaties, and any other document with the force of law

15. Approach of tool
Comparisons of CRVS legal framework to international best practice:

16. Structure of the tool
Covers the following main areas and compares to 42 international best practices:
Enabling environment
Structure of civil registrar
Technology & data security
Key issues with registration of birth, death, and foetal death
Key issues with certifying cause of death
Production of vital statistics

17. Target audience
Designed to be completed by lawyers with range of knowledge in CRVS
Ultimate audience is heads of agencies who have authority to make structural changes
Products used by implementers and technicians

18. Review Process
Step 1: Read source documents and background information
Step 2: Learn glossary of key terms
Step 3: Collect all relevant laws using model research log
Step 4: Upload all relevant laws to a central folder
Step 5: Confirm laws are complete and up-to-date
Step 6: Review laws against best practices
Step 7: Draft and revise a final report
~6 months overall

19. Outcomes of Applying the Tool:
Brainstorm possible solutions with stakeholders
Divide solutions into those that require legislative changes and those that can be fixed with existing regulatory authority
Amend legal framework

20. Application of Tool in D4H:
Americas
Brazil
Colombia
Ecuador
Peru
Africa
Ghana
Rwanda
Tanzania
Zambia
South Asia
Bangladesh
India (Mumbai)
Asia
Cambodia
Papua New Guinea
Philippines
Viet Nam

21. Example outcome: Tanzania
Deterrents in relevant law leading to low birth registration rate
D4H-CRVS support:
Conducted a legal review and supporting the drafting of a bill according to international standards to simplify registration

22. 2nd Edition of the Tool:
Marriage, divorce, adoption, legitimation, recognition
Integration with ID systems
Data security, authentication, confidentiality tools for digitization
Medical Legal and Coroner procedures
Cross-border issues, on refugees and statelessness

23. Relationship to BPI Approach
Legal Framework defines ‘current state’
‘Future state’ may require legal change

24. Summary
CRVS legal frameworks are outdated and present barriers to registration
The legal frameworks form the foundation of the systems, their review and revision is essential but not sufficient to solve all issues with the systems:
A good legal framework is the “skeleton” around which a well-functioning CRVS system is built

25. Thank you!
vitalstrategies.org