Legal Framework for Civil Registration and Human Rights

1. 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 Operation of Civil Registration, Vital Statistics and Identity Management Systems for East Asian Countries Hanoi, Vietnam, 13 - 17 November 2017 with

2. Legal Framework • Constitution • 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. Right to register vital events Marriage Live Birth Death Foetal death Divorce Explicitly in General Assembly Resolutions Explicitly in the Int. Convention on Consent to Marriage and Registration of Marriages 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

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 17.19.2 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. 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 Human Rights Vital Statistics Civil registration is, without doubt, the best source for accurate and reliable vital statistics Civil Registration The exercise of many human rights depends directly on the existence of the functioning civil registration system