estonia, ethiopia, vietnam, and south korea

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF LAWS ON CIVIL REGISTRATION AND VITAL

STATISTICS SYSTEMS:ESTONIA, ETHIOPIA, VIETNAM,

AND SOUTH KOREA

SEPTEMBER 2017

KOREA-WORLD BANK PARTNERSHIP FACILITY

KWPFP

ublic

Dis

clos

ure

Aut

horiz

edP

ublic

Dis

clos

ure

Aut

horiz

edP

ublic

Dis

clos

ure

Aut

horiz

edP

ublic

Dis

clos

ure

Aut

horiz

ed

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF LAWS ON CIVIL REGISTRATION AND VITAL

STATISTICS SYSTEMS:ESTONIA, ETHIOPIA, VIETNAM,

AND SOUTH KOREA

September 2017

CONTENTS

Acknowledgment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vii

Abbreviations and Acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Purpose of Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Scope of Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2 Legal Framework for CRVS Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Estonia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Ethiopia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Vietnam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6South Korea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

3 Analysis of Laws on CRVS Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13UN Principles and Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Estonia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Ethiopia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Vietnam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30South Korea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

4 Comparison and Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45In Comparison with UN Principles and Recommendations . . . . . . . . . 45Comparison of Estonia, Ethiopia, Vietnam, and South Korea . . . . . . . . 56Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Dr. Joungmee Han, Dr. Hyunggun Kim, and Ms. Jiyeon Choi from the Korea

Legislation Research Institute (KLRI) and by Ms . Suhhee Hur from In & In Law Firm prepared this comparative study on the civil registration and

vital statistics laws of four countries as a collaborative project between the Global Legal Research Team of KLRI and the Health, Nutrition, and Population Global Practice at the World Bank Group .

They owe their deepest gratitude to Dr . Samuel Mills, Senior Health Special-ist, and Dr . Sanggon Na, Senior Economist of the Health, Nutrition, and Popula-tion Global Practice at the World Bank Group . Without their steadfast encourage-ment, this report would not have been possible .

The authors are indebted to many of their colleagues for guidance . Dr . Junseo Lee and Dr . Kwangdong Park, Senior Research Fellows at KLRI, and Dr . Dowang Jin, Professor at Incheon National University, have enriched this report greatly by providing their peer reviews . Insights shared by Dr . Lee played a crucial role in forming the analysis, and Dr . Jin’s expertise on Korean civil law helped in developing the analysis .

The research team is grateful to all members of the Global Legal Research Team at KLRI for their encouragement and support during completion of this report .

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

CR Civil registrationCRVS Civil registration and vital statisticsKLRI Korea Legislation Research InstituteUIN Unique identification numberVS Vital statistics

1INTRODUCTION

Purpose of Research

If one lives in a society in which unique identification numbers (UINs) are assigned upon registration of birth and such registration almost always occurs immediately after birth and in which the UIN allows the individual to access the system of social welfare and services, it is hard to imagine that a person can exist without any state-recognized systematic registration process, but this is reality in many parts of the world . Whereas citizens of the developed world take registration of vital events such as births, deaths, marriages, and divorces as a matter of course, the births of millions of babies born every year around the world are not registered, and more than half of the deaths on earth are not recorded (WHO, nd) . One reason for such nonregistration of vital events may be the public perception that it is not import-ant; another reason may be the lack of a legal system that mandates registration of vital events .

The government of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic requested sup-port from the World Bank Group to help review its 2009 Family Registration Law in preparation for amendment of the law, which is expected to be submitted to the ordinary session of the National Assembly, VIII Legislature in April 2018 . Accord-ingly, KLRI’s Office of Global Legal Research was enlisted to conduct the requested research by comparing the civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) laws of four countries with diverse systems: Estonia, Ethiopia, Vietnam, and South Korea . The findings may also be of interest to other countries that are considering reviewing, amending, or enacting CRVS laws .

A Comparative Analysis of Laws on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systems2

Scope of Research

Although civil registration (CR) and vital statistics (VS) are bundled together and referred to as one important aspect of an individual’s existence in a soci-ety, this research will place its focus on CR rather than VS . The underlying laws for CR differ from those rel-evant to VS . The laws analyzed in this report pertain

to CR of 10 vital events identified in the Principles and Recommendations for a Vital Statistics System, Revision 3 (Principles and Recommendations) (UN, 2014) . Substantive criteria for and components of information needed for registration of civil events are borrowed from the Principles and Recommendations, which are used in analyzing the CR laws of the four countries .

2LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR CRVS SYSTEMS

Estonia

The Estonian legal system, although increasingly influenced by other legal system, is the continental legal system (Miil et al . nd), in which core principles are codified into a referable system that serves as the primary source of law and that distinguishes substan-tive rules from procedural rules . Generally recognized principles of international law and binding international treaties form an inseparable part of Estonian law, and judi-cial precedent has also become an important source of law in Estonia (Miil et al . nd) .

Like other countries’ Constitutions, the Constitution of Estonia lays out fundamental constitutional principles: protection of the rights and freedoms of all people restricted only in accordance with the Constitution, the principle of legality and equal treatment, prohibition of discrimination, integrity of the person, and inviolability of family life and privacy (Miil et al . nd) . Under these constitutional principles, laws are passed in parliament or through referendum .

The key laws that govern matters relating to the CRVS system in Estonia are the Vital Statistics Registration Act, the Population Register Act, and the Family Law Act . The Establishment of Cause of Death Act and the Registered Partnership Act are other CRVS laws .

Vital Statistics Registration Act1

The Vital Statistics Registration Act, among other things, provides for the compe-tence and functions of VS offices, the procedure for performance of VS procedures, and the rights and obligations of persons upon performance of VS .2

Under this Act, VS data—data on birth, death, contraction of marriage, di-vorce, and other changes under the Family Law Act or the Names Act—shall be en-tered in the population register .3 It requires VS offices4 to register, change, and correct VS data in the population register and to issue the extracts of such data . It also provides


for the procedure for entering VS data in the population data; the appointment, training, and examination of VS officials; and their duty to act as competent officials and to comply with the requirements of the Civil Service Act .

Population Register Act5

The Population Register Act provides for the composition of data in the population register and procedures for estab-lishing and maintaining the population register, process-ing of data and access to data in the population register, entering data on residence in the population register, and supervising the maintenance of the population register .6

The purpose of this Act is to ensure collection of the main personal data of subjects of the popula-tion register in a single database for the performance of functions of state and local governments under relevant law upon the exercise of the rights, freedoms, and obli-gations of persons .7 It applies to VS data entries in the population register unless otherwise prescribed under the Vital Statistics Registration Act .8

Family Law Act9

The Family Law Act regulates family relations, includ-ing marriage, relations between parents and children, and adoption .

The purpose of this Act is to ensure wide-ranging protection and the welfare of the family (Estonia

Table 1 . Provisions of the Vital Statistics Registration Act

General Provisions Articles 1–16

Grant of Right to Perform Functions Related to Contraction of Marriage to Ministers of Religion

Articles 17–20

Vital Statistics Entries Articles 21–49

Registration of Data Concerning Reassignment of Sex

Articles 49a–49b

Data Acquisition Based on Foreign Vital Statistics Document

Articles 50–51

Supervision over Performance of Vital Statistics Procedures

Articles 52–53

Implementation of Act Articles 54–67

Table 2 . Provisions of the Population Register Act


Chief Processor and Authorised Processor of Population Register

Articles 10–13

Conditions of Maintenance of Population Register

Articles 14–19

Composition of Data in Population Register Articles 20–25b

Transfer of Data to Be Entered in Population Register

Articles 26–31

Entry of Data in Population Register Articles 32–35

Transfer of Data to Archives of Population Register

Articles 36–39

Entry of Data on Residence in Population Register

Articles 39a–48

Personal Identification Code Articles 49–52

Ensurance of Accuracy of Data Entered in Population Register

Articles 54–56

Requirements for Processing, Preservation and Protection of Data

Articles 57–64

Access to Data in Population Register and Use of Data

Articles 65–81

Administrative Supervision over Maintenance of Population Register

Articles 82–87

Financing of Maintenance of Population Register Articles 88–92

Implementing Provisions Articles 93–101

Final Provisions Articles 102–104

Company Laws and Regulations Handbook 2012) . Un-like the Vital Statistics Registration Act and Population Register Act, it provides substantive rules and certain procedural rules for family relations . It determines the legal requirements and consequences of most vital events .

Other LawsOther laws also play a role in the CRVS system in Estonia . For instance, the Establishment of Cause of Death Act provides for the establishment of death (cases in which a person shall be considered dead) and cause of death (the ascertainment of the cause of death of a person) .10 The Registered Partnership Act,11 which allows two natural persons of whom at least one has residence in Estonia to enter into a registered partnership contract,12 requires the

Legal Framework for CRVS Systems 5

213/200015 was enacted with Article 321(1),16 which stipulated a requirement for the immediate release of a national registration law .

Before the Revised Family Law 2000 was enacted, municipalities were issuing certificates of birth, death, marriage, and divorce without proper registration based in national law . With enactment of the Revised Fami-ly Law, provisions for the registration of marriages and births and other vital events are provided for at the na-tional level . Furthermore, stipulations were included for the federal government to enact a registration law that would establish the Office of Civil Status . It was not un-til 2012 that Registration of Vital Events and National Identity Card Proclamation No . 760/2012 (CRVS Law) was enacted . This is a comprehensive law on registration of vital events in Ethiopia . It repealed Articles 47 to 153 of the 1960 Civil Code, which were provisions on CR that had been suspended indefinitely .

The purpose of this law is to establish a system of registration of vital events (birth, death, marriage, di-vorce), which is significant to economic, social, politi-cal development for the provision of services to citizens, creating expedient and effective justice administration and to the creations of an accessible, comprehensive,

details of a registered partnership contract to be entered in the population register pursuant to the VS data proce-dure under the Vital Statistics Registration Act .13

Ethiopia

CR in Ethiopia was included in the Civil Code 1960 . There are several articles on the procedures for reporting vital events, organizational structure, storage and sim-ilar other components of the registration activity were incorporated . The vital events that the Civil Code took into account were birth, death, and marriage . Although the Civil Code has incorporated articles on the regis-tration of vital events, Article 3361 stipulated that an official order was necessary to activate the Civil Code .14 Because the official order was not subsequently issued, the Civil Code 1960 was not effected for decades . The Revised Family Law 2000, Proclamation No .

Table 3 . Provisions of the Family Law Act

Part 1. Marriage

Contraction of Marriage Articles 1–8

Invalidity of Marriage Articles 9–14

General Legal Consequences of Marriage Articles 15–23

Proprietary Relations of Spouses Articles 24–62

Termination of Marriage Articles 63–79

Part 2. Rights and Obligations Arising from Blood Relationship

General Provisions on Blood Relationship Articles 80–81

Ascertainment of Filiation Articles 82–95

Obligation to Provide Maintenance Arising from Filiation

Articles 96–112

General Legal Relationship between Parents and Children

Articles 113–115

Rights and Obligations of Parents Articles 116–146

Adoption Articles 147–170

Part 3. Guardianship

Guardianship over Minor Articles 171–201

Guardianship over Adult Articles 202–207

Special Cases of Guardianship Articles 208–209

Part 4. Implementing Provisions Articles 210–231

Table 4 . Provisions of the Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Law


Organs for Registration of Vital Events Articles 4–9

Register of Civil Status Articles 10–16

Procedures of Registration of Vital Events Articles 17–23

Registration of Birth Articles 24–29

Registration of Marriage Articles 30–33

Registration of Divorce Articles 34–37

Registration of Death Articles 38–44

Copies and Certificate of Registration of Vital Event

Articles 45–48

Correction of Records of Register of Civil Status Articles 49–54

National Identity Card Articles 55–62

Accessibility of Information Articles 63–64

Miscellaneous Provisions Articles 65–70


compulsory registration system to require timely reg-istration of vital events . Although the CRVS Law pro-vides for a comprehensive registration system, it does so only for birth, marriage, divorce, and death . Other laws that are to be read in connection with the CRVS Law are the Revised Family Law 2000, the Civil Code 1960, and the Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Proclamation No . 1/1995 .17

For the purposes of this report, table 5 summa-rizes the statutory instruments that supplement the current CRVS Law .

Vietnam

Registration of citizens in different forms with various purposes has been in existence in Vietnam for decades . Individual registration of lifetime events, from birth to marriage to divorce to death, has been recorded in the government VS database as per government poli-cies . Vietnam’s household registration system, known as ho khau, was also used in recording VS of people,

along with the individual registration system, but the household registration and block wardens under the ho khau were for monitoring citizens’ dissenting political views and possible political or religious activities (U .S . Department of State 2005) . Although political in its purpose, the household registration system facilitated social services because people within the system are pro-vided with education, healthcare, social security, and opportunities to partake in social activities (Vietnam Academy of Social Science 2016) . With vital services from the government connected to the household reg-istration status, the registration is perceived as a privi-lege rather than an obligation; before the residence law in 2005, household registration was limited to those who had lived in a city or district for more than 3 con-tinuous years . The new residence law shortened the required residence period to 1 year, but popular loca-tions, including big cities such as Hanoi, passed their own residence rules that still require 2 years of continu-ous residence to qualify to register the household .

The CR system in Vietnam is a “centralized ad-ministration with a single agency for civil registration and vital statistics (UN 1998) .” A centralized adminis-tration system inherently enables nationwide consisten-cy, with rapid implementation of new policies and swift adaptation to any procedural and substantial changes . The seeming advantage of having a centralized adminis-tration also has loopholes for not associating with local government and municipality offices that data sharing may be an issue, allowing vital information to leak out before it reaches the central depository database .

There are multiple laws related to CRVS, such as the Law on Civil Status and the Law on Residence that are directly on point to registering CR, as well as the Law on Marriage and Family, the Law on Adoption, and the Law on Children, whose inherent nature intertwines with CR .

Law on Civil StatusThe Law on Civil Status was enacted in 2014 and became effective in 2016 to prescribe civil status, rights, obligations, and procedures for CR . It also provides a

Table 5 . Statutory instruments that supplement the civil registration and vital statistics law

Vital Events Statutory Instrument(s)

Birth Registration of Vital Events and National Identity Card, Proclamation No. 760/2012

Death Registration of Vital Events and National Identity Card, Proclamation No. 760/2012

Fetal Death N/A

Marriage Registration of Vital Events and National Identity Card, Proclamation No. 760/2012

Divorce Registration of Vital Events and National Identity Card, Proclamation No. 760/2012

Annulment Revised Family Code 2000

Judicial Separation Revised Family Code 2000

Adoption Revised Family Code 2000

Legitimation Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

Recognition Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia


legal foundation for establishing and managing the civil status database .

Civil status as defined in this law includes in one’s individual history from birth to death, but mat-ters related to Vietnamese citizenship and adoption are exclusively left to follow authorities under the Law on Vietnamese Citizenship and the Law on Adoption, un-less otherwise provided under this law .

Consisting of seven chapters and 77 articles, the Law on Civil Status covers registration of birth, death, marriage, guardianship, parental registration, and child recognition at various levels of governmental agencies including commune-level people’s committees, dis-trict-level people’s committees, overseas representative missions, and civil status database, and the law also gov-erns rules on issuance of civil status extracts . This law

also lists management responsibilities for civil status by setting out officers’ duties and obligations .

Law on ResidenceWhen registering residence of citizens, it has long been the custom in Vietnam to register by household, with the earliest regulatory findings in the Circular 495-TTg published on October 23, 1957 (Vietnam Academy of Social Science 2016) . Since then, other decrees and cir-culars have been published, changing the responsible government department from the Ministry of Public Security to the Ministry of Home Affairs and setting conditions for household registrations until the Law on Residence was passed in 2006 . The Law on Residence, which took effect in 2007, put the Ministry of Public

Table 6 . Provisions of the Law on Civil Status

Chapter I General Provisions Articles 1–12

Chapter II(Commune-Level)

Birth Registration Articles 13–16

Marriage Registration Articles 17–18

Guardianship Registration Articles 19–23

Registration of Parent and Child Recognition Articles 24–25

Registration of Civil Status Change, Correction and Supplementation Articles 26–29

Recording in the Civil Status Book Civil Status Changes According to Judgments and Decisions of Competent State Agencies

Articles 30–31

Death Registration Articles 32–34

Chapter III(District-Level)

Birth Registration Articles 35–36

Marriage Registration Articles 37–38

Guardianship Registration Articles 39–42

Registration of Parent and Child Recognition Articles 43–44

Registration of Civil Status Change, Correction and Supplementation, Ethnicity Re-determination Articles 45–47

Recording in the Civil Status Matters of Vietnamese Citizens Which Have Been Settled at Competent Foreign Agencies

Articles 48–50

Death Registration Articles 51–52

Chapter IV Civil Status Registration at Representative Missions Articles 53–56

Chapter V Civil Status Database Articles 57–61

Issue of Civil Status Extracts Articles 62–64

Chapter VI State Management Responsibilities for Civil Status Articles 65–71

Civil Status Officers Articles 72–74

Chapter VII Implementation Provisions Articles 75–77


Security back in charge of the residence registration sys-tem and simplified tiers of residence . Although Ha Noi has carved its way out from the nation-wide residence registration system under the Law on Residence by set-ting up the Law on Capital City in 2012 with exceptional conditions for residents registering in the city of Ha Noi, the Law on Residence is still the core legal instrument defining qualifications and duties of residents .

Composed of 42 articles in six chapters, the Law on Residence aims to ensure citizens’ freedom of res-idence while laying out the rights and responsibilities of citizens and households . By placing requirements on qualification for registering residence, the law clarifies rights and responsibilities of the residents while eluci-dating the duty of government agencies to provide ser-vices and benefits to registered residents .

Law on Marriage and FamilyWhen traced back, earlier versions of the Law on Mar-riage would point the Marriage and Family Law of 1959 as the one having the most significant impact in the history of the Marriage and Family Law . The 1959 law placed emphasis on gender equality by including provisions prohibiting arranged marriages and declar-ing polygamy illegal .18 Those two sensational thoughts of law, prohibition of arranged marriages and polyg-amy, were accepted by Vietnamese citizens, and the law has evolved constantly since then . The Law on Mar-riage and Family, amended in 2000, laid down all prin-ciples of the most recent version of the law, but a 2014 version added provisions that reflected concerns of the

time, such as same-sex marriage, surrogacy, and mar-riage with foreigners .

The Law on Marriage and Family as passed on June 19, 2014, by the Vietnamese National Assembly has 133 articles in 10 chapters . Key provisions of the law that are changes or new from the 2000 version include setting legally marriageable ages, allowing sur-rogacy with no compensation involved, and applying Vietnamese law on marriage and family to marriages involving foreigners .

Law on AdoptionThe Law on Adoption sets out the principles, condi-tions, and procedures for adoption; obligations of adoptive parents; and responsibilities of adoption agen-cies . With the purpose of ensuring the best interests of adopted children, the Law on Adoption fixes the pref-erence of adoptive families, from the closest relatives to foreigners residing overseas .

This law provides rules for domestic and inter-national adoption in two separate chapters, clearly dif-ferentiating the requirements and procedures to best protect children . There are 52 articles in five chapters, with clusters of articles on domestic adoption, another chunk on the international adoption, and some covers the responsibilities of adoption agencies; the rest are on general provisions including definitions and implemen-tation clauses .

Table 7 . Provisions of the Law on Residence


Citizen’s Residence Rights and Responsibilities Articles 9–17

Permanent Residence Registration Articles 18–29

Temporary Residence Registration, Stay Notification, Absence Declaration

Articles 30–32

Residence Administration Responsibilities Articles 33–39

Implementation Provisions Articles 40–42

Table 8 . Provisions of the Law on Marriage and Family


Getting Married Articles 8–16

Relationship Between Husband and Wife Articles 17–50

Termination of Marriage Articles 51–67

Relationship Between Parents and Children Articles 68–102

Relations Among Other Family Members Articles 103–106

Support Articles 107–120

Marriage and Family Relations Involving Foreign Elements

Articles 121–130



Law on ChildrenThe Law on Children, adopted on May 4, 2016, defines a child as a person younger than 16 years old . By setting out children’s rights and responsibilities, the law protects children by providing basic levels of education and care . Government authorities for the care and protection of children are designated in the law . The most import-ant features of the law are the provisions on appropriate conditions of employment for children, to prohibit traf-ficking of children and prevent child labor exploitation .

The law has 106 articles in six chapters, but few provisions related to CRVS .

as birth, marriage, and death, and other matters con-cerning certification thereof (Art . 1) . Family relation-ship registration in Korea was introduced as a response to the need for a new family registration system to replace the former system after the head-of-household system was abolished19 in January 1, 2008, through amendment of Civil Act (Act No . 7427, proclaimed and entered into force March 31, 2005) .

Act on the Registration, Etc . of Family Rela-tionships provides mainly for the recording and man-agement of events such as birth, marriage, and death . It was introduced to make it easier for the people to obtain certificates of family relations by, for example, enabling issuance of the certificates in various forms ac-cording to the purpose of issuance .

The Act on the Registration, Etc . of Family Rela-tionships consists of 124 articles in eight chapters .

Table 9 . Provisions of the Law on Adoption


Domestic Adoption Articles 14–27

Intercountry Adoption Articles 28–43

Responsibilities of State Agencies for Adoption Articles 44–49


Table 10 . Provisions of the Law on Children


Children’s Rights and Responsibilities Articles 12–41

Education and Care of Children Articles 42–46

Child Protection Articles 47–73

Children’s Participation in Issues Involving Children

Articles 74–78

Duties of Agencies, Organizations, Education Establishments, Families and Individuals to the Exercise of Children’s Rights and Responsibilities

Articles 79–102

Implementation Articles 103–106

South Korea

Act on the Registration, Etc. of Family RelationshipsIntroduction of the systemFamily relationship registration is registration of the establishment of and changes in family relations, such

Table 11 . Provisions of the Act on the Registration, Etc . of Family Relationships


Preparation of Family Relations Registers and Processing of Registration

Articles 9–15

Records of Registers Articles 16–19

Report Articles 20–103

Rectification of Register Articles 104–108

Objection Procedure Articles 109–113

Forwarding of Report Documents and Supervision by Court

Articles 114–116

Penalty Provisions Articles 117–124

Evolution of identity certification systemThe family relationships register is an electronic sys-tem in which an individual’s personal information is entered with other family members’ information , and the system also records times when a certificate is issued in what type . There is no paper-based regis-ter . The certification system has undergone significant reform to reinforce protection of personal information that the system devised three types of certificates—gen-eral, specific, and special . Each has different scope of


information shown, thus prevent unnecessary personal information to be revealed when obtaining a certificate . A general certificate shows only essential information such as current relationship status . A specific certificate shows one’s entire relationship history, such as divorce and adoption, and is for special uses only . Special cer-tificates show only the items that the applicant chooses .

Computerization of registrationRegistration is processed through a computerized sys-tem . To prevent loss of computerized registration data, a paper-copy of the register is prepared and maintained . For those who wish to use computerized registration data, there is a strictly regulated procedure to prevent misuse of information on family relations register .20 Use of computerized registration information for purposes other than the original purpose is prohibited .21

Act on Special Cases Concerning Establishment, Correction, and Adjustment of the Family Relation Register for Korean Nationals Residing Abroad (hereinafter “Act on Family Relation Register for Korean Nationals Residing Abroad”)The Act on Family Relation Register for Korean Nation-als Residing Abroad was enacted and implemented sepa-rately from the Family Relations Registration Act . It was originally enacted in 1967 as the Provisional Act on Spe-cial Cases Concerning the Acquisition of the Family Reg-ister for Korean Nationals Residing Abroad, which was wholly amended in 1973 as the Provisional Act on Spe-cial Cases Concerning the Acquisition, Correction and Adjustment of the Family Register for Korean Nationals Residing Abroad and again amended in 2000 as the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Acquisition, Correc-tion and Adjustment of the Family Register for Korean Nationals Residing Abroad . In 2007, the act underwent significant amendment and is being enforced as the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Establishment, Correc-tion, and Adjustment of the Family Relation Register for Korean Nationals Residing Abroad .

Originally this law was enacted to provide a stable livelihood for Korean nationals residing abroad because confirmation of nationality was necessary to obtain permanent residency in Japan . The law was de-signed especially those living in Japan, of whom there were approximately 100,000, when diplomatic rela-tions between Korea and Japan were normalized, who were without their “registered origin of family” and were finding it difficult to certify their nationality . The registered origin of family was established for those liv-ing abroad under this law, thus enabled Koreans in Ja-pan to obtain permanent residency .

At the time the act was enacted, its main purpose was to establish the family register of nationals residing abroad and of those who did not have the origin of family registered after the Korean War . Over time, the purpose changed to provide for necessary procedures of establishing family relationship register and changing information on the register for those who do not have a family relationship register or need theirs corrected, taking into consideration the needs of those residing abroad for a long time who cannot report changes in family relationships within the statutory period .

With only seven articles (Article 8 was delet-ed), the Act on Family Relation Register for Korean

Table 12 . Provisions of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Establishment, Correction and Adjustment of the Family Relation Register for Korean Nationals Residing Abroad

Purpose Article 1

Definitions Article 2

Application, etc. for Permission of Establishment, Correction or Adjustment of Family Relation Registers

Article 3

Attached Documents Article 4

Processing Application Article 5

Compilation, etc. of Family Relation Register Article 6

Bearing Expenses Article 7


Nationals Residing Abroad is designed for the special purpose of stipulating special cases .

Resident Registration ActEstablishment of the systemKorea’s resident registration system was established in the 1960s for administrative management purposes, with a focus on military administration and manage-ment of residents . Beginning in 1968, all people were issued a personal identification number, and it became mandatory to carry a resident registration certificate .

The Resident Registration Act was enacted in 1962, and stated the purpose of the law as “clearly as-certaining the residential status of residents and the movement of the population .” In other words, the pur-pose of this Act was to enable the government to keep track of the changes in the people’s residential status by ascertaining the residential status of residents, rather than to establish an effective administrative system to provide service to the people .

Changes due to arrival of the age of informationWith the arrival of the information age since the 1980s, the resident registration law has undergone a significant change . The system had been focused on verification and management of population changes, but was now designed to enhance administrative efficiency .

In 1987, a national basic information system project and administrative information system project were established and implemented, and an electronic resident registration system was established . Informa-tion on resident registration record cards, which had been hand-written, were stored in an electronic data-base, enabling various certificates to be issued through the electronic resident registration system . In addition, a computer network was established in every metro-politan administrative unit for efficient administrative operation .

Establishment of electronic systemsSince the beginning of the 2000s, the electronic resident regis-tration system has become more sophisticated . Online

inspection of resident registration information and is-suance of certificates became possible, and sharing of information among government ministries (via shared use of resident registration system)22 enabled residents to report various matters to the different government branches without submitting documents to each office . Awareness of the need for prevention of forgery and alteration of certificates led to adoption of fluorescent printing technology . Issuance of a certified copy or abstract of a resident registration record card via un-attended certificate issuer machines became possible, and 1,853 such machines had been installed by Janu-ary 2009 . People’s access to administrative services in-creased dramatically .23

Endnotes

1 For the purpose of this report, “Vital Statistics Regis-tration Act” means the Vital Statistics Registration Act passed on May 20, 2009, and entered into force on July 1, 2010 (partially entered into force on June 22, 2009) .

2 Vital Statistics Registration Act, art . 1(1) .3 Ibid. arts . 2(1), (3) .4 VS offices are rural municipal and city governments,

county governments, foreign missions of Estonia, or the Ministry of the Interior . Ibid . art . 3(2) .

5 For the purpose of this report, “Population Register Act” means the Population Register Act passed on May 31, 2000, and entered into force on August 1, 2000 (par-tially entered into force on January 1, 2001) .

6 Population Register Act, art . 1(1) .7 Ibid. art . 2 .8 Ibid. art .1(3) .9 For the purpose of this report, “Family Law Act” means

the Family Law Act passed on November 18, 2009, and entered into force on July 1, 2010 .

10 Establishment of Cause of Death Act, arts . 3–4 .11 The Registered Partnership Act was passed on October

9, 2014, and has been in force since January 1, 2016 .12 Registered Partnership Act, art . 1(1) .13 Ibid. art . 3(3) .14 Article 3361(1) Civil Code 1960: “(I) Art . 48–55, 57–70,

72–77, 79–131 and 133–145 shall not come into force until a day to be notified by Order published in the Negarit


Gazeta .” The Negarit Gazeta is the official federal govern-ment law gazette for the publication of all federal laws .

15 The Revised Family Law, Proclamation No . 213/2000 .16 “The Federal Government shall, within six months from

the coming into force of this Code, issue registration law applicable to the Administrations where this Code is to be enforced and establish the necessary institutions . (RPA)”

17 Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Proclamation No . 1/1995 .

18 For a description of the law, see http://family .jrank .org/pages/1741/Vietnam-Gender-Equity- Marriage-Family-Law-1959 .html .

19 Before this law was amended, family relationships were recorded based on the head-of-household system accord-ing to the Act on the Registration, Etc . of Family Rela-tionships . The head-of-household system was abolished after the Constitutional Court’s decision in 2005 that found it unconstitutional (KCCR 1, 2001Hun-Ga9, etc . and Constitution Art . 36–1) . This decision led to amendment of the Civil Act, which abolished the head-of-household system, which then brought the amendment of the Act on the Registration, Etc . of Fam-ily Relationships

20 Further information on Family Relations Register, see http://help .scourt .go .kr/nm/min_17/min_17_2/min_17_2_2/index .html (Supreme Court of Korea, last visited on June 12, 2017 .)

21 Any person who violates this provision shall be pun-ished by imprisonment with labor for not more than three years or a fine not exceeding ten million won . (Art . 117–2)

22 This service has been provided for 106 types of civil affairs administration since 2002 .

23 As of October 2015, 93 .1% of people had used admin-istrative services within the past year, and there were 38,120,000 administrative service users .As of October 2015, 89 .0% of individuals aged 16 to 74 were aware of electronic service, and there were 36,441,000 users .As of October 2015, 76 .7% of individuals aged 16 to 72 had used electronic services within the past year—4 .2 percentage points higher than the previous year’s rate (72 .5%) . http://www .index .go .kr/potal/main/EachDtl-PageDetail .do?idx_cd=2861 .

3 ANALYSIS OF LAWS ON CRVS SYSTEMS

UN Principles and Recommendations

The Principles and Recommendations that apply to the VS system consist of legal registration, statistical reporting, collection, compilation, and dissemination of sta-tistics for vital events . The vital events that should be accounted for are live birth, adoption, legitimations, recognition, death and fetal death, marriage, divorce, sep-aration, and annulment of marriage (UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs 2014) .

CR is defined as the continuous, permanent, compulsory, universal record-ing of the occurrence and characteristics of vital events of the population . Thus, CR allows collection of basic information on vital events that occur to the residents of a country within a specified timeframe, which becomes the basis for vital records with legal value and compilation of VS . Enactment of legislation that establishes an obligatory legal basis for registration is the best way to attain continuous, perma-nent recording of vital events .

The purpose of a national CR system is to record and store information on vital events and to permit recovery of the information for legal, administrative, statistical, and other necessary purposes . This is accomplished using a registration method because CR is conducted using legal documents, which are universally rec-ognized as a reliable source of VS . As such, a national CR system must be governed by certain principles (UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs 2014) .

The system must be compulsory . Solely establishing a law on registration is insufficient if it is not implemented with a punishable offense .

Universality of CR must be maintained to ensure that maximum value can be derived from the registration system for individuals and users of vital records . As such, registration must be applied to the entire population of a country .


Continuity and permanence of registration requires that there be an administratively stable authority to perform the necessary duties . Per-manence depends upon the CR law that pro-vides the authority for CR administration and is a requirement for the continuity of registration and VS information .

Confidentiality of the information must be protected so that that records can be used for research purposes without publicly disclosing the identity and characteristics of the individ-uals involved . Because of the importance of confidentiality, provisions for confidentiality of the information and protection for the privacy of persons should be included in the national CR law .

Other characteristics of a national CR system that should be implemented are (UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs 2014):

Designation of responsibilities and organiza-tional structures . Clear designation of duties and responsibilities with regard to registration; recording; custody of records; statistical report-ing; collection, compilation, analysis, presenta-tion, and dissemination of information; and crit-ical review and evaluation of the system should accompany assignment of functions .

Designation of the legally responsible informant for each classification of vital event . This defines who is legally required to report a vital event to the local registrar . When a vital event occurs in an institution, the recommendation is to desig-nate the institution as the informant .

Place of registration . A vital event will normally be registered where is occurred or the place of usual residence, but the law must clearly artic-ulate the place of registration for each type of event .

Time allowed for registration . This is the time-frame within which the informant must report

the occurrence of a vital event and the specifics to the registering authority . The period of time should be specified in the national registration law for each vital event . Although a shorter period of time is preferable, taking into account socioeconomic factors, a longer period of time may be warranted . Because the characteristics of each vital event differ, the time for registration does not need to be uniform for all events, but a requirement for timely reporting should be established . Uniform procedures and time peri-ods should be applicable throughout the coun-try, and the maximum period allowed between the occurrence and obligation to register a vital event should be shortened .

Cost of current registration . For full compliance with registration, the recommendation is that no fees be charged for registration of a birth, marriage, divorce, fetal death, or death that has occurred within the time period stipulated in the law, although fees may apply for issuance of cer-tificates and delayed registration .

Proof required for registration of vital events . Proof of the occurrence of a vital event from an informant can be documents, personal declara-tion, or both . Although documentary evidence is more reliable, there are instances in which docu-mentary evidence cannot be provided . As such, personal declarations should also be accepted as proof of an event . In such cases, the absence of documentary proof and when the local registrar is a trained official, empowering the official to determine when proof provided by a witness should be acceptable and when registration should be accepted solely on the basis of infor-mation supplied by the informant should be a possible resolution .Provision for late or delayed registration .

Provision for late and delayed registration of each vital event and the length of the delay should be included in the law . The documentary evidence that is acceptable should be stipulated, and the

Analysis of Laws on CRVS Systems 15

scale of fees associated with the duration of delay should be established .

The vital event registration record . Because the vital event registration record contains infor-mation on a vital event, the information is related to the characteristics of the event and the persons involved the event . Because the reg-istration record has legal value, it is subject to corrections and amendments throughout the lifetime of the concerned individual . As such, the recommendation is for development of a computerized system, although vital events can be registered manually . In circumstances in which manual techniques are used, a book or card register may be permitted . A book register will be in the form of a preprinted blank regis-tration form that is bound as a hardcover book that enables each vital event to be entered con-secutively as it is reported . Handwritten infor-mation is entered in the register, and a duplicate book register must be kept for backup . The card register records each vital event on an individ-ual form, and duplicates of records can be pre-pared using carbon paper, multi-copy forms, or photocopying .

Storing and preserving records of vital events . Storage and preservation are a significant consideration as records accumulate . Thus, space requirements for storing records must be assessed . In addition to storage of original records, adequate measures must be developed for sorting duplicate copies of original records . As such, duplicates should be stored in a differ-ent place than the originals .

Preservation and safety . Precautionary proce-dures should be devised to guard against threats to the safety and integrity of registration files .

Release of information on individual vital event records . The law should provide that informa-tion on individual vital event records will not be disclosed except to specifically authorized per-sons . Procedures for sharing files, including any

restrictions on use and permitted disclosures, should be stipulated .

Complementary notations (additions) in vital event registration records . The record of mod-ification should be made in a way to show the change . Additions or changes to the registration records must be made so as not to alter any of the original entries .

Amendments to vital records . Because records may need to be amended if a clerical or other error is made at the time of registration, provi-sions should be made in a statutory instrument for correction of errors . The person(s) with the responsibility to make corrections and under what circumstances corrections can be made should be specified . The courts in the appropri-ate jurisdiction and the CR authority may make corrections . Regardless of the authority, changes should be made so that every copy is amended . This requires that copies of changes be provided to all locations that maintain original or archival copies of the files .

Penalties associated with noncompliance with registration . Although countries may have pen-alties for noncompliance, the level of registration is low . Registration should be linked to penalties for those who fail to comply with the registra-tion law . Because penalties for failure to comply with registration are not always implemented, and the existence of late-filing penalties may be a deterrent to compliance at all, it is necessary to provide a basis for prosecution .

Estonia

In Estonia, county, city, and rural governments and the Tallinn Vital Statistics Office (vital statistics office) reg-ister births, deaths, marriages, and divorces, and make changes in VS data in the population register .1

The Family Law Act and the Vital Statistics Reg-istration Act regulate registration of vital events . The


Table 13 . Summary of UN Principles and Recommendations for Civil Registration Lawa

Vital EventOverriding Principles

Other Characteristics of a Civil Registration Law

Minimum Core Characteristics Specific to Each Vital Event That Should Be Provided for in the Law

Live Births 1. Continuity2. Permanence3. Compulsory4. Universal5. Confidentiality

1. Designation of responsibilities and organizational structure for civil registration

2. Legally responsible informant (can be an individual or institution)

3. Place of registration4. Time allowed for registration5. Cost of current registration6. Proof required for registration7. Late and delayed registration8. Vital event registration record9. Preparation of records10. Storage and preservation of

records11. Release of information on

individual vital event records12. Additional notations in records13. Amendments to vital records14. Penalties associated with

noncompliance

1. Date of occurrence and registration2. Place of occurrence3. Place of registration4. Type of birth (single, twins or more–multiple delivery)5. Attendant at birth6. Sex and weight at birth7. Date of birth of mother8. Marital status of mother9. Place of and duration at usual residence of mother10. Place and county of birth of mother11. Children born alive to mother during her lifetime12. Fetal deaths to mother during her lifetime13. Date of previous live birth14. Date of marriage15. Date of birth of father16. Marital status of father17. Place of usual residence of father

Deaths 1. Date of occurrence2. Date of registration3. Place of occurrence4. Place of registration5. Cause of death6. Certifier7. Date of birth of the deceased8. Sex of deceased9. Marital status of deceased10. Place of usual residence11. Place of usual residence of the mother (for deaths under

1 year of age)

Fetal Deaths 1. Date of occurrence of fetal delivery2. Date of registration3. Place of occurrence4. Place of registration5. Sex of fetus6. Date of birth of mother7. Children born alive to mother during her lifetime8. Fetal deaths to mother during her lifetime9. Date of last previous live birth10. Date of marriage11. Place of usual residence of mother12. Date of birth of father13. Place of usual residence of father

Marriages 1. Date of occurrence2. Date of registration3. Place of occurrence4. Place of registration5. Date of birth of bride and groom (separately)6. Place of usual residence

(continued on next page)


Table 13 . Summary of UN Principles and Recommendations for Civil Registration Lawa

Vital EventOverriding Principles

Other Characteristics of a Civil Registration Law

Minimum Core Characteristics Specific to Each Vital Event That Should Be Provided for in the Law

Divorces 1. Date of occurrence2. Date of registration3. Place of occurrence4. Place of registration5. Date of birth of divorcees (husband and wife separately)6. Date of marriage7. Place of usual residence

Annulments Other than the overriding principles and the characteristics of civil registration law, there are no core minimum characteristics associated with these topics.

Judicial Separations

Adoptions

Legitimation

Recognitiona This table is a summary of the principles that should be included in CR laws. The minimum core characteristics are a summary of Table III.3, “Topics and themes to be investigated for vital statistics purposes through the civil registration system” from the UN Principles and Recommendations for a Vital Statistics System, Revision 3, 2014, Topics and themes indicated with the symbol ♦ in Table III.3 have been listed in Table 13, minimum core characteristics of this report. In addition, for each vital event, overriding principles and other characteristics of civil registration laws are warranted in the UN Principles and Recommendation. For births, deaths, fetal deaths, marriages, and divorces, further minimum core characteristics should be included in civil registration laws.

Vital Statistics Registration Act requires VS offices to register births and deaths, certify marriages and divorc-es, make changes under the Family Law Act in the pop-ulation register arising therefrom, change and correct data entered in the population register, and issue ex-tracts of VS data in the population register .2

In processing VS data, VS offices are required to comply with the principles of purposefulness and re-strictive use provided in the Personal Data Protection Act .3 The principle of purposefulness enables VS offices to collect personal data only to achieve determined and lawful objectives and to process the data in a manner conforming to the objectives of data processing . The principle of restrictive use does not allow VS offices to use personal data for other purposes without the con-sent of the person concerned or the permission of a competent authority .

In general, therefore, registration of vital events in Estonia can be deemed continuous, permanent, compulsory, universal, and confidential, which means that the overriding principles have been included in the Estonian CRVS system .

BirthIn Estonia, the birth of a child should be registered in the population register if the child is born in Estonia, the residence of a parent of the child is in Estonia, or a parent of the child is an Estonian citizen .4

To register a birth, the legal representative of the child must submit an application to register a birth at a VS office in person within 1 month from the date of birth of the child . A VS office may extend this period up to 2 months .5

An application for registration of a birth should include the information specified in subsection 9(5) (box 1) and subsection 22(1) (box 2) of the Vital Sta-tistics Registration Act, and documents that certify the information should be appended to the application .6 If a guardian registers the birth of a child, the information provided in subsection 22(1) of the Act should be in-cluded in the application .7

A VS office should register the birth of a child within 7 working days from the date of receipt of an application for registration of the birth .8

(cont.)


DeathAccording to Estonian law, a person is considered dead if it has been established that all brain function or cir-culation has ceased completely and irrevocably .11 It is

Box 1Section 9. Application submitted to vital statistics office

(5) In addition to other data required by law, an application submitted to a vital statistics office shall set out the following data on the applicant:1) name2) personal identification code and, in the absence

thereof, date of birth and sex3) clearly worded content of the application4) information on place of birth5) data on residence6) contact details, including telephone number and e-mail

address7) citizenship8) marital status9) nationality10) mother tongue11) education12) area of activity.9

Box 2Section 22. Registration of birth

(1) The following data shall be entered in the population register upon registration of a birth:1) name, sex, date of birth, personal identification code,

place of birth and citizenship of the child2) personal identification code of the mother3) personal identification code of the father4) right of custody.10

Box 3The Establishment of Cause of Death Act provides that:

1) The death of a person who dies in the course of provision of independent nursing care shall be established by a nurse or a doctor;

2) The death of a person who dies at a hospital shall be established by an attending physician or a doctor on call;

3) The death of a person who dies outside of a hospital shall be established by a doctor or head of an ambulance crew; and

4) The death of a serviceman killed in an international military operation shall be established by the doctor belonging into the composition of the defense forces unit participating in the military operation or in the case of lack thereof by the doctor of military unit.

required that a doctor, a nurse, or the head of an ambu-lance crew establish death .12

VS offices must register a death if the person dies in Estonia, the last residence of the person who dies in a foreign country was in Estonia, or the person was an Estonian citizen who died in a foreign country .13

To register a death, the spouse or relative by mar-riage of the deceased person (or the head of an insti-tution providing health care services, a police officer, or another person who has information concerning the death) should submit an application to a VS office within 7 days after the date of death (or the date of discovering that the person died) .14

Box 4The following documents should be submitted to register a death:

• Application to register the death• Identity document (e.g., identity card, Estonian or foreign passport)

of the deceased person• Medical death certificate;• Identity document of the applicant.15

The VS office must then register the death with-in 3 working days after receipt of a corresponding application .16

Box 5The following data shall be entered in the population register for registration of death:

• name and personal identification code of the deceased person• place and time of death• place where the deceased person was found if place of death is

unknown• place of burial• changes in right of custody due to the death• termination of marriage• name and personal identification code of person submitting the

application for registration of death.17

Fetal DeathEstonian CRVS law provides that the birth of a stillborn child should not be registered pursuant to the proce-dure provided for the registration of birth .18 It also pro-vides that the death of a stillborn child must be certified


using a medical death certificate, not a death certificate (which shall not be issued to a stillborn child) .19

Therefore, fetal death is not subject to registra-tion of death in Estonia .

MarriageIn Estonia, a marriage is contracted between a man and a woman .20 Only adults may marry, but a court may grant a minor who is 15 years or older the exten-sion of active legal capacity for doing actions required to contract marriage and for exercising the rights and carrying out the obligations related to marriage .21 A marriage should not be contracted between relatives in the ascending and descending lines or between brothers and sisters or half-brothers and half-sisters .22

Persons who wish to marry should submit in person a joint written application for marriage at the VS office where they wish to marry or to a minister of religion authorized to perform the marriage .23 In the application, prospective spouses should express their wish to marry and confirm that there are no circum-stances preventing them from doing so .24

The following information should be includ-ed in an application for marriage: whether the couple wish to keep their current surnames or choose new surnames; whether a previous marriage has been ter-minated and the basis of termination; the desired time to contract marriage; whether the prospective spous-es wish their proprietary relationship to be subject to joint property, the set-off of assets increment or sep-arateness of property regulation deriving from the Family Law Act; the number of times the marriage to be contracted; the names and personal identification codes of any children of the prospective spouses; infor-mation on cohabitation preceding marriage; and the number of children to be living with them after they are married .25

The date of marriage should be determined upon agreement between the prospective spouses .26 A mar-riage should be performed at least 1 month after sub-mission of the application for marriage to a VS office

but within 3 months of the submission date, but a VS official, with a good reason, may reduce this period or extend it for up to 6 months .27

Box 6Along with an application for marriage, the following documents should be submitted.

• documents certifying the births of both prospective spouses• in the case of a second or subsequent marriage, a document

showing that the previous marriage• has been terminated or annulled• a court ruling regarding the extension of the active legal capacity

of a prospective spouse who is a• minor• a document certifying the elimination of other barrier to the

marriage• a certificate of legal capacity to marry if a prospective spouse’s

residence is in a foreign state or if• he or she has resided in Estonia less than 6 months• in case of foreigners, a document certifying a legal basis for the

stay in Estonia.28

DivorceAccording to the Estonian CRVS law, a marriage may be legally ended if a spouse dies or the couple is divorced .29

To divorce, the spouses must personally submit a joint written application to a VS office .30 The VS office, except for a notary,31 can grant a divorce upon agree-ment of the spouses on the basis of the joint written application if the spouses entered into, under Coun-cil Regulation (EU) No 1259/2010 implementing enhanced cooperation in the area of the law applica-ble to divorce and legal separation, an agreement on governing law under which Estonian law applies to the divorce or both spouses reside in Estonia and Estonian law applies to the divorce) .32 If one of the spouses can-not appear, for a good reason, at the VS office in person to submit an application for divorce, he or she may sub-mit a separate notarized application .33

If the spouses disagree about the divorce or the circumstances relating to the divorce (or if a VS office or a notary is not authorized to grant the divorce), a court may grant the divorce by judgement based on an action of one spouse against the other .34


Box 7Regarding application for divorce, the CRVS law provides that:

(1) In the application, the spouses shall express their wish to divorce and confirm that they have no disputes about the circumstances relating to the divorce. The application shall also contain the—time and place of the marriage being dissolved;• time and place of the marriage being dissolved;• surname after the divorce (if a spouse wishes to restore

the surname which was borne before the• marriage being dissolved or the surname which was

borne the first marriage)• the number of times the marriage was dissolved• the number of joint children

(2) A document certifying the contraction of the marriage shall be appended to the application for divorce.35

A divorce can be granted 1 month after submis-sion of the application but within 3 months from the submission date .36 The VS official should determine the date of divorce in consultation with both spouses .37 If a spouse cannot appear at the VS office for submission of a joint application for divorce for a good reason and submits a separate notarized application, the date of di-vorce should be determined in consultation with the spouse who submitted the application to the office .38

AnnulmentA court can annul a marriage if a requirement for mar-rying age or active legal capacity has been violated; the marriage is prohibited pursuant to sections 2–4 of the Vital Statistics Registration Act; the formal require-ments provided in subsections 7(2)-(4) of the Vital Statistics Registration Act have been violated; at least one spouse had a temporary mental disorder or was unable to exercise his or her will for any other reason at the time of the marriage; the marriage was fraudulent or was conducted under threat or threat of violence; the marriage was conducted with other intentions (in particular, with an aim to obtain a residence permit of Estonia); or the spouses are of the same sex because of sex reassignment during marriage .39 An action for annulment cannot be filed if a spouse has concealed his or her financial status .40

Box 8Section 2. Prohibition on consanguineous marriage

(1) A marriage shall not be contracted:1) between relatives in the ascending and descending lines;2) between brothers and sisters or half-brothers and half-

sisters.(2) The provisions of subsection (1) of this section apply even if

the family relationship between the persons has terminated as a result of adoption of one person.

Section 3. Prohibition on marriage in case of adoption relationship

A marriage shall not be contracted between persons whose family relationship specified in subsection

2(1) of this act is based on adoption.Section 4. Prohibition on several simultaneous marriagesA marriage shall not be conducted between persons of whom at

least one is already married.Section 7. Procedure for marriage

(2) A marriage is performed provided that prospective spouses express their will to marry before a vital statistics official are both present.

(3) The vital statistics official confirming the marriage shall ask both prospective spouses whether they want to contract marriage with the other party. A declaration of intention to contract marriage shall be unconditional.

(4) If both prospective spouses answer yes, the vital statistics official shall declare that, as of that moment, the parties are legal spouses.

An annulment must be registered in the popu-lation register according to the Vital Statistics Registra-tion Act .41

Judicial SeparationThe Estonian CRVS law does not recognize and pro-vide for judicial separation .

AdoptionIn Estonia, adoption is permitted if it is in the inter-ests of the child and there is reason to believe that a parent-child relationship will be created between the adoptive parents and the child .42

Only minors can be adopted,43 and a single per-son or married persons may adopt a child .44 A child can be adopted only with the consent of his or her parents (if applicable, the consent of a guardian), and the con-sent of a child is also required for adoption if he or she is 10 years old or older .45


According to the CRVS Law, a person should be 25 years or older to become an adoptive parent, but a court may allow a person aged 18 or older to adopt if he or she adopts his or her spouse’s child or if there is any other good reason for adoption .46

Although the Family Law Act does not expressly provide for registration of adoption, the Vital Statistics Registration Act requires that a VS office register adop-tion-related matters in the population register .47

LegitimationThere are no provisions in the CRVS law that establish legal grounds for the registration of legitimation .

The Family Law Act provides that mutual rights and obligations of parents and children arise from filia-tion relationship ascertained in accordance with proce-dures provided by law .48 This may serve as substantive grounds for legitimation but, without further statuto-ry provisions, may not serve as procedural grounds for registration of legitimation .

RecognitionIn Estonia, a woman who gives birth to a child is the mother of the child, and the father by whom a child is conceived is the father of the child .49 A man who is married to the mother of a child at the time of the birth of the child, who has acknowledged his paternity, or whose paternity a court has established is deemed to be the father of the child .50

Paternity can be acknowledged only if filiation of the child from the father has not been ascertained on the basis provided by law .51 Conditional or tem-porary acknowledgement of paternity is invalid un-der the Estonian CRVS law .52 Consent of the moth-er of the child is required for acknowledgement of paternity; such consent shall not be conditional or temporary .53

When acknowledgement of paternity is success-fully established pursuant to the CRVS law, the father of the child is registered as father in the population

register . Once a person has been entered in the popula-tion register as the father of the child, noncompliance with the requirements for application for acknowledge-ment under the CRVS law may no longer invalidate acknowledgement of paternity .54

If no man has been established as the father of a child pursuant to the relevant statutory provisions, the court must establish paternity .55 A court should establish filiation from the father on the basis of cir-cumstances leading to the presumption that the child descends from the person .An application for acknowl-edgement of paternity and the consent required for ac-knowledgement of paternity should be submitted to a VS office to verify .56

Box 9If paternity is acknowledged after the registration of the birth of a If paternity is acknowledged after registration of the birth of a child, the following data shall be submitted in the application for acknowledgement of paternity and grant of consent to acknowledge in addition to the data specified in subsection 9(5) of the Vital Statistics Registration Act:

• name, personal identification code, and citizenship of the child• name and personal identification code of the mother of the child• changes in a parent’s right of custody.57

Ethiopia

The United Nations recommends that countries col-lect and register information on births, marriages, divorces, and deaths (including fetal deaths) and may include annulments, judicial separation, adoptions, and acknowledgements (legitimation and recogni-tion) . As such, the CRVS law is the main statutory instrument for the prioritized vital events . For those nonprioritized vital events, other statutory instru-ments must be examined . In considering Ethiopia’s CRVS law, the scope of application (Article 3) must be defined, and the organizational structure and designa-tion of responsibilities for CR (Articles 4–9), register of civil status (Articles 10–16), procedures of registra-tion (Articles 17–23), copies and certificate of regis-tration of vital events (Articles 45–48), accessibility of


information (Articles 63–64), handling and safeguard-ing of information (Article 65), and penalties (Article 66) must be addressed . The reason for addressing these topics before the prioritized vital events (birth, death, fetal death, marriage, divorce) is that all provisions for these topics in the CVRS law are applicable to the pri-oritized vital events and the overriding principles and other characteristics associated with a national CR law (Table 13) .

Scope of Application (Article 3)Box 10This Proclamation shall apply:

• to any Ethiopian58 with respect to registration of vital events; and• to any Ethiopian who has attained majority with respect to the

issuance of national identity card.

The CRVS law stipulates that application of this law pertains to any Ethiopian . To define “any Ethiopian”, a Proclamation on Ethiopian Nationality (National-ity Law; No . 378/2003) must be read in conjunction with the CRVS law to define the scope of applica-tion . According to Article 3 of the Nationality Law, an Ethiopian national is a person with at least one parent of Ethiopian descent . The Nationality Law stipulates that any infant who has been abandoned in Ethiopia, unless evidentiary proof can be pro-vided that the infant is of foreign nationality, will be deemed to be born to an Ethiopian parent and thus acquire Ethiopian nationality .59 As such, the scope of the current CRVS law includes only persons who are of Ethiopian descent or infants who have been abandoned at birth .

Although operating principle (3) (Table 13) of the Principles and Recommendations is fulfilled with-in the CRVS law, the scope of application is limited to “any Ethiopian .” When read in conjunction with the Nationality Law, it can be seen that the CRVS law does not cover foreign nationals, foreign permanent residents, or migrant workers, although there are ex-ceptions that will be addressed when discussing specific vital events .

Organizational Structure and Designation of Responsibilities for CRThe Federal Vital Events Registration Agency (FVERA) is responsible for directing, coordinating, and support-ing registration at the national level and for centrally organizing and keeping the records of vital events .60 At the regional level, the responsibilities are similar to those at the federal level, with the exception that reg-istration and the support for registration occurs at the regional level to which, the records are to be transferred to FVERA .61 The regional organs must assign a civil status officer to each administrative office (weredas and kebeles) .62

To account for Ethiopians residing abroad or on board Ethiopian ships, the administrative office is the Ethiopian embassy or consulate in the country of resi-dence or the Ethiopian ship .63 For embassies and con-sulates, the ambassador must assign a civil status officer to the head of the consulate or an embassy staff mem-ber .64 On a ship, the captain is the civil status officer .65

Because registration occurs in the weredas and kebeles, these administrative offices consist of civil sta-tus officers . These officers are responsible for registering vital events, providing copies of records to the relevant organs, issuing certificates of registration to the con-cerned individuals, preserving records and ensuring confidentiality, creating awareness of vital events regis-tration, and executing other functions that the appro-priate regional organ delegates to them .66 The practical functions of vital registration in Ethiopia occur in dis-tricts and municipalities .

The organizational structure for civil registra-tion (CR) provides for a centralized and decentralized system wherein the centralized agency (FVERA) has responsibility for directing, coordinating, and moni-toring national CR work . The decentralized system is demonstrated through regional zones, weredas, and ke-beles . Specific works of CR are delegated to the weredas and kebeles, and the duties of the civil officer (local civil registrar) are fully provided for .67

Thus, provisions in the CRVS law are in adher-ence with overriding principles (2), (4), and (5) and


Figure 1 . Federal and regional vital events registration agencies, Ethiopiaa

Federal and Regional Vital Events Registration Agencies, Ethiopia

Regional Vital Events Council National Vital Events Registration Council Others, Registering Events• Ministry of Foreign Affairs• Ministry of Defence• Ethiopian Shipping Lines

National Vital Events RegistrationBoard of Management

Director General, Federal Vital EventsRegistration Agency

Regional Vital EventsRegistration Board of

Director General, Regional VitalEvents Registration Agency

Zone 1 Vital EventsRegistration Office

Zone… Vital EventsRegistration Office

Wereda ACivil Status Office

Wereda BCivil Status Office

Wereda ACivil Status Office

Wereda BCivil Status Office

Kebele ACivil Status Office




Kebele BCivil Status Office




Source: unstats.un.orgb

a Figures 1 and 2 show the authorities involved with registration of vital events in Ethiopia.b https://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/meetings/wshops/Ethiopia/2014/docs/Session10-Ethiopia.pptx.Addis Ababa comprises six zones and 28 weredas (districts). The city is divided into 328 dwelling associations or municipalities (kebeles), of which 305 are urban and 23 rural. See http://www.ethiopia.gov.et/stateaddisababa for definitions.

Figure 2 . Proposed work flow of birth registration from kebele to federal level

Proposed Work Flow of Birth Registration from Kebele to Federal Level

Others, Registering Events• Ministry of Foreign Affairs• Ministry of Defence• Ethiopian Shipping Lines

Federal Vital Events Registration Agency

Regional Vital Events Registration Office

Zone Vital Events Registration Office

Wereda Vital Events Registration Office

Issuing Certificates

Central Statistical Agency

Kebele Civil Status Office

Birth Occurred• Home• Health Facility

Death Occurred• Home• Health Facility

Marriage Occurred• Home• Health Facility

Divorce Occurred• Home• Health Facility

Source: unstats.un.orga

a Ibid.


other characteristics of a civil registration law (1), (8), (10), and (11) (Table 13) .

Register of Civil StatusFor individuals, copies of registration records are legal documents for identity, origin, date of birth, marriage, and death . Registration records also pro-vide information on vital events and serve important administrative and statistical purposes . The CRVS law requires a separate register for each vital event and that the register be bound, ensures the perma-nence of the record, provides a means for labeling the vital event and the place of registration, and provides for the official language of the register in the region and in Amharic .68

The registration form must be a three-page de-tachable form for each vital event, with copies sent to the concerned agencies and an index listing the events registered in chronological order; each publication of each civil status register will be given an exclusive code .69

The regional agencies are responsible for prepar-ing registers, in conjunction with VERA, and sending them to all administrative office in Ethiopia . VERA is responsible for preparing and distributing the registers that embassies and consulates, Ethiopian ships, and the Ministry of National Defense will use .70

The administrative offices must safeguard these registers, which must not be removed from the site un-less the civil officer has authorized it . If the register is lost, destroyed, or damaged, the civil officer must re-compile it using copies of the registration forms that have been provided to the concerned authority (which may be the federal, regional, or zonal offices) .71

The overriding principles of a CRVS system for the civil status register are continuity and permanence . In addition, the form and content of the registration form and how it is to be bound and copies distribut-ed are laid out in the Principles and Recommendations (2014) . As such, the current CRVS law is in accordance with other characteristics of a civil registration law (8)-(10) (Table 13) . At the regional level, all records are

hard copies (on paper) . Only at the federal level (cen-tralized) is there mention of a computerized database for storage of records .72

Procedures for RegistrationThe purpose for which the vital events information is to be used is expressly defined in the CRVS law . The CRVS law mandates that the informant of a vital event appear in person for registration, and upon registra-tion, it is the duty of the civil status officer to confirm with the informant the information as it appears in the register .73

The period for registration of any vital event, other than birth, which is 90 days, is 30 days from the date on which the event occurred, although there is a provision for delayed registration (with evidentiary proof to justify delay) .74

A three-page detachable form provided for each vital event must be completed in writing . If a mistake is made filling out the form, the mistake must be canceled using two diagonal lines across the form and a state-ment written on the back of the form with a mistake that the form is not in use .75

If the interested party requests that the form be corrected because of a clerical mistake (a word or number), the original word or number should be crossed out but left legible . If anything other than a clerical mistake needs to be corrected, a court judg-ment is necessary to change the record or to create a new record . The court judgment must be referenced in either of the circumstances for correction—change of the record or creation of a new record .76

Once the declarant has completed the registra-tion, he or she must sign it to validate the informa-tion . In the event that the declarant who is to confirm the information in the register cannot provide a sig-nature, an affixation of the declarant’s fingerprint will suffice as validation of the registration .77

Ethiopia’s CRVS law is consistent with the Principles and Recommendations, namely, overriding principle (1) and other characteristics of a civil regis-tration law (4), (6), (7), (12) and (13) (Table 13) .


Accessibility of InformationAt the federal agency level, the information that has been registered for vital events must be stored in a cen-tral database and provided only for purposes autho-rized in the CRVS law . In addition, information about an individual, by any person other than the indi-vidual, cannot be disclosed unless consent has been obtained by the individual or the court and a service fee is paid .78

The CRVS law fulfills the criteria of overriding principles (3) and (5), in addition to accounting for other characteristics of a civil registration law, such as (10) and (11) .

Handling and Safeguarding of InformationProvisions for handling and safeguarding information include that the information be made easily accessible, electronic data be protected from cyber-attacks, and paper documents be protected from natural disasters and stored in a place where the legibility of writing is maintained .79

The provisions in the CRVS law is in accordance with overriding principle (2) and other characteristics of a civil registration law (9) and (10) . As previously mentioned, the preparation, storage, and preservation of records should ideally be computerized, but comput-erization of records in Ethiopia is provided for only at the federal agency (VERA) .

PenaltyIn circumstances in which a vital event must be reg-istered within a time specified in the law, noncom-pliance with the obligation or procedures associated with the vital event is punishable by imprisonment or a fine . The subsections in the penalty provision (Article 66) describe additional circumstances that are punishable offenses and the punitive measures to be applied .

The obligatory nature of registration is further solidified through the punitive measures provided for in the CRVS law and in accordance with other charac-teristics of a civil registration law (14) .

BirthBirth is the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of conception, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy, which after such separation, breathes or shows any other evidence of life, such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles, whether or not the umbilical cord has been cut or the placenta is attached; each product of such a birth is considered live born . (All live-born infants should be registered and counted as such, irrespective of gestational age or whether alive or dead at the time of registration, and if they die at any time after birth they should also be registered and counted as deaths .) Article 4(1) of the Ethiopian 1960 Civil Code states:

Box 11(1) A child shall be deemed to be viable where he lives for forty-eight

hours after his birth, notwithstanding any proof to the contrary.(2) A child shall be deemed to be not viable where he dies less than

forty-eight hours after his birth.(3) The presumption laid down in sub-art. (2) may be rebutted by

proving the death of the child is due to a cause other than a deficiency in his constitution.

According to the CRVS law, the information that should be entered on the birth record includes ba-sic information about the child, the parent(s), or an in-formant to whom the declarant verifies the information provided with a signature or fingerprint (Article 24) .

Box 12Birth RecordsBirth records shall contain the following information:

1) child’s full name, sex, date of birth, place of birth, type of birth (whether single or more), aid rendered during birth

2) child’s parents’ full names, dates and places of birth, principal residence, marital status, citizenship, religion, ethnic origin, and signatures 3.

3) if declarant is other than child’s parent, declarant’s full name, relationship to child, sex, date and place of birth, principal residence, signature

4) name and signature of civil status officer, seal of administrative office, date of registration

5) other necessary information as appropriate federal organ determines


The person, institution, or government agency obligat-ed to declare the birth (Art . 26); the place where regis-tration must occur; and the closest administrative office to the principle residence of the parent(s) (Art . 28(1)) is stipulated in the CRVS law .

For a child who has been abandoned at birth, the provision of information is limited to the name of the child, sex, estimated age, and date when the child was found (Art . 25) . For these children, the name of the child is determined through enquiry or by the civil status officer providing a name (Art . 27) . Any person who has knowledge that a child has been abandoned has a duty to report such condition to the police or a government agency (Art . 26(2)) . Then, it is the duty of the police or government agency that receives this report to declare the birth at the nearest administrative office within 3 days of receipt of the report (Art . 26(3)) .

Box 13Records of Birth of Abandoned ChildThe records of birth of an abandoned child shall contain:

1) name given to child, sex, estimated age of child, and date and place where child was found

2) “abandoned child” written on the back of the registration form

For births that occur in a health institution, the head of the institution must provide a certificate that contains the relevant information so that the person obligated to declare the birth can present the certificate to the civil status officer (Art . 29) .

If a child is born to an Ethiopian parent and a foreign national, for the purposes of the CRVS law, the child is deemed to be Ethiopian, and the birth must be registered .

Overriding principle (3) and other characteristics of a civil registration law (1) – (14) are included in the CRVS law . With the minimum core characteristics for each vital event, with the exception of minimum core characteristics specific to each vital event that should be provided for in the law (11) – (13), the information provided is in accordance with the UN Principles and Recommendations . Because of the culture of Ethiopia,

where not all births take place in health institutions, information regarding assistance rendered during the birth is provided in the record, whereas evidentiary proof of birth is limited to births at health institutions . Furthermore, because there are children that have been abandoned, the information to be provided is limited to the necessary information of name (through enquiry or the responsible governmental authority providing a name for the child), sex, estimated age, and date and place where the child was found .

DeathDeath is the permanent disappearance of all evidence of life at any time after live birth has taken place . In reg-istering a death, the person(s) obligated to declare the death (Art . 39(1) & (2)) must fully provide the informa-tion for the records (Art . 38) . If a death is due to an acci-dent or unknown circumstance and the identity of the deceased is unknown, the duty to register the death lies with the police who received the report and must be reg-istered within 3 days of receipt of the report (Art . 39(3)) . Deaths should be registered at the nearest administra-tive office of the principal residence of the deceased; if the identity or principle residence is unknown, deaths should be registered at the administrative office closest to where the body was found (Art . 43(1) & (2)) .

Box 14Death RecordsDeath records shall contain the following information:

1) full name, title, sex, age, occupation, principal residence, citizenship, ethnic origin, and religion of the deceased

2) date, place, and cause of death and reference to evidence of the death, if any

3) name and signature of civil status officer, seal of administrative office, date of registration

4) other information that the appropriate federal organ deems necessary

For active duty military personnel, the com-manding officer of the deceased’s unit must register the death to the officer assigned by the Ministry of Nation-al Defense (Art . 40) .


If the death occurs in a common dwelling place, prison, or health institution, the head of the institu-tion must report the death within 5 days (Arts . 41(1) & (2)) . Deaths that occur in these institutions must be registered at the administrative office nearest to the institution (Art . 43(3)) .

If a health institution is involved (location of death or body brought for examination), the head of the health institution must prepare a death certificate and provide this document to the responsible person for registration of death (Art . 41(3)) as evidentiary proof .

The Ethiopian CRVS law accounts for the fol-lowing Principles and Recommendations: overriding principles (3), other characteristics of a civil registra-tion law (1) – (14), and minimum core characteristics specific to each vital event that should be provided for in the law (1) – (8) and (10) . The core charac-teristic of a certifier is fulfilled only when the death occurs at a health institution, during active duty, or at a communal residence (dwelling place or prison) because the head of the institution or the command-ing officer of the unit (for active duty members of the defense force) provides evidentiary proof . Mari-tal status is the only core characteristic that does not need to be provided .

Fetal DeathFetal death is the complete expulsion or extraction from the mother of a product of conception, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy . The fact that there is no life (breathing, heart beat, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definitive movement of voluntary muscles) is evi-dence of death . In Ethiopia, neither the CRVS law nor any other statutory instrument related to CR includes registration of this vital event .

MarriageMarriage is the act, ceremony, or process by which the legal relationship of husband and wife is constituted .

The legality of the union may be established by civil, religious, or other means as recognized in the laws of each country . For registration of marriage, the infor-mation that must be provided is listed in Article 30 in the CRVS law . The person who performs the marriage is obligated to register it . If the officiant is a civil status officer, he or she is responsible for registering the mar-riage immediately (Art . 31(1)) . If the marriage is a reli-gious or customary ceremony, the couple must register the marriage by providing evidentiary documentation provided by the religious institution or officiant (Arts . 31(2) & 33) .

Box 15Marriage RecordsMarriage records shall contain the following information:

1) spouses’ full names, dates and places of birth, principal residence, citizenship, ethnic origin, religion

2) date, place, and form of the marriage3) spoues’ signatures4) evidence or names and principal residences of witnesses of the

marriage, as the case may be5) name and signature of civil status officer, seal of administrative

office,

The couple must jointly decide where registra-tion is to occur: an administrative office where either of the spouses resided or the principal residence of the parents or close relative of either spouse (Art . 32) . At the place of registration, the civil status officer must sign and write his or her name, affix the seal of the ad-ministrative office, and provide the date of registration (Art .30(5)) .

The CRVS law accounts for all other character-istics of a civil registration (Table 13) and includes all minimum core characteristics specific to each vital event that should be provided for in the law . Because a civil status officer or an elder can perform a marriage in a customary or religious ceremony, if the marriage occurs before a civil status officer, the officer must register the marriage, but for any other type of marriage, the parties must register the marriage , with the elder providing evidentiary proof through a certificate of marriage . The


spouses must also indicate religious affiliation on the marriage record .

DivorceDivorce is the legal dissolution of a marriage—the sep-aration of husband and wife that confers on the parties the right to remarry under religious and other provisions according to the laws of each country . With respect to registration procedures, the information that must be provided is stipulated in Article 34 of the CRVS law . Evi-dentiary proof must be provided from a competent court for the divorce (Art . 34(3)), to both partners (Art . 37) . According to Article 34(4), once the information has been provided, the civil status officer must print his or her name and sign the record, affix the seal of the admin-istrative office, and indicate the date of registration .

Box 16Divorce RecordsDivorce records shall contain the following information:

1) full name, date and place of birth, principal residence, citizenship, ethnic origin, and religion of each divorcing partner

2) date and place of conclusion of the marriage and date of divorce3) a reference to the decision of the competent court on the divorce4) name and signature of civil status officer, seal of administrative

office, date of registration5) other information that the appropriate federal organ deems

necessary

The partner(s) that presents the decision by the competent court to the civil status officer must register the divorce (Art . 35) at the administrative office nearest to where the divorce occurred .

The other characteristics of a civil registration law and minimum core characteristics specific to each vital event that should be provided for in the law (Table 13) must be complied with . Noncore characteristics that have been accounted for in the CRVS law are the ethnic or-igin and religious affiliation of the partners . Divorce is the only vital event for which evidentiary proof, through a decision of the competent court, must be provided, which means that divorce occurs only with a decision of the court .

AnnulmentAnnulment of a marriage is the invalidation or voiding of a marriage by a competent authority that confers the status of never having been married . Annulment does not need to be registered in Ethiopia and is not addressed in the CRVS law or any legislation pertain-ing to CR, although in the Revised Family Law 2000, if there is a fundamental error (Art . 13) after a mar-riage has been performed, the marriage is invalidated (box 17) .

Box 17Revised Family Law 2000 Article 13. Fundamental Error.1) Marriage concluded as a result of error in consent shall not be

valid.2) Consent is deemed to be vitiated as a result of error where such

error is a fundamental error.3) Without prejudice to the provisions of Sub-Article (2) of this

Article, the following shall be considered to be fundamental errors:(a) error on the identity of the spouse, where it is not the person

with whom a person intended to conclude marriage;(b) error on the state of health of the spouse who is affected

by a disease that does not heal or that can be genetically transmitted to descendants;

(c) error on the bodily conformation of the spouse who does not have the requisite sexual organs for the consummation of the marriage;

(d) error on the behaviour of the spouse who has the habit of performing sexual acts with person of the same sex.

Box 18Article 19. Form and Time of Opposition1) Opposition to marriage shall be made in writing and submitted to

the officer of civil status within fifteen days from the notification of the marriage.

2) The civil status officer shall receive the opinion of the future spouses before deciding on the opposition.

Article 20. Decision on the Opposition1) The officer of civil status shall decide on the opposition within five

days.2) The decision of the officer to celebrate the marriage shall be

final.3) Where the opposition is sustained, the officer of civil status shall

refuse to celebrate the marriage.4) In such case, the civil status officer shall give reasons for his

refusal and inform the same forthwith to the future spouses.


In such case, the offended spouse submits a peti-tion, in writing, to the civil status officer . The petition is to be submitted 15 days from the date of notification and opinions are requested from the spouses before de-ciding to invalidate a marriage .80 The decision of the civil status officer is to be made within 5 days, and he or she will inform the spouses as to the reason(s) for per-mitting the annulment . The officer’s decision is final .81

Judicial SeparationJudicial separation is the dissolution of marriage with-out conferring a right to remarry on either party . The Ethiopian Revised Family Law 2000 does not specifi-cally mention judicial separation, but there are circum-stances in which the court could order judicial separa-tion if the spouse(s) petition the court for divorce .82 If there is no willingness by the parties to renounce the intention for divorce, the court can dismiss the par-ties petition for a period of not more than 3 months .83 After this 3-month period is completed, the parties may reapply to the court for divorce within 6 months .84

Box 19Article 76. Conditions of Decision for Divorce.Marriage shall dissolve by divorce where:(b) the spouses or one of them made a petition, for divorce, to the court.

Article 78. Power of the Court.2) In the event that the spouses did not show willingness to

renounce their intention to divorce, the court may, having regard to circumstances, dismiss them, giving a cooling period of not more than three months.

Article 79. Re-application.1) Where the spouses did not change their intention to divorce

within the cooling period given to them under Article 78 (2), they may re-apply to the court to approve their agreement to divorce within six months from the last date of such cooling period.

AdoptionAdoption is the legal and voluntary taking and treating of the child of other parents as one’s own, in so far as pro-vided by the laws of each country . Although adoption in

Ethiopia is provided for in the Revised Family Code 2000, there are no procedures for the registration of adoptions . An adoption in Ethiopia becomes effective only after the court’s approval of the adoption agreement .85

Box 20Article 194. Power of the Court.1) An agreement of adoption shall be of no effect unless it is

approved by the court.

LegitimationAcknowledgement (legitimation) is the formal invest-ing of a person with the status and rights of a person born in wedlock, according to the laws of each country . The Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (Constitution) provides the basis that all Ethiopians are conferred with the rights and status of Ethiopians .86 As such, specifically for birth, legitima-tion occurs when the parent(s) register the child accord-ing to the CRVS law . Although, there are no express terms in the CRVS that provide for legitimation, it can be stated that the application of the CRVS laws fulfill the requirements for legitimation .

RecognitionRecognition is the voluntary or compulsory legal acknowledgement of the paternity of a child born out of wedlock .87 For the purpose of registration, the pre-sumption and acknowledgement of paternity is pro-vided for in the Revised Family Law 2000 (Arts . 126–142) . Judicial declaration of paternity (recognition) (Arts . 143–145) is provided for in the Revised Family Law 2000 . Once recognition is provided for through the presumption, acknowledgement, or judicial recog-nition of paternity, the provisions for the registration of birth in the CRVS law applies, although applica-tion of the law would be limited to live births .

Although the CRVS law does not expressly pro-vide for recognition, the presumption is that recogni-tion could be deemed as a supplement to be included in the vital events registration system .


Vietnam

BirthThe Vietnamese Law on Civil Status has provisions that make birth registration continuous, permanent, com-pulsory, and universal, but confidentiality of the CR system is not factored in the law .

The Vietnamese CR system should continuous-ly add new records and make amendments to existing records as events occur, thereby maintaining its con-tinuousness . In the Law on Civil Status, once a record has been registered in the civil status book, every sub-sequent event shall be updated in the electronic data-base,88 making the CR record continuous .

Box 21Article 5. Principles of civil status registration5. Once having been registered in the civil status book, every civil status event shall be fully and promptly updated in the electronic civil status database.

Everyone permanently residing in Vietnam has the obligation to register civil status and the right to have their status registered .89 The same provision ap-plies to Vietnamese citizens, stateless persons, and for-eign citizens permanently residing in Vietnam, making birth registration universal . A provision stating that commune- and district-level coverage co-exist to cover all registration in different localities is evidence of the universality of the birth registration .

Box 22Article 6. Civil status registration right and obligation of individuals1. Vietnamese citizens and stateless persons permanently residing in Vietnam have the civil status registration right and obligation. This provision also applies to foreign citizens permanently residing in Vietnam, unless otherwise provided by a treaty to which Vietnam is a contracting party.

When considering whether every birth occur-ring in the country is registered irrespective of the cit-izenship of parents, the Law on Civil Status provides guidance with partial coverage, leaving some people out . Article 6–1, the provision showing the compulsory

nature of the law, states that the law applies to foreign permanent residents as well . Births to foreign perma-nent residents are covered and must be registered under this law, seemingly making this law applicable to all, but although foreign permanent residents are specifical-ly mentioned, other types of noncitizens such as undoc-umented migrants are excluded . Registration of births to Vietnamese nationals abroad requires special atten-tion and consideration because it takes place out of the state’s jurisdiction, yet the baby is still Vietnamese, and the government has a duty to protect the child . The Law on Civil Status has a separate provision for births occurring abroad and a designated representative mis-sion for registration of such overseas birth .90 The law vested representative missions with the duty to register civil status matters, including births, for Vietnamese citizens residing abroad .

Box 23Article 7. Competence to register civil status3. Representative missions shall register civil status matters specified in Article 3 of this Law for Vietnamese citizens residing abroad.

Box 24Article 13. Competence to make birth registrationCommune-level People’s Committees of the places of residence of fathers or mothers shall make birth registration.

As a general rule, births are registered where they take place or in the usual residence of the mother . Vietnamese law follows the rule with having the usual residence as the registration place without designating which parent, thus the place of registration may be the government office of the place of residence of the father or mother .91

Any individual may file for any civil status reg-istration, including birth, at the civil status registration agency in the registered place of residence or the actual place of living .92 Depending on whether it is the father or the mother who files for the registration of the baby’s birth, the birth should be registered at the registration agency in the place of residence or place of living of the registering parent .


Box 254. Every civil status event shall be registered at only one competent civil status registration agency in accordance with this Law. An individual may make civil status registration at the civil status registration agency in his/her registered place of permanent or temporary residence or the place where he/she is living. For an individual who does not register in his/her place of permanent residence, the district-level People’s Committee, commune-level People’s Committee or representative mission which has registered such individual’s civil status shall notify the civil status registration to the commune-level People’s Committee of the place where he/she permanently resides.

The law also specifies special circumstances, including that, when one or both parents are foreign-ers, stateless persons, or Vietnamese citizens resid-ing abroad, the birth must be registered at the dis-trict-level people’s committee of place of residence of either parent .93 Although those special scenarios are provided for in the law, other similarly rare cases, such as birth occurring in a moving vehicle and fetal death, are not .

Box 26Article 35. Competence to register birthDistrict-level people’s committees of places of residence of fathers or mothers shall register birth for children in the following cases:1) Children born in Vietnam:

a. Having a parent being a Vietnamese citizen and the other being a foreigner or a stateless person;

b. Having a parent being a Vietnamese citizen residing in the country and the other being a Vietnamese citizen residing abroad;

c. Having both parents being Vietnamese citizens residing abroad;

d. Having both parents being foreigners or stateless persons.2) Children born abroad with their birth not yet registered abroad

and taken to reside in Vietnam:a. Having both parents being Vietnamese citizens;b. Having a parent being a Vietnamese citizen.

How births are registered and birth certificates are issued when a baby is born at a health facility or at home are also important aspects of registering births because the rules on registration specify the person responsible for notifying the civil registrar . Under the Law on Civil Status, there is no difference in the pro-cedure for reporting and registering a birth for a home birth and a health facility birth . A close family member

usually registers the child’s birth if the parents are not available, and this takes place with the justice and civil status officer .94 When birth registration is completed, the chairperson of the commune-level people’s com-mittee issues a birth certificate .95

Box 27Article 16. Birth registration procedures2. … Justice and civil status officers and birth registrants shall together sign in the civil status books. Chairpersons of commune-level People’s Committees shall grant birth certificates to birth registrants.

Parents or, if they are not available, other fam-ily members are obliged to register the baby’s birth .96 Full name, sex, date of birth, native place, ethnicity, and citizenship information must be included when registering .97

Box 28Article 14. Birth registration contents1. Birth registration contents include:

a. Information of the person whose birth is registered: family name, middle name and first name; sex; birthdate; birthplace; native place; ethnicity; and citizenship;

b. Information of the parents of the person whose birth is registered: full name, middle name and first name; year of birth; ethnicity; citizenship; and place of residence;

c. The personal identification number of the person whose birth is registered.

2. The determination of citizenship, ethnicity and family name of a person whose birth is registered must comply with the law on Vietnamese nationality and civil law.

3. Contents of birth registration specified in Clause 1 of this Article are basic civil status information of individuals and shall be recorded in the civil status books and birth certificates and updated in the electronic civil status database and national population database. Dossiers and papers of individuals related to birth registration information must be consistent with their birth registration contents.

The Government shall stipulate the grant of personal identification numbers to persons whose birth is registered.

Such registration must be filed within 60 days from birth,98 or the registrant may be subject to fees .99

Box 29Article 11. Civil status fees1. Civil status fees shall be exempted in the following cases:b. Birth and death registration on time, …


Veracity of CR is critical in CRVS laws . If a birth is registered with false information, the registrant may be subject to administrative penalties or penal liabili-ty,100 and the civil servants may be disciplined .101

Box 30Article 12. Prohibited actsa. Providing untruthful information and documents, forging or using forged papers or papers of other persons for civil status registration;3. Individuals who commit any act specified in Clause 1 of this Article shall, depending on the nature and seriousness of their acts, be administratively handled or examined for penal liability in accordance with law.Cadres or civil servants who commit the provisions of Clause 1 of this Article shall, in addition to being handled as above, be disciplined in accordance with the law on cadres and civil servants.

DeathSimilar to birth registration, death registration must be continuous, permanent, compulsory, universal, and confidential . In the Vietnamese Civil Status Law, death registration is continuous, compulsory, and universal, but still lacks confidentiality provisions . By mandating records be updated electronically,102 the law guarantees that registration of death is continuous and permanent . Registering death is an obligation for all citizens and res-idents,103 thus meeting the compulsory requirements . Like birth registration, deaths can be registered at the commune-level people’s committee or a district-level committee, depending on the circumstances, satisfying the universality requirement .

The Law on Civil Status also requires that deaths of for-eign permanent residents104 and foreigners105 be registered .

Box 31Article 6. Civil status registration right and obligation of individuals1. Vietnamese citizens and stateless persons permanently residing in Vietnam have the civil status registration right and obligation. This provision also applies to foreign citizens permanently residing in Vietnam, unless otherwise provided by a treaty to which Vietnam is a contracting party.

When a Vietnamese national dies abroad, the re-cord of death is transmitted into Vietnam for registra-tion . Deaths should be registered with the district-level

people’s committee of the last place of residence .106 When someone who had taken up residence in Vietnam dies, the death should be registered with the commune-level people’s committee of the last place of residence .

Box 32Article 51. Competence to register death1. District-level people’s committee of the last place of residence

of deceased persons shall register death for foreigners or Vietnamese citizens residing abroad who die in Vietnam.

2. In case it is impossible to identify the last place of residence of a deceased person as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article, the district-level People’s Committee of the place where such person dies or his/her body is found shall register his/her death.

When a death is registered, the law specifies only that declarations and death notices must be filed within 15 days of death . If registration is late, a fee is charged . If a death registration is filed with false information, the informant may be subject to administrative penalties or penal liability,107 and civil servants may be disciplined . Death registration must be filed with declarations that were made in a standard form provided by the govern-ment agency .108

Box 33Article 34. Death registration procedures1. Persons responsible for death registration shall submit

declarations, made according to a set form, and death notices or other substitute papers to the civil status registration agency.

Fetal DeathThere is no provision for registration of fetal death in the Vietnamese Law on Civil Status .

MarriageUnder the Vietnamese Law on Marriage and Family and the Law on Civil Status, only one type of marriage is specified and legally recognized—between a man and a woman—with no same-sex marriage recognized under the law . The newly enacted Law on Marriage and Family abolished the ban on same-sex marriage, yet the new law neither legally recognizes nor authorizes


same-sex marriage or any other legal relationship, such as civil union, between same-sex couples, leaving same-sex couples unprotected . The only type of mar-riage that has legal effect under Vietnamese law is one registered at the civil status registration agency at the commune-level people’s committee .109

Box 34Article 17. Competence to register marriage and contents of marriage certificates1. Commune-level people’s committees of the place of residence of

the male or female partner shall make marriage registration.

Box 35Article 18. Marriage registration procedures1. The male and female partners shall submit the marriage

registration declaration, made according to a set form to the civil status registration agency, and must be both present at the time of marriage registration.

2. Immediately after receiving complete papers specified in Clause 1 of this Article, if seeing that the marriage conditions are fully met in accordance with the Law on Marriage and Family, the justice and civil status officer shall record the marriage in the civil status book and together with the male and female partners sign in the civil status book. The male and female partners shall both sign the marriage certificate; the justice and civil status officer shall report to the chairperson of the commune-level people’s committee to organize the handover of the marriage certificate to the couple. In case of necessity to verify the marriage conditions of the male and female partners, the time limit for settlement is 5 working days.

The matter of the time allowed for registering marriage stands out in Vietnamese law, because offici-ating and registering a marriage may be a two-step pro-cess in other countries while in Vietnam, registration of marriage itself constitutes legal marriage, thus no separate time period is provided for registration . Where a marriage registration should be filed depends on the place of residence of the bride or the groom, which may be decided between the couple .110

The Law on Marriage and Family and the Law on Civil Status do not account for special circumstanc-es such as for refugees, undocumented migrants, inter-nally displaced persons, stateless persons, and nomadic populations . Instead, the Law on Civil Status applies generally to all permanent residents of Vietnam .111

The only document required to submit for mar-riage registration is the marriage registration declara-tion .112 Unlike in western countries, where a marriage license is generally required to register a marriage, Viet-namese law simplifies the process from the two-step process of obtaining a license and then registering mar-riage once it has been performed to a process in which the marriage needs only to be registered at the civil of-fice . Upon registration of the marriage at the civil of-fice, the couple is awarded a marriage certificate, which lists family name, middle name, first name, birth date, ethnicity, citizenship, place of residence, information about personal identity papers, date of marriage reg-istration, signatures or fingerprints of the couple, and certification from the civil status registration agency . Information to be collected at the time of the marriage, although divided into core and noncore group in the UN Principles and Recommendations for Civil Reg-istration Law, is not divided in the Vietnamese legal system . When registering, a standard form of marriage declaration is used . The information transferred from the standard form is registered in the Civil Book and an electronic database . When modification or anno-tation of the registration record is needed (e .g ., name change, error, disputed entry), the State agency can make corrections .113 To request a change in the regis-tration record, a declaration should be submitted with the changes that need to be made, and other necessary documentary evidence should be included .114

Box 36Article 28. Procedures for registration of civil status change andcorrection1. Requesters for registration of civil status change or correction

shall submit declarations, made according to a set form, and relevant papers to the civil status registration agency.

For Vietnamese couples (or if one partner is Viet-namese) residing and marrying overseas, the marriage must be registered through the representative mission, as in the case of birth and death .115 When Vietnamese citizens residing in Vietnam register a marriage, no fee is charged,116 but there is no mention of whether foreign


nationals residing in Vietnam or Vietnamese citizens residing abroad are subject to any fees for registration .

The Law on Marriage and Family sets out the minimum age of marriage as 20 for men and 18 for women .117

Box 37Article 8. Conditions for getting married1. A man and a woman wishing to marry each other must satisfy

the following conditions:a. The man is full 20 years or older, the woman is full 18 years

or older

DivorceIn the Law on Civil Status, like birth, death, and mar-riage, an explicit section is provided mandating regis-tration of divorce in one’s civil status .118

Box 38Article 3. Contents of civil status registration2. Recording in the civil status book civil status changes of an individualaccording to a judgment or decision of a competent state agency:dd. Divorce, cancellation of illegal marriage, recognition of marriage;

The Law on Marriage and Family prohibits any-one from marrying a married person who is not di-vorced (or widowed) and registered accordingly .119

Box 39Article 10. Persons having the right to request annulment of illegal marriage2. The following persons, agencies and organizations have, as

prescribed by the civil procedure law, the right to request a court to annul an illegal marriage due to violation of Point a, c or d, Clause 1, Article 8 of this Law;a. The spouse of a married person who marries another

person; parent, child, guardian or another at law representative of a person who gets married illegally;

Divorce must be registered on the individual’s civil status record by the civil status registration office .

Although the Law on Civil Status has a separate provision on registering divorce, divorce registration is not weighed heavy enough to have a separate section in

the law om the Law on Civil Status . The Principles and Recommendations for a Vital Statistics System provide that, when the divorce occurs at a place other than the place of marriage registration and the divorce is to be registered where it occurs, provision should be made for notifying the original place of marriage registration about those changes so that complementary notations can be made in the marriage record . Apparently, regis-tering divorce is considered as important as registering marriage, and such treatment is proper because divorce is inherently intertwined with marriage . When com-pared with the Principles and Recommendations for a Vital Statistics System and the importance of divorce registration in it, the laws of Vietnam has less provi-sions on registering divorce .

AnnulmentThere is a single provision on annulment registration (cancellation of illegal marriage) in the Vietnamese Law on Civil Status, treated with the divorce registration . The Law on Marriage and Family provides grounds for annulment, stating that a person forced or deceived into a marriage has the right to request that a court annul the marriage .120 As for registration of such annulment,

Box 40Article 11. Handling of illegal marriage1. A court shall handle illegal marriage in accordance with this law

and the civil procedure law.2. In case at the time of a court’s settlement of a request for

annulment of an illegal marriage, both partners fully satisfy the marriage conditions prescribed in Article 8 of this law and request recognition of their marriage relation, the court shall recognize that relation. In this case, the marriage relation shall be established from the time both partners fully satisfy the marriage conditions as prescribed by this Law.

3. A court’s decision annulling an illegal marriage or recognizing a marriage relation shall be sent to the agency having registered that marriage for recording in the civil status register; to the two partners of the illegal marriage; and to related persons, agencies, and organizations as prescribed by the civil procedure law.

4. The Supreme People’s Court shall assume the prime responsibility for and coordinate with the Supreme People’s Procuracy and the Ministry of Justice in guiding this article.


the deciding court sends the decision to the agency that registered the marriage .121

Judicial SeparationThere is no legal definition, recognition, or registration of judicial separation in the Vietnamese legal system .

AdoptionThe Law on Adoption outlines the principles, condi-tions, and procedures for domestic and international adoption and lays out obligations for adoptive parents and responsibilities for adoption agencies to serve the best interests of children and find the best fit for them through rigorous reviews of the conditions presented by the adoptive parents . There are no meaningful pro-cedural rules included in the Law on Adoption that are relevant to registering adoption as a civil event in the system . Because adoption creates changes in fam-ily relationships and civil status, the provision on the record changes on civil status should also be applicable to adoption .122 123

Box 41Article 3. Contents of civil status registration2. Recording in the civil status book civil status changes of an

individual according to a judgment or decision of a competent state agency:d. Adoption and adoption termination;

Box 42Article 26. Scope of civil status change1. Change of family name, middle name and first name of

individuals in birth registration contents when there are grounds as prescribed by the civil law.

2. Change of information about parents in birth registration contents after being adopted as children in accordance with the Law on Adoption.

The Law on Children provides that children have the right to have their parents defined as regulated by laws .124 When applied to an adopted child’s case, the adopted child has the right to have his or her adopted parents defined as parents under the Law on Adoption .

Having adoptive parents as the parents means changes of civil status, thus such change must be registered .

Box 43Article 13. Right to birth registration and nationalityChildren have the right to be registered for birth or death, have the right to a legally registered full name and a nationality. Children also have the right to have their parents, ethnic groups and sex defined as regulated by laws.

LegitimationThe Law on Children ensures children’s right to have parents defined as regulated by laws .125 Legitimation of a child is formal vesting of legal rights to a child as if the child had been born to a married couple and thus includes defining and relating parent(s) with the child . No other procedural regulations are found in any of the laws related to the child’s rights or to CR .

RecognitionThe Law on Children provides that children have the right to know their natural parents126 .

Box 44Article 23. Right to be reunited and stay in contact with parent(s)Children have the right to know their natural parents, unless this might have an adverse effect on them. They are entitled to stay in touch or contact with both parents when they or their parent(s) resides (reside) in different countries or are detained or expelled. They also have their immigration facilitated to be united with their parent(s). In addition, children are protected from illegal transport outside the territory of Vietnam and provided with information when their parent(s) is (are) missing.

This law stipulates the rights of children to rec-ognize paternity, but it fails to provide procedures on registering or recording paternity on the civil status register .

Instead of the Law on Children, the Law on Civil Status in section 4, the procedure for registration of parent and child recognition is explained . The com-mune-level people’s committee of the parent’s or child’s place of residence shall register the recognition .127


Box 45Article 25. Procedures for registration of parent and child recognition1. Requesters for registration of parent and child recognition shall

submit declarations, made according to a set form, and evidence proving relationship between father and child or mother and child to the civil status registration agency. All parties must be present upon registration of parent and child recognition.

The civil office has a set form to be used to re-quest registration of recognition .128 Along with the completed request form, evidence proving parental re-lationship should be submitted, in person, to the civil status registration agency .129 When all documents are submitted to the satisfaction of the registration agency, the justice and civil status officer shall record registra-tion of the recognition in the civil status book with-in 3 working days of the submission .130 At the time of such registration, parent and child must sign the civil status book, and such registration is reported to the chairperson of the commune-level people’s commit-tee to issue an extract to the requesting parent(s) and child .131 The period of time may be extended up to 5 working days if necessary to verify facts before making a determination .132

South Korea

BirthBirth registration under the Act on the Registration, Etc . of Family Relationships of Korea provides contin-uous, permanent, compulsory, universal, and confiden-tial birth registration under the law, as recommended in the Principles and Recommendations . The CR system continuously adds new records and amends existing records as events occur . In Korea, an original domi-cile may be altered in accordance with the procedure as the Supreme Court Rules prescribe .133 Records are preserved for future use . In Korea, the head of a Si/Eup/Myeon134 shall process registration through a comput-erized information processing system .135 CR law man-dates registration,136 and registration does cover the entire country or territory, satisfying the universality

requirement . Those who provide information must be assured that it will be used only for the purposes pre-scribed by law or in aggregate form so that individuals are not identifiable .137

Box 46Article 11 (Processing of Registration, etc. through Computerized Information Processing System)6) No person who maintains registers, etc. nor any person who

processes registration shall use computerized information data on the registered matters entered in registers, etc. (hereinafter referred to as “computerized registration data”) or provide them to other persons (including corporations) for reasons other than those prescribed by this act or other acts.

Regardless of the citizenship of the parents, whether both are Korean138, one parent is a foreign national139, or parents with multinationality140, every birth occurring in Korea must be registered . Births oc-curring abroad may be reported to a family relation reg-istration office overseas .141 Typically births are reported at the place of birth .142

Box 47Article 45 (Place of Report of Birth)(1) The report of birth may be filed at the place of birth.

The Korean Family Relationship Registration Act provides for abandoned children and their registra-tion of birth, with the head of a Si/Eup/Myeon office es-tablishing a new surname and recording the birth in the register,143 yet other special circumstances, such as for refugees, undocumented migrants, internally displaced persons, stateless persons, and nomadic populations are not incorporated in the law, although the law provides for births occurring in moving vehicles, stating that the place where the mother left the vehicle should be where the birth is filed and registered .144

Box 48Article 45 (Place of Report of Birth)(2) The report of birth may, if the child was born on a train or any

other means of transportation, be filed at the place where the mother left such means of transportation and if the child was born in a ship where a logbook was not kept, at the port at which the ship first arrived.


When a baby is born to a married couple, wheth-er at a health facility, home, or other place, the father or mother must notify the civil registrar145 . When a child is born out of wedlock, the mother must file the report of birth . If the person who is supposed to file a report is unable to do so, a relative living with the family or the doctor, midwife, or any other person involved in the delivery should report the birth .146

Box 49Article 46 (Person Obliged to File Report)(1) The report of birth of a child born within wedlock shall be filed by

the father or the mother.(2) The report of birth of a child born out of wedlock shall be filed by

the mother.(3) Where the person to file a report pursuant to paragraph (1) or (2)

is unable to file such report, any of the following persons shall file the report in the following orders:1. Relatives living together;2. Doctor, midwife or any other person involved in the delivery.

(4) Where a child’s welfare could be harmed if a person obliged to report birth fails to file a report within the period specified in Article 44 (1), a prosecutor or the head of a local government may report the birth.

Information to be included on the birth noti-fication form includes name, origin of surname, sex, and original domicile of the child; whether the child was born in or out of wedlock; date and place of birth; name, origin of surname, original domicile, resident registration number of parents; and all nationalities ap-plicable to the child .147

Box 50Article 44 (Matters to Be Entered in Report of Birth)2) The following matters shall be entered in a report of birth:

1. Name, place of family origin, sex and place of registration of the child;

2. Whether the child was born in or out of wedlock;3. Date and place of birth;4. Name, place of family origin, place of registration and

resident registration number of the parents (name, date of birth, nationality and alien registration number if the father or mother is a foreigner);

5. In cases of agreements made pursuant to the proviso to Article 781 (1) of the Civil Act, such fact;

6. Where the child has multi-nationality, such fact and foreign nationality that the child has acquired.

Birth registration filed more than 1 month after the date of birth is considered delayed registration and subject to administrative fines,148 but as for the documentation for such delayed registration there is no difference between de-layed registration and within-time registration .

DeathJust like birth registration requirements prescribed by the law, death registration in Korea possesses the key traits of the Principles and Recommendations; death registration continues to be added in the original domicile record, maintaining the continuity of the reg-istration records;149 because death registration is pro-cessed through computerized system, theoretically it is permanent .150

Box 51Article 10 (Determination of Place of Registration)(1) In the case of entering matters for the first time due to birth or

other causes, a place of registration shall be determined for reporting such entry

Article 11 (Processing of Registration, Etc. through Computerized Information Processing System)(1) The head of a Si/Eup/Myeon shall process registration through a

computerized information processing system.

Registering death is compulsory151, and like oth-er information containing individual identifiers, death registration records must be kept confidential .152

Box 52Article 9 (Preparation of and Matters to Be Recorded in Family Relations Registers)(2) The following matters shall be stated in the register:3. Matters concerning establishment of and changes in family

relations, such as birth, marriage, and death;

Box 53Article 11 (Processing of Registration, Etc. through Computerized Information Processing System)(6) No person who maintains registers, etc. nor any person who

processes registration shall use computerized information data on the registered matters entered in registers, etc. (hereinafter referred to as “computerized registration data”) or provide them to other persons (including corporations) for reasons other than those prescribed by this act or other acts.


In Korea, deaths are registered where the person died—at the family relation registration office covering the locality; thus, the death of a Korean national over-seas should be filed at a nearby family relation registra-tion office for Korean citizens .153 When death occurs in a moving vehicle, the report must be filed where the body is taken out .154

Box 54Article 86 (Place of Reports of Death)A report of death may be filed at the place of death, burial or cremation: If the place of death is uncertain, the report may be filed at the place where the corpse was first found, if death occurs on a train or any other means of transportation, at the place where the corpse was taken off such means of transportation, and if death occurs on a ship that does not keep a logbook, at the port at which the ship first arrived.Article 87 (Death Caused by Disaster, etc.)… where death occurs in a foreign country, such notice shall be issued to the head of a Si/Eup/Myeon in which the place of registration of the deceased is located or to the family relation registrar who is working for Overseas Koreans Family Register Office.

A relative or someone who lives in the household files the death report or the district head when there is no relative or interested person . When the deceased is not identifiable, it is not clear whether the death of a deceased was filed, and there is no relative or interested person, a police officer must notify the district office head to prepare a postmortem report to be filed with the death registration .155

Deaths must be registered within 1 month of the date of death .156

Box 55Article 84 (Reports of Death and Matters to Be Entered Therein)(1) A report of death shall be filed by a person as provided for

in Article 85 within one month from the date on which such person becomes aware of the fact of death, attaching a medical certificate or death certificate thereto.

A medical certificate or death certificate, along with identifying information about the deceased such as name, sex, original domicile, date and place of death, and resident registration number, should be provided when filing a death registration .157 Only authorized

personnel such as a medical doctor or oriental medical practitioner may issue a death certificate .158 The person who filed the report or the head of the district may ini-tiate modifications of the record .

Fetal DeathThere are no provisions covering fetal death in Korea except for the registration of fetal death of a recognized child,159 which must be filed within one month .

Box 56Article 60 (Stillbirth of Child Already Recognized)If a recognized child was stillborn, the person obliged to file a report of birth shall file the report within one month of the date on which he/she became aware of such fact; if the executor of a will has filed the report referred to in Article 59, the executor of a will shall file such report.

MarriageOnly one type of marriage, civil marriage, is specified in Art . 807 of the Civil Act . A marriage must be regis-tered at the CR office of the residence of the bride or the groom .160

Box 57Article 20 (Place of Report)(1) A report prepared pursuant to this act may be filed at the place

of registration of the person directly involved in such reporting or at the domicile or current address of the person who files such report; a report concerning Korean citizens residing abroad may be filed at Overseas Koreans Family Register Office.

(2) A report regarding a foreigner may be filed at the office nearest his/her place of residence or at the place of domicile or current place of the person who files such report.

Registration of marriage at the CR office estab-lishes the legality of the marriage, Name, origin of sur-name, date of birth, resident registration number, and original domicile of the parties to a marriage (name, date of birth, nationality, and alien registration num-ber when any party to a marriage is a foreigner); name, original domicile, and resident registration number of the parents and adoptive parents of the parties to a marriage; any agreement that any children born within


wedlock would use the mother’s surname in the future; and assurance that the marriage is not a consanguine-ous marriage must be provided at the time of the reg-istration .161 For both bride and groom, 18 years old is the legal minimum age of marriage,162 but with paren-tal consent, a minor may enter into marriage .163

Box 58Article 807 (Marriageable Age)Any person who is 18 years old or older may enter into matrimony.Article 808 (Marriage Requiring Consent)(1) A minor shall obtain the consent of both parents to marry. If one

parent is unable to exercise the right of consent, the minor shall obtain the consent of the other parent, and if neither parent is able to exercise the right of consent, the minor shall obtain the consent of his/her guardian.

Registering a marriage requires filling out a standard form prescribed by the rules of the Supreme Court . No fee is required, and no period of time to file for marriage is specified . When the need for mod-ification or annotation arises, the original registrant is notified to file for modification or annotation of the record . When the original registrant is not available or not interested in filing for corrections on the record, the head of the district level office may initiate corrections ex officio, with the permission of the supervisory court .

DivorceDivorce by agreement shall take effect upon reporting in accordance with the Act on the Registration, Etc . of Family Relationship after obtaining confirmation from

the Family Court .164 A report prepared pursuant to this act may be filed at the original domicile of the person directly involved in such reporting or at the domicile or current address of the person who files such a report .165 A report of divorce by agreement shall be filed within 3 months of the date on which the family court issues or delivers a certified copy of confirmation , attaching the certified copy of the confirmation thereto .166

Box 59Article 75 (Confirmation of Divorce by Agreement)(1) If a person intends to divorce by agreement, he/she shall file a

report with confirmation of the Family Court having jurisdiction over the person’s place of registration or address; if the person does not reside in the state, such confirmation shall be made at the Seoul Family Court.

(2) The report referred to in paragraph (1) shall be filed within 3 months of the date on which the family court issues or delivers a certified copy of confirmation, attaching the certified copy of the confirmation thereto.

A report of divorce requires identifiers of the par-ties and the parents of the parties, including name, origin of surname, date of birth, resident registration number, and original domicile of the parties . No fee, no period of time to register a divorce, and no penalty for not com-plying with the relevant rules are set in the law . Modi-fications, annotations, and corrections are to be made using the same procedure as with marriage, birth, and death records—the original registrant must file for such modification, but when such person is not available, the head of the district office can initiate changes on the re-cord with the permission of the supervisory court .

AnnulmentAnnulment is considered and treated as rectifying a marriage record . With respect to an act that takes effect through the filing of a report, where such act is unmis-takably invalid even though it has been recorded in the register, the person who filed such report or the party to the reporting case may apply for rectification of the register after obtaining the permission of the family court having jurisdiction over the original domicile of the person to the case .167

Article 86 (Place of Reports of Death)A report of death may be filed at the place of death, burial or cremation: Provided, That where the place of death is uncertain, the report may be filed at the place where the corpse was first found, if death occurs on a train or any other means of transportation, at the place where the corpse was taken off such means of transportation, and if death occurs on a ship which does not keep a log-book, at the port at which the ship first arrived.Article 87 (Death Caused by Disaster, etc.)… where death occurs in a foreign country, such notice shall be issued to the head of a Si/Eup/Myeon in which the place of registration of the deceased is located or to the family relation registrar who is working for Overseas Koreans Family Register Office.


Box 60Article 105 (Rectification of Records of Invalid Acts That Are Entered in a Family Relations Register)(1) With respect to an act that takes effect through the filing of a

report, where such act is unmistakably invalid even though it has been recorded in the register, the person who filed such report or the party to the reported case may apply for rectification of the register after obtaining the permission of the Family Court having jurisdiction over the place of registration of the person to the case.

(2) In cases of paragraph (1), Article 96 (6) shall apply mutatis mutandis to the Family Court’s hearing.

The place of filing and the time allowed for regis-tration follow the same rules under the Act on the Reg-istration, Etc . of Family Relationships of Korea, just like any other lifetime event registered in the family register . There are no particular rules for special circumstances, such as parties involving refugees or stateless persons, but the general rule cites circumstances in which one party resides abroad—in such case, the same as any oth-er events to be registered, the filing may be made at a family relation registration office . When annulment is to be registered, a certified copy of judgement needs to be submitted .168

Box 61Article 107 (Rectification of Registers by Court Decision)When a register is to be rectified according to a final and conclusive court decision, the person who raised such legal action shall apply for rectification of the register within one month from the date of the final and conclusive court decision, attaching a certified copy of the court decision and a certificate of such court decision thereto.

Judicial SeparationThere are no provisions covering judicial separation in Korea, because separation is not legally recognized .

AdoptionAlthough there is no adoption-specific registration regulation in the law, the general rules of continuous, permanent, compulsory, universal, confidential regis-tration apply to adoption records as well, because the Act on the Registration, Etc . of Family Relationships applies to all lifetime events, including adoption .

The guardian of the adoptee who assented to the adoption is required to register the adoption .169

Box 62Article 62 (Report of Adoption)(1) Where an adoptee is under 13 years of age, his/her legal

representative who assented to the adoption in accordance with Article 869 (2) of the Civil Act shall file the report of adoption.

When such guardian is not available, written permission by the family court can be substituted . The law is silent as to who must file for the adoption regis-tration when the guardian is not available, but given the penetrating principle of having the involved party to register on the affected CR, it is safe to assume that the adoptive parents may file for registration of the adop-tion, with the court’s decision or permission attached .

The law distinguishes between general adoption and relative adoption, clearly requiring the adoptive parents to report the adoption within 1 month of re-ceiving the court’s decision, whereas the guardian is the legally required reporter of the adoption when the adoptee is not related .170

Box 63Article 67 (Report of Adoption of Child through Full Adoption)(1) A person who intends to fully adopt a child in accordance with

Article 908–2 of the Civil Act shall file a report referred to in Article 61, attaching a certified copy of written judgment and a certificate of final decision within one month from the date on which the court decision on the adoption of a child through full adoption becomes final and conclusive.

The same applies to the revocation of the relative adoption, that the adoptive parents must file the revo-cation registration within 1 month of the date of the court’s decision .171

LegitimationAccording to the Civil Act, when adoption of a rela-tive is considered, such adoptee is considered as a child born within wedlock,172 having the effect of legitima-tion, vesting all legal rights of a legitimate child of the adoptive parents .


Box 64Article 908–3 (Effect of Full Adoption) (1) The child adopted through full adoption shall be deemed to be born during the marriage of the adoptive parents.

The procedure for the registration of the relative adoption is the same with general adoption except for the registrant designation as stated above . Because there is not separate legal provision for legitimation, there is no separate procedure for registration but to follow rel-ative adoption procedures in registration of the record, as the relative adoption have same legal effect as legiti-mation in Korea .

RecognitionThere are two types of recognition in Korea: voluntary recognition and recognition by court decision . Volun-tary recognition refers to a case in which the birth father voluntarily recognizes a child and reports the birth as his own child’s .173 Voluntary recognition is a consti-tutive process that takes effective through voluntary reporting, and the effective date applies retroactively to the date of birth .174 Recognition by the court175 occurs through litigation to request recognition of a legal par-ent-child relationship between a child born out of wed-lock and a parent .

Items to be listed in the recognition report in-clude identifiers of the child such as name, sex, date of birth, resident registration number, and place of regis-tration of the child and identifiers of the birth mother such as name, place of registration, and resident regis-tration number .176

Endnotes

1 Ministry of Interior of Republic of Estonia, Vital Statis-tics Procedures, at https://www .siseministeerium .ee/en/vital-statistics-procedures

2 Vital Statistics Registration Act, art . 3(1)3 Personal Data Protection Act, art . 64 Vital Statistics Registration Act, art . 21(1)

5 Ibid.6 Ibid. art . 23(2)7 Ibid.8 Ibid. art . 22(3)9 Ibid. art . 9(5)10 Ibid. art . 22(1)11 Establishment of Cause of Death Act, art . 3(1)12 Ibid. arts . 3(21)-(4)13 Vital Statistics Registration Act, art . 31(1)14 Ibid. art . 33(1)15 Ministry of Interior of Republic of Estonia, supra note

53; The vital statistics office may require other docu-ments to be submitted to register a death in certain cases provided by law .

16 Vital Statistics Registration Act, art . 32(8)17 Ibid. art . 32(1)18 Vital Statistics Registration Act, art . 22(2)19 Ibid. art . 36(3)20 Family Law Act, art . 1(1)21 Ibid. art . 1(3)22 Ibid. art . 2(1)23 Vital Statistics Registration Act, art .37(1)24 Ibid. art . 37(2)25 Ibid.26 Ibid. arts . 41(1)27 Ibid. arts . 41(1)-(2)

Box 65Article 55 (Matters to be Entered in Report of Recognition)(1) The following matters shall be entered in a report of recognition:

<Amended by Act No. 10279, May 4, 2010>1. Name, sex, date of birth, resident registration number and

place of registration of the child (name, sex, date of birth, nationality, and alien registration number if the child is a foreigner);

2. If a dead child is recognized, date of death of the child and name, date of birth, resident registration number, and place of registration of the child’s lineal descendants;

3. If a father recognizes a child, the name, place of registration, and resident registration number of the mother;

4. If the surname and place of family origin are maintained before recognition, the purport and details thereof;

5. If the person having parental authority has been determined in accordance with Article 909 (4) or (5) of the Civil Act, the purport and details thereof.

(2) In cases falling under paragraph (1) 4 or 5, documents to prove the details shall be attached to the report; if a decision of the

court on permission of continuous use of surname and place of family origin or a trial to determine the person having parental authority has been concluded, Article 58 shall apply mutatis mutandis.


28 Ibid. arts . 38–3929 Family Law Act, art . 6330 Vital Statistics Registration Act, art . 44(1)31 A notary may grant divorce upon agreement of the

spouses on the basis of a joint written application of the spouses . Family Law Act, art . 641(1)

32 Ibid. art . 6433 Vital Statistics Registration Act, art . 44(4)34 Family Law Act, art . 6535 Ibid. art . 44(2)-(3)36 Vital Statistics Registration Act, art . 45(1)37 Ibid. art . 45(2)38 Ibid. art . 45(21)39 Family Law Act, art . 9(1)40 Ibid. art . 9(2)41 Vital Statistics Registration Act, art . 2(3)42 Family Law Act, art . 147(1)43 Ibid. art . 147(4)44 Ibid. art . 14845 Ibid. art . 14846 Ibid. arts . 151, 152(1), 153(1)47 Vital Statistics Registration Act, art . 2(3)48 Family Law Act, art . 8249 Ibid. arts . 83, 84(1)50 Ibid. art . 84(1)51 Ibid. art . 87(1)52 Ibid. art . 87(3)53 Ibid. arts . 89(1), (3)54 Ibid. art . 90(2)55 Ibid. arts . 94(1), (2)56 Vital Statistics Registration Act, art . 26(1)57 Ibid. art . 2758 The italicized words are not italicized in the law itself

but have been italicized for emphasis to provide what is being defined .

59 Nationality Law, No . 378/2003, art . 3(2) . “An infant who is found abandoned in Ethiopia shall, unless proved to have a foreign nationality, be deemed to have been born to an Ethiopian parent and shall acquire Ethiopian nationality.”

60 Proclamation No . 760/2012, Article 4 .The power and duties given to VERA are:The Agency shall have the powers and duties to:1/ ensure the proper registration of vital events and the issuance of certificate of registration in accordance with the proclamation;2/ collaborate with and provide assistance to the appropri-ate regional organs in the preparation and distribution of registers of civil status to be used by the regions’

3/ prepare and distribute registers of civil status to be used for the registration of vital events involving Ethiopians residing in foreign countries and defense force members on active duty and vital events occurring on Ethiopian ships’4/ In cooperation with the regions, prepare action plans for registration of vital events and a system for the usage of infor-mation, and monitor the implementation of same’5/ provide or cause the provision of awareness creation educa-tion and trainings, through different methods, on the impor-tance of registration of vital events’6/ conduct surveys on the quality and coverage of vital events registration, and forward recommendations to resolve prob-lems encountered in the course of the registration’7/ facilitate the application of vital events registration and information exchange system which is supported by user friendly technology;8/ undertake coordination activities necessary for the timely transmission of collected data to the relevant organs as stipu-lated by the proclamation;9/ organize central data base for registered vital events, and take necessary precautionary measures to protect the technol-ogy infrastructure and the data thereof from risk exposure’10/ forward policy ideas on vital events registration system to the relevant organ, and implement same upon approval;11/ Act in collaboration with the relevant federal and regional state organs;12/ Coordinate government organizations, societies and char-ity organizations to provide the necessary support in the making of the country’s vital events registration system comprehensive;13/ Own property, enter into contracts, sue and be used in its own name; and14/ Perform such other related activities as may be required for the attainment of its objectives.Retrieved from http://www.vera.gov.et/Home/Pages .

61 Ibid. art . 562 Ibid. art . 6(1) . For the organizational structure in Ethio-

pia, refer to figures 1 and 2 .63 Proclamation No . 760/2012, Articles 7(1) & 8(1)64 Ibid. art . 7(1)65 Ibid. art . 8(1)66 Proclamation No. 760/2012, art . 6(2)67 According to the UN Principles and Recommendations

2014, the duties and responsibilities of the local civil registrar are provided for in paragraph 328, p . 74 . For the failure to comply with the law, rules and regulations by local civil registrar, penalties are outlined in the UN Principles and Recommendations 2014, paragraph 338,


p . 76 . Penalty provisions will be discussed in Part C, sec-tion b, sub-section x of this report .

68 Proclamation No. 760/2012, arts . 10 & 1169 Proclamation No. 760/2012, art . 1270 Proclamation No . 760/2012, art . 1371 Ibid. arts . 14–1672 CRVS Law art . 6373 Proclamation No . 760/2012, art . 1774 Ibid. art . 1875 Ibid. arts . 19–2176 Ibid. arts . 49–5477 Ibid. arts . 22–2378 Ibid. arts . 63–6479 Ibid. art . 6580 Proclamation No . 213/2000, art . 1981 Ibid. art . 2082 Ibid. art . 76(b)83 Ibid. art . 78(2)84 Ibid. art . 7985 Ibid. art . 19486 Constitution, arts . 6, 36(1)-(2)87 Constitution, art . 36(4)88 The Law on Civil Status, art . 5–589 Ibid. art . 6–190 The Law on Civil Status, art . 7–391 Ibid. arts . 13 & 3592 Ibid. arts . 5–493 Ibid. art . 3594 The Law on Civil Status, art . 1695 Ibid. art . 1696 Ibid. art . 1597 Ibid. art . 1498 Ibid. art . 1599 Ibid. art . 11-b100 Ibid. 12101 Ibid. art . 12102 Ibid. art . 5–5103 Ibid. art . 6–1104 The Law on Civil Status, art . 6–1105 Ibid. art . 51106 Ibid. art . 51107 Ibid. art . 12108 Ibid. art . 34 .109 The Law on Civil Status, arts . 17, 18110 Ibid. art . 17 .111 Ibid. art . 6112 Ibid. art . 18

113 The Law on Civil Status, art . 4–12114 Ibid. art . 28115 Ibid. art . 7–3116 Ibid. art . 11–1-b117 Law on Marriage and Family, art . 8118 The Law on Civil Status, art . 3–2-dd/119 Law on Marriage and Family, art . 10120 Ibid . 121 Ibid. art . 11122 Law on Civil Status, art . 3–1-dd123 Ibid. art . 25124 Law on Children, art . 13125 Ibid. art . 13126 Ibid. art . 23127 Law on Civil Status, art . 25128 Ibid. art . 25–1129 Ibid.130 Ibid. art . 25–2131 Ibid. art . 25–2132 Ibid.133 Act on the Registration, Etc . of Family Relationships

of Korea, art . 10–2134 Units of municipalities in South Korea .135 Ibid. art . 11–1136 Ibid. art . 9–2–3137 Ibid. art . 11–6138 Ibid. art . 1139 Ibid. art . 44–2–4140 Ibid. art . 44–2–6141 Ibid. art . 20–1142 Ibid. art . 45–1143 Civil Act . art . 781(4)144 The Act on the Registration, Etc . of Family Relation-

ships of Korea, art . 45–2145 Ibid. art . 46146 Ibid.147 Ibid. art . 44(2)148 Ibid. art . 122149 Ibid. art . 10150 Ibid. art . 11–1151 Ibid. art . 9(2)3152 Ibid. art . 11(6)153 Ibid. art . 87154 Ibid. art . 86155 Ibid. art .90156 Ibid. art . 84–1157 Ibid. art . 84–2


158 Medical Service Act, art . 17–2159 Act on the Registration, Etc . of Family relationships,

art . 50160 Act on the Registration, Etc . of Family relationships,

art . 20–1161 Ibid. art . 71 .162 Civil Act . art . 807163 Ibid. art . 808–1164 Ibid. art . 836165 The Registration, Etc . of Family Relationships of Korea

Art, art . 20–1166 Ibid. art . 45

167 Ibid. art . 105168 Ibid. art . 106169 Ibid. art . 62170 Ibid. art . 67171 Ibid.172 Civil Act, art . 908–3173 The Act on the Registration, Etc . of Family Relation-

ships of Korea Art, art . 57174 Civil Act, art . 860175 The Act on the Registration, Etc . of Family Relation-

ships of Korea, art . 58176 Ibid. art . 55

4COMPARISON AND CONCLUSION

In Comparison with UN Principles and Recommendations

Overriding PrinciplesThe objective of a CR system is to procure and record information on the occur-rence of vital events to enable the retrieval of such information for legal, admin-istrative, statistical, and other permitted purposes . CR is performed because the resulting legal documents, as provided for by the law, are valuable because these records are universally recognized as the main source of VS . Thus, a CR system must be compulsory, universal, continuous, permanent, and confidential . Table 14 examines the legislative framework of each of the four countries discussed as it pertains to the overriding principles embedded in the CR laws of each country .


Overriding Principles (OP)

Continuity (OP1) Permanence (OP2)

LB DE FD M DI AN JS AD L R LB DE FD M DI AN JS AD L R

Esto

nia

√ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √

Ethi

opia

√ √ √ √ √ √ √ √

Viet

nam

√ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √

Kor

ea

√ √ ◊ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ ◊ √ √ √ √ √

Note: The following abbreviation in the table are as follows:LB: Live Birth, DE: Death, FD: Fetal Death, M: Marriage, DI: Divorce, AN: Annulment, JS: Judicial Separation, AD: Adoption, L: Legitimation and R: Recognition.√: Yes, : No (or not expressly provided for) and ◊: Partially.

Comparison and Conclusion 47

Compulsory (OP3) Universal (OP4) Confidentiality (OP5)

LB DE FD M DI AN JS AD L R LB DE FD M DI AN JS AD L R LB DE FD M DI AN JS AD L R

√ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √

√ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √

√ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √

√ √ √ ◊ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √


Other CharacteristicsBecause the objective of the CR system is to make sure that all vital events are accurately and completely reg-istered on a timely basis, the CR law should include

characteristics to promote the accuracy and complete-ness of VS to be recorded . Table 15 outlines the char-acteristics that should be implemented in the CR laws of all countries .

Table 15 . Other Characteristics of a Civil Registration Law (OC)

Vital Event Estonia Ethiopia Vietnam Korea

Live Birth OC1 √ √ √ √

OC2 √ √ √ √

OC3 √ √ √ √

OC4 √ √ √ √

OC5

OC6 √ ◊ √ √

OC7 √ ◊ ◊

OC8 √ √ √ √

OC9 √ √ √ √

OC10 √ √ √ √

OC11 √ √ √

OC12 √ √

OC13 √ √ √ √

OC14 √ √ √

Death OC1 √ √ √ √

OC2 √ √ √ √

OC3 √ √ √ √

OC4 √ √ √ √

OC5

OC6 √ ◊ √ √

OC7 √ ◊ ◊

OC8 √ √ √ √

OC9 √ √ √ √

OC10 √ √ √ √

OC11 √ √ √

OC12 √ √

OC13 √ √ √ √

OC14 √ √ √





Fetal Death OC1 ◊

OC2 ◊

OC3 √

OC4 √

OC5

OC6

OC7 ◊

OC8 √

OC9 √

OC10 √

OC11 √

OC12

OC13 √

OC14

Marriage OC1 √ √ √ √

OC2 √ √ √ √

OC3 √ √ √ √

OC4 √ √

OC5

OC6 √ √ ◊ ◊

OC7 √

OC8 √ √ √ √

OC9 √ √ √ √

OC10 √ √ √ √

OC11 √ √ √

OC12 √ √

OC13 √ √ √ √

OC14 √


(continued)




Divorce OC1 √ √ √ √

OC2 √ √ √

OC3 √ √ √ √

OC4 √ √ √

OC5

OC6 √ √ √ √

OC7 √ ◊

OC8 √ √ √ √

OC9 √ √ √ √

OC10 √ √ √ √

OC11 √ √ √

OC12 √ √

OC13 √ √ √ √

OC14 √

Annulment OC1 √ √ √

OC2 √ √

OC3 √ √ √

OC4

OC5

OC6 √ √ √

OC7

OC8 √ √ √

OC9 √ √ √

OC10 √ √ √

OC11 √ √

OC12

OC13 √ √ √

OC14


(continued)




Judicial Separation

OC1

OC2

OC3

OC4

OC5

OC6

OC7

OC8

OC9

OC10

OC11

OC12

OC13

OC14

Adoption OC1 √ √ √

OC2 √ √ √

OC3 √ √ √

OC4 √

OC5 √

OC6 √ √ √

OC7

OC8 √ √ √

OC9 √ √ √

OC10 √ √ √

OC11 √

OC12

OC13 √ √ √

OC14 √(continued on next page)

(continued)




Legitimation OC1

OC2

OC3

OC4

OC5

OC6

OC7

OC8

OC9

OC10

OC11

OC12

OC13

OC14

Recognition OC1 √ √ √

OC2 √ √ √

OC3 √ √ √

OC4 ◊

OC5

OC6 √ √ ◊

OC7

OC8 √ √ √

OC9 √ √ √

OC10 √ √ √

OC11 √

OC12

OC13 √ √ √

OC14

Note: The following abbreviation in the table are as follows:

√: Yes, No (or not expressly provided for) and ◊: Partially.

OC1 Designation of responsibilities and organizational structure for civil registration

OC8 Vital event registration record

OC2 Legally responsible informant OC9 Preparation of records

OC3 Place of registration OC10 Storage and preservation of records

OC4 Time allowed for registration OC11 Release of information for individuals

OC5 Cost of current registration OC12 Additional notations

OC6 Proof required for registration OC13 Amendments to records

OC7 Late and delayed registration OC14 Penalties associated with noncompliance

(continued)


Minimum Core CharacteristicsThe list of the minimum core characteristics included in a VS system is acquired from national experiences based on global recommendations . At the national level, when selecting the core characteristics, national and international standards must be met . The international

recommendation for the core characteristics to be included in a CR system primarily focuses on the vital events of live birth, death, fetal death, marriage, and divorce . Table 16 analyzes these five events in the legis-lative framework of each country’s CR law(s) .


Table 16 . Minimum Core Characteristics Provided in the Law (CC)

Live Birth Death

CC-L

B1

CC-L

B2

CC-L

B3

CC-L

B4

CC-L

B5

CC-L

B6

CC-L

B7

CC-L

B8

CC-L

B9

CC-L

B10

CC-L

B11

CC-L

B12

CC-L

B13

CC-L

B14

CC-L

B15

CC-L

B16

CC-L

B17

CC-D

E1

CC-D

E2

CC-D

E3

CC-D

E4

CC-D

E5

CC-D

E6

CC-D

E7

CC-D

E8

CC-D

E9

CC-D

E10

CC-D

E11

Esto

nia

√ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √

Ethi

opia

√ √ √ √ √ ◊ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ ◊ √ √

Viet

nam

√ √ √ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ √ √ √ √ √ ◊ √ ◊ ◊

Kore

a

√ √ √ ◊ √ √ ◊ √ √ √ √ √ √ ◊ √ √ √

Note: The following abbreviation in the table are as follows:

√: Yes, : No (or not expressly provided for) and ◊: Partially.

CC-LB1 Date of occurrence & registration

CC-DE2 Date of registration CC-FD9 Date of last previous live birth

CC-LB2 Place of occurrence CC-DE3 Place of occurrence CC-FD10 Date of marriage

CC-LB3 Place of registration CC-DE4 Place of registration CC-FD11 Place of usual residence of mother

CC-LB4 Type of birth CC-DE5 Cause of death CC-FD12 Date of birth of father

CC-LB5 Attendant at birth CC-DE6 Certifier CC-FD13 Place of usual residence of father

CC-LB6 Sex and weight at birth CC-DE7 Date of birth of deceased CC-M1 Date of occurrence

CC-LB7 Date of birth of mother CC-DE8 Sex of deceased CC-M2 Date of registration

CC-LB8 Marital status of mother CC-DE9 Marital status of deceased CC-M3 Place of occurrence

CC-LB9 Place of & duration at usual residence of mother

CC-DE10 Place of usual residence CC-M4 Place of registration

CC-LB10 Mother’s place/country of birth CC-DE11 Place of usual residence of mother (for deaths < 1years of age)

CC-M5 Date of birth of each partner (separately)


Fetal Death Marriage Divorce

CC-F

D1

CC-F

D2

CC-F

D3

CC-F

D4

CC-F

D5

CC-F

D6

CC-F

D7

CC-F

D8

CC-F

D9

CC-F

D10

CC-F

D11

CC-F

D12

CC-F

D13

CC-M

1

CC-M

2

CC-M

3

CC-M

4

CC-M

5

CC-M

6

CC-D

I1

CC-D

I2

CC-D

I3

CC-D

I4

CC-D

I5

CC-D

I6

CC-D

I7

√ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ v

√ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √

√ √ √ √ √ √ ◊ √ ◊ √ ◊ ◊ √

◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ ◊ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ ◊ ◊ √

CC-LB11 Children born alive to mother during her lifetime

CC-FD1 Date of occurrence of fetal delivery CC-M6 Place of usual residence

CC-LB12 Fetal deaths to mother during her lifetime

CC-FD2 Date of registration CC-DI1 Date of occurrence

CC-LB13 Date of previous birth CC-FD3 Place of occurrence CC-DI2 Date of registration

CC-LB14 Date of marriage CC-FD4 Place of registration CC-DI3 Place of occurrence

CC-LB15 Date of birth of father CC-FD5 Sex of fetus CC-DI4 Place of registration

CC-LB16 Marital status of father CC-FD6 Date of birth of mother CC-DI5 Date of birth of each partner

CC-LB17 Place of usual residence of father

CC-FD7 Children born alive to mother during lifetime CC-DI6 Date of marriage

CC-DE1 Date of occurrence CC-FD8 Fetal deaths to mother during lifetime CC-DI7 Place of usual residence


Comparison of Estonia, Ethiopia, Vietnam, and South Korea

VS are the comprehensive account of vital events that occur in the lifetime of a person, as well as rele-vant characteristics of the events and of the person(s)

concerned . Because they provide critical information, the legislative basis for vital events is important . The following table analyzes the respective national CRVS laws by evaluating the internationally recommended qualifications .

Table 17 . Live Birth

Live Birth: Statutory Instrument(s) & Articles

Qualifications Estonia Ethiopia Vietnam Korea

Birth registration must be continuous, permanent, compulsory, universal, and confidential

Continuous: VS offices should change and correct birth registration data (Art. 11)

Compulsory: The legal representative should submit a relevant application for registration of birth (Art. 23(1))

Universal: A birth (if the child was born in Estonia, the residence of a parent of the child is in Estonia, or a parent of the child is an Estonian citizen) should be registered unless it has been registered in a foreign state (Art. 21(2))

Confidential: VS offices must comply with the principles of purposefulness and restrictive use (Personal Data Protection Act Art. 6)

Continuous: Registration of events on application by interested person (Art. 67(4))

Corrections to register of civil status (Arts. 49–54)

Permanent: Proper preservation (Art. 6(2)(d) & Art. 11(2) & Art. 65)

Compulsory: Obligation for any Ethiopian (Proclamation No. 760/2012 Art. 3(1) & (2))

Universal: Established by region or designated by each region (regional level) and transferred to federal level (Art. 5)

Confidentiality: Conditions of disclosure of information to other organs (Art. 64)

Continuous: Update electronically (Art. 5–5)

Compulsory: Obligation for all citizens and residents (Art. 6–1)

Universal: Commune- or district-level coverage

Continuous: Record may be changed according to Supreme Court Rules (Art. 10–2)

Permanent: Computerized information processing system (Art. 11–1)

Compulsory: Lifetime events must be recorded in the family relationship record (Art. 9–2–3)

Universal: Covering all parts of the country.

Confidential: Registration records shall not be used for any other use than prescribed in the law (Art. 11–6)

Every birth occurring in the territory should be registered irrespective of the citizenship of parents

Should be registered if the residence of a parent of the child is in Estonia (Art. 21(1))

Duty for registration if the parent(s) are of Ethiopian nationality (Art. 1 & 26)

Applies also to foreign permanent residents (Art. 6–1)

Applies to Koreans (Art. 1), when one parent is a foreigner (Art. 44–2–4), and children with multinationality (Art. 44–2–6)

How to register births to nationals that have occurred abroad

Consular officers register birth on the basis of foreign VS documents (Art. 3(5))

For embassies and consulates (Art. 7)

Vital events on board Ethiopian ships (Art. 8)

Representative mission registration (Art. 7–3)

Family relation registration office for Korean citizens residing abroad (Art. 20–1)






Place of registration for births (according to place of occurrence or usual residence)

County and city or rural municipality where child was born (Art. 24(3))

Declaration of birth registered 90 days after date of birth

(Art. 18(2))

Place of registration is administrative office nearest to principal residence of parents (Art. 28(1))

For abandoned child or if parents are unknown, administrative office nearest to where child was found (Art. 28(2))

Civil status registration agency in his/her registered place of permanent or temporary residence or the place where s/he is living (Art. 5–4)

Commune-level [or district-level] people’s committees of the places of residence of fathers or mothers shall make birth registration (Art.13) (Art.35)

Place of birth (Art. 45–1)

How to address special circumstances such as refugees, undocumented migrants, internally displaced persons, stateless persons, nomadic populations

No specific provision, but in the case of a foundling, the place where the child was found (on the basis of the estimate of a police authority) (Art. 24(3))

N/A Art. 31 specifies different scenarios (one or both parents foreign or stateless or residing abroad

Abandoned children: Head of district-level office shall, after establishing a new surname and origin of surname of the abandoned child, determine child’s name and original domicile and record them in register (Art. 52–3)

How to register births occurring in a moving vehicle (e.g., train, airplane, ship)

No specific provision For ships only (Art. 8) None Where mother left vehicle; if in ship, first port arrived at (Art. 45–2)

Arrangements for recording of fetal deaths

Birth of stillborn child does not need to be registered (Art. 22(2))

None None None

How births at health facilities are to be registered and birth certificates issued, including who is responsible for notification of birth to civil registrar

County governments or rural municipality and city governments (only if no county governments in administrative territory) register birth (Art. 3(3))

Rural municipality and city governments issue initial birth certificates (Art. 3(3))

The health institution where birth occurs prepares a birth certificate in accordance with Art. 24(1) & (2) and gives this certificate to person with duty of declaring birth in accordance with Art. 26 (Art. 29)

Father or mother (or grandfather, grandmother, another relative, or caregiver if parents not available) registers child’s birth with justice civil status officer, and justice and civil status officer records such birth (Art 16)

Chairpersons of commune-level people’s committee issue birth certificates (Art.16)

Doctor prepares birth certificate, then mother or father is responsible for filing registration (Art. 46); registration must be filed with birth certificate (Art. 44–4)


(continued)





How births at home are to be registered and birth certificates issued, including who is responsible for notification of birth to civil registrar

Legal representative of child shall submit application at VS office (Art. 23(1))

Parent(s), legal guardian, or person who takes care of child must register birth at administrative office nearest principle residence (Arts. 26(1) & 28(1))

If child is abandoned or unknown, any person who knows this information must report to nearest police or relevant government organ (Arts. 26(2) & 28(2))

Certificates of registration provided by administrative body and given to the person who has registered birth (Arts. 47 & 24 Particulars of Records of Birth)

No difference from births at health facilities

No difference from births at health facilities

Designation of a legally responsible informant (who must report birth and alternate informants if primary informant not available)

No specific provision, but law provides for registration by guardian (see Art. 23(2))

Father or mother; if unavailable, legal guardian or person taking care of child; if unavailable, any person who knows about parents, legal guardian, or person taking care of child; if unavailable police officer or any other government organ (Art. 26)

Father or mother; if unavailable, grandfather, grandmother, another relative, individual or organization caring for child (Art. 15)

When born within wedlock: father or mother; born out of wedlock, mother; parents not available, relative living with child, doctor, midwife, anyone involved in delivery

(Art. 46)

Nature and content of notification form

Information about child:

• Name, sex, date of birth, personal identification code, place of birth, citizenship of child

• Personal identification code of mother and/or father

• Right of custody (Art. 22(1))

Child’s full name, sex, date of birth, place of birth, type of birth, aid rendered during birth

Parents’ full names, date and place of birth, principal residence, marital status, citizenship, religion, ethnic origin, if alive, signatures

Other than parent: declarant’s full name, relationship to child, sex, date and place of birth, principal residence, signature

Information about child:

Family, middle, first name; sex; birthdate; birthplace; native place; ethnicity; citizenship

Information about parents:

Full name, birth year, ethnicity, citizenship, place of residence, personal identification number (Art. 14)

1. Name, origin of surname, sex, original domicile of child

2. Whether child born in or out of wedlock

3. Date and place of birth4. Name, origin of

surname, original domicile and resident registration number of parents (name, date of birth, nationality, alien registration number if father or mother is foreigner)In cases of agreements pursuant to the proviso to Article 781 (1) of the Civil Act, such fact

(continued)






Nature and content of notification form(continued)

Information about applicant:

• Name, personal identification code (in absence thereof, date of birth and sex), clearly worded content of application, place of birth, data on residence, contact details (including telephone number, e-mail address), citizenship, marital status, nationality, mother tongue, education, area of activity

Name and signature of civil status officer, seal of administrative office, date of registrationOther information appropriate federal organ deems necessary (Art. 24)

If abandoned, name given to child, sex, estimated age, date and place where child found, “abandoned child” written on back of registration form (Art. 25)

5. If child has multinationality, such fact and foreign nationality that child has acquired (Art. 44–2)

Time allowed for registering birth

One month after birth but, with good reason, can be extended to up to 2 months (Art. 23(1))

90 days from birth (Art. 18(2))

60 days from birth One month from birth (Art. 44–1)

Minimal supporting documents required if birth registered within allowed time period; additional supporting documents required for late and delayed registration

No difference between registration within allowed time period and late and delayed registration

Particulars or records of birth must be provided when registered in the allotted time

Delayed registration: justification, by evidence, for delay (Art. 18(3))

No difference between within-time and delayed registration

No difference between within-time and delayed registration

Core and noncore information to be collected

Law does not differentiate core from noncore information; child and applicant information described above should be collected

Applicant information not required if registered by guardian (Art. 23(2))

In addition to information listed on particulars of records, no difference between core and noncore information

Core: child’s full name, sex, date and place of birth, type of birth, aid rendered; parents’ names, principal residence, marital status (Art. 24(1) & (2))

If applicant is not parent(s), name, relation to child, sex, date and place of birth, principal residence (Art. 24(3))

In addition to information listed on registration form, no difference between core and noncore information

In addition to information listed on registration form, no difference between core and noncore information


(continued)





Core and noncore information to be collected(continued)

Abandoned child: name, sex, estimated age, date and place where child found (Art. 25)

Noncore: citizenship & ethnic origin of parents (Art. 24(1))

Whether fees are charged.

No fees charged to registration applicant

Costs of registration of births as costs of state functions performed by local governments shall be compensated to rural municipality or city governments from state budget in amount that government of republic establishes (Art. 3(3))

Fees charged for replacement for loss and damage (Art. 47(6))

Can be inferred that are no charges for registration of vital events

Fees charged only for delayed registration (Art. 11-b)

None

Penalties for not complying with birth registration

No specific provision Art. 66

Punishment for failing to declare is imprisonment of a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine between 500 and 5,000 BIRR

For falsifying or concealing fact(s): simple imprisonment from 1 to 5 years

Using forged or falsified certificate: rigorous imprisonment from 5 to 10 years

Making forged or falsified certificate: rigorous imprisonment from 7 to 15 years; if are civil servants or officials, can be extended to 25 years

Falsifying data collected through alteration, modification or deletion of content: 10 to 25 years

Damaging, destroying, suppressing, or unlawfully accessing data collected: rigorous imprisonment from 10 to 25 years

If registered with false information, may be subject to administrative penalties or penal liability (Art. 12)

Civil servants may be disciplined as well (Art. 12)

Administrative fines: KRW 50,000 (Art. 122)

(continued)


Table 19 . Death and Fetal Death

Death: Statutory Instrument(s) & Articles


Death registration must be continuous, permanent, compulsory, universal, and confidential

Continuous: Vital statistic offices should change and correct death registration data (Art. 35)

Compulsory: Spouse, relative, or relative by marriage of deceased person, etc. shall submit application for registration of death (Art. 33(1))

Universal: Death should be registered (if person dies in Estonia; last residence of the person deceased in a foreign state was Estonia; or person who died in foreign state was Estonian citizen) (Art. 31(2))

Confidential: VS offices required to comply with principles of purposefulness and restrictive use (Personal Data Protection Act Art. 6)

Continuous: Registration of events on application by interested person (Art. 67(4))

Corrections to register of civil status (Arts. 49–54)

Permanent: proper preservation (Art. 6(2)(d) & Art. 11(2) & Art. 65)

Compulsory: obligation for any Ethiopian (Proclamation No. 760/2012 Art. 3(1) & (2))

Universal: Established or designated according to region (regional level) and transfer to federal level (Art. 5)

Confidentiality: Conditions of disclosure of information to other organs (Art. 64)


Compulsory: Obligation of all citizens and residents (Art. 6–1)


Continuous: Record may be changed according to Supreme Court rules (Art. 10–2)


Compulsory: Lifetime events to be recorded in family relationship record (Art. 9–2–3)

Universal: Covering all parts of country

Confidential: Registration records shall not be used for anything other than prescribed in law (Art. 11–6)

Every death occurring in territory should be registered

No specific provision Application of law applies to any Ethiopian (Art. 3(1))

None Compulsory registration: Art. 9–2–3

Every death should be registered irrespective of citizenship of deceased or parents

Should be registered if person who died abroad resided in Estonia (Art. 31(1))

None Applies also to foreign permanent residents (Art. 6–1) and foreigners (Art. 51)

None

Deaths of foreign nationals

No specific provision, but police officer or another person with information concerning death of a person can submit application for death (see Art. 33(1))

None None None

How to register deaths of nationals abroad

Consular officers register death on basis of foreign VS documents (Art. 3(5))

Embassies and consulates abroad (Art. 7)

Ships at sea (Art. 8)

Active-duty defense force (Art. 9)

District-level people’s committees of last places of residence of deceased persons shall register deaths of foreigners (Art. 51)

Notify district-level office where original domicile of person who died is located or family relation registration office for Korean citizens residing abroad (Art. 87)






Place of registration for deaths (according to place of occurrence or usual residence)

Relevant county and city or rural municipality should be registered as place of death, burial, and finding (Art. 32(6))

Nearest administrative office to principal residence of deceased

Unknown identity or principal residence of deceased nearest administrative office where corpse found

For death in common dwelling place, prison, or health institution, administrative office nearest institution reporting death (Art. 43)

Commune-level people’s committees of last place of residence of deceased person shall register death; if last place of residence cannot be identified, commune-level people’s committee of place where person dies or body is found shall register death (Art. 32)

place of death, burial or cremation: when place of death is uncertain, the at the place where the corpse was first found

Special circumstances, such as refugees, undocumented migrants, internally displaced persons, stateless persons, nomadic populations

No specific provision No specific provisions No specific provision for special circumstances

No specific provision for special circumstances involving refugees, undocumented migrants, internally displaced persons, stateless persons, or nomadic persons; but for death of person with no relative, head of district-level office takes charge (Art. 88–2)

If deceased is unrecognizable, national police officer notifies head of district-level office (Art. 90)

Registration of death occurring in moving vehicle (e.g., train, airplane, ship)

No specific provision Ships at sea (Art. 8) None If death occurs in train or any other means of transportation, place where corpse was taken off such means of transportation, and if death occurs on a ship that does not keep a logbook, port at which ship first arrived (Art. 86)

How deaths at health facilities are to be reported and registered and death certificates issued, including who is responsible for reporting death to civil registrar

Head of an institution providing health care services shall submit application for registration of death (Art. 33(1))

Health facility: head of institution prepares certificate of death and gives to person with responsibility to declare death according to Art. 39 (Art. 41)

None Medical doctor, oriental medical practitioner, or dentist may issue death certificate; relative of deceased who has lived with the person must register death, with death certificate


(continued)





How deaths at home are to be reported and registered and death certificates issued, including who is responsible for reporting death to civil registrar

Spouse, relative, or relative by marriage of deceased person shall submit application for registration of death (Art. 33(1))

No special provision for death at home; spouse, child, parent, another relative, or close neighbor of deceased shall register death; if no relative, representative of related agency, organization, or person shall register death (Art. 39)

No special provision for death at home; spouse, child, parent, or another relative of deceased shall register death; if no relative, representative of related agency, organization, or person shall register death (Art. 33)

Same as death in health facility; cohabitating relative must report death

Suspected homicide No specific provision Nonnatural death not specifically provided for, but general provisions exist

Police have 3 days to report accidental death or death with unknown cause (Art. 39(3))

Health institution will examine corpse brought in and prepare certificate of death for police (Art. 41(3))

None None

Designation of legally responsible informant (who needs to report death and alternate informants if primary informant not available)

Spouse, relative, or relative by marriage of deceased person; head of institution providing health care services; police officer; or another person with information about the death (Art. 33(1))

Art. 39:

Any person who used to live with deceased

Absence of persons who lived with deceased, relatives by consanguinity or affinity, close neighbors or any person who know about the death

Police

Spouse, child, parent, or another relative of deceased shall register the death; if no relative, representative of related agency, organization, or person shall register death (Art. 33)

Cohabiting relative should file; if not available, person who manages place of death or head of district level where death occurred (Art. 85)

Nature and content of notification form, including burial permit

Name and personal identification code of deceased person, place and time of death, where deceased person was found if place of death unknown, place of burial, changes in right of custody due to death, termination of marriage, name and personal identification code of person submitting application for registration of death

Full name, title, sex, age, occupation, principal residence, citizenship, ethnic origin, and religion of deceased

Date, place, and cause of death and reference to evidence of death (if this exists)

Name and signature of civil status officer, seal of administrative office, date of registration

(Art. 38)

Declarations and death notices shall be submitted (Art. 34)

Content of notification form:

1. Name, sex, original domicile, citizen registration number of deceased

2. Date and place of death (Art. 84–2)

Burial permit: None


(continued)





Time allowed for registering deaths

No specific provision 30 days after death unless sufficient cause for delay (Art. 18(1))

Death of person in boarding school or any common dwelling place or in prison or by death sentence: 5 days (Art. 41(1) & (2))

Within 15 days of death (Art. 33)

Within 1 month of date on which person becomes aware of death (Art. 84–1)

Minimal supporting documents required if death is registered within allowed time period; additional supporting documents required for late and delayed registration

No difference between registration within allowed time period and late and delayed registration

Only particulars through a registration form (Art. 19(2))

Declaration and death notices must be submitted (Art. 34)

Documents: medical or death certificate (Art. 84–1)

Late and delayed registration: No provisions


Law does not differentiate core from noncore information; information described above should be collected

No differentiation between core and noncore information; information provided specified in particulars of records for each vital event

Not specified Not specified

Whether fees are charged

State fee must be paid for issuance of death certificate according to rate provided for in State Fees Act (Art. 36(5))

Fees charged for replacement from loss and damage (Art. 47(6))

Fees charged only for delayed registration (Art. 11-b)

Fees charged only for delayed registration (Art. 122)

Penalties for not complying with death registration

No specific provision Art. 66

Punishment for failing to declare is imprisonment of a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine of 500 BIRR to 5,000 BIRR


Using forged or falsified certificate: rigorous imprisonment from 5 to 10 years

Making forged or falsified certificate: rigorous imprisonment from 7 to 15 years; in case of civil servants or officials, can be extended to 25 years

If registered with false information, may be

subject to administrative penalties or penal liability (Art. 12)

Civil servants may be disciplined as well (Art. 12)

None


(continued)





Penalties for not complying with death registration(continued)

Falsifying data collected through alteration, modification, or deletion of content: 10 to 25 years

Damaging, destroying, suppressing or unlawfully accessing data collected: rigorous imprisonment: 10 to 25 years

Format for registration form and register, including whether electronic or manual, because civil registration has dual function of providing legal documents to individuals and collecting statistical information on all vital events occurring in country; standard forms should be used uniformly throughout country or territory.

VS entries shall be registered in population register (Art. 7(11))

Set form used (Art. 19(2)).

Registration is manual in administrative office nearest to where person died (Art. 43)

Region organ prepares and distributes register of civil status with appropriate federal organ and sends to administrative offices (Art. 11 & 13)

Set form used (Art. 34 and 52). When registration is filed manually, record will be filed electronically in civil status database (Art. 34)

Head of district-level office shall process registration through computerized information processing system (Art. 11–1) that is run throughout state and regulated according to Supreme Court rules (Art. 12–1)

Trained physicians to provide medical certificate of cause of death in health facilities

Attending physician or doctor on call establishes death of a person at a hospital (ECDA Art. 3(2))

Doctor who receives notice of death immediately performs external examination of person to establish death and ascertain cause (ECDA Art. 7(1))

Doctor who establishes cause of death shall issue medical death certificate to persons close to deceased or legal representative (ECDA Art. 8(1))

Minister responsible for area must provide format of medical death certificate and procedure for completing it (ECDA Art. 8(4))

Head of medical institution prepares death certificate and specifies cause of death (Art. 41(3))

None Only medical doctor or oriental medical practitioner may provide medical certificate of cause of death. When medical personnel who has treated or examined the deceased is unable to issue a certificate because of extenuating circumstances, any other medical doctor or oriental medical practitioner who works at the medical institution may issue a certificate based on the medical records (Medical Service Act Art. 17–2)


(continued)





Whether death registration certificate given to deceased’s family should include details about cause of death

A certified extract of personal name, personal identification code, and date of birth of deceased person; time of death and of registration of death; and the number of entry should be issued (Art. 36(1))

None None Enforcement rule of Medical Service Act Art. 10

Circumstances and processes for modifying or annotating registration record, including for errors and disputed entries

Canceling the data concerning the death entered in the population register on the basis of a court ruling on annulment of the ruling on declaration of death (Art. 35(1))

Canceling or changing the data concerning the death if it is proven that the person whose death was registered is alive; the death of a wrong person has been registered; or it is clear that the death has been registered without basis for other reasons, etc. (Art. 35(2))

Clerical mistakes: civil officer request of interested party to make corrections to particulars of register; if correction involves deletion of a word or number, it must be done so that the deleted word or number is still legible; if correction affects all copies of registration form, civil officer must give notice to all bodies that received copies (Art. 49)

Corrections other than clerical mistakes cannot be made except through court judgment (Art. 50)

Public prosecutor, civil status officer, or any interested person can petition court for correction (Art. 51)

Manner in which corrections are entered (Art. 53)

Creating new records (Art. 54)

None Original registrant must file for modification or annotation as needed

Head of district level may make changes if original registrant is not available only with permission from supervisory court

Fetal Death No separate law on fetal death. Depending on extent to which law defines death (inclusive of fetal death?) the same provisions or lack of provision for specified matters will be identical to or must be separate from existing provisions for registration of death

(continued)


Table 20 . Marriage

Marriage: Statutory Instrument(s) & Articles


Types of marriages Marriage is considered to have been contracted if performed by a VS official, which may include notaries and ministers of religion who are entitled to perform VS procedure (Family Law Act Sec. 7(1))

Three types of marriages:

Before a civil status officer

Religious marriage

According to custom

Celebrated abroad

Family Code 2000, Arts. 1–5)

Only one type specified—between a man and a woman who register their marriage at the civil status registration agency at the commune-level people’s committee (Art. 17, 18)

Only one type specified (Civil Act Art. 807)

Marriage should be registered

VS official makes marriage entry and then forwards for population register

Civil marriage: officiant must register marriage (Art. 31(1))Religious or customary marriage: couple registers (Art. 31(2))

Registering at civil status registration agency completes marriage (Art. 18)

Take effect by reporting (Civil Act Art. 812)Marriage registration (Art. 71)

Place of registration of marriage (according to place of occurrence or usual residence)

County government is VS office (Sec. 3(2)) and shall enter marriages in population register (Sec. 7(1)); if minister of religion officiates, county government of registered office of religious congregation (Sec. 42(7)) shall enter marriage

Place where couple has jointly decided, where either spouse used to reside, or principal residence of parents or close relative of either spouse (Art. 32)

Place of residence of bride or groom (Art. 17)

Original domicile of person directly involved in reporting or at domicile or current address of person who files report (Art. 20–1)

Special circumstances such as refugees, undocumented migrants, internally displaced persons, stateless persons, nomadic populations

Foreigners must prove legal status in Estonia (Sec. 38(3)), except citizens of EU member states (Sec. 38(4))

None Same registration obligation applies to Vietnamese citizens, stateless persons, and foreign citizens permanently residing in Vietnam (Art. 6)

None

Time allowed for registering marriages

If officiated by vital statistics official, marriage shall be registered in population register on date of marriage or following working day (Vital Statistic Registration Act Sec. 42(1))

If officiated by minister of religion, within 3 working days of marriage, forward marriage entry paper to county government, and county government shall transfer data to population register by following working day (VSRA Sec. 42(7)

Immediately, when officiated by officer of civil status (Art. 31(1)); for other marriages, application of general provision of 30 days (Art. 18(1))

Registration of marriage is same as officiating marriage, so no period of time for registration set

No period of time for registration set



Table 20 . Marriage



Minimal supporting documents required

Birth certificates of spouses, documents showing legal termination of any previous marriage (Sec. 38(1))

Certificate of legal capacity to marry (Sec. 39)

Marriage registration particulars required (Art. 30)

For religious or customary marriage, religious institution of elders observing marriage provides evidence (Art. 33)

Marriage registration declaration required (Art. 18)

No registration documents required for general marriage registration

Marriage by court decision: If a court decision on conformation of existence of de facto marital relations has been affirmed, the person who filed such action shall file a report, attaching certified copy of written judgment and certificate of final decision within 1 month of date of such final decision (Art. 72)

Nature and content of marriage form

Application for marriage is a form expressing applicants’ wish to marry and confirming that there is no hindrance (Sec. 37(2))

Couple’s full name, date, place of birth, principal residence, citizenship, ethnic origin and religion; date, place, and form of marriage; couple’s signature; evidence or names and principal residences of witnesses of marriage; name and signature of civil status officer, seal of administrative office, date of registration (Art. 30)

For religious or customary marriage, names, ages, and principal residence of couple; date and place of marriage; names and principal residences of witnesses (Art. 33)

Marriage certificates contain information on family, middle, and first names, date of birth, ethnicity, citizenship, place of residence, information about personal identity papers of couple, date of marriage registration, signatures or fingerprints of couple; and certification of civil status registration agency (Art. 17)

1. Name, origin of surname, date of birth, resident registration number, and original domicile of parties to marriage (name, date of birth, nationality, and alien registration number when any party to a marriage is a foreigner)Name, original domicile, and resident registration number of parents and adoptive parents of parties to marriage

2. If is agreement to name the baby with the mother’s surname

3. That the marriage is not a consanguineous marriage

Arrangements for registration of marriages taking place abroad

Consular officer may issue certificate of legal capacity to marry (Sec. 40(1)).

Foreign missions of Estonia are specified as VS offices (Sec. 3(2))

Ethiopian embassies and consulates or, if there is no embassy or consulate in the foreign country, it is to be decided by directive by the appropriate federal organ with consultations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Art. 7)

Representative missions shall register marriage of Vietnamese citizens residing abroad (Art. 7–3)

Report may be made at family relation registration office for Korean citizens residing abroad (Art. 20–1)


(continued)


Table 20 . Marriage




Core: Birth certificates of spouses, documents showing legal termination of any previous marriage (Sec. 38(1)

Certificate of legal capacity to marry

Name of state to which certificate of legal capacity to marry is to be presented, and name, sex, personal identification code, date and place of birth, residence, marital status of couple (Sec. 40(2))

Noncore: Information on number of marriage to be contracted, data on cohabitation preceding marriage, number of children to be living with couple after marriage is collected for statistical purposes and is voluntary (Sec. 37(2), (3)).

No differentiation between core and noncore eventsCore: Date of occurrence, date of registration, place of occurrence, place of registration, date of birth of each spouse, place of usual residence, name of each partner (Art. 30(1))

Noncore: citizenship, ethnic origin, religion, form of marriage, evidence or names and principal residences of witnesses of marriage (Art. 30(1) & (4))

No division of information into core and noncore

No classification

Minimum age for marriage in accordance with UN convention on consent to marriage

18 (15 with court’s permission) (Family Law Act Sec. 1(3))

Minimum age for man or woman is 18 (Art. 6, Family Code 2000)

The man has reached the age of 20, the woman has reached the age of 18 (Art. 9 of the Marriage and Family Law, No. 22/2000/QH10 of June 9, 2000)

Marriageable age: 18 years or older (Civil Act Art.807)

A minor shall obtain consent of both parents or guardian to marry (Civil Act Art. 808–1)


Fee to be paid for marriage entry (Sec. 42(9)) and issuance of certificates


Implication that there are no fees for registration of vital events

No fee for marriage of Vietnamese citizens residing in the country (Art. 11–1-b)

No fee for marriage


(continued)


Table 20 . Marriage



Penalties for not complying with marriage registration

If minister of religion granted right to act as VS official fails to perform legal duties of registration, the right may be revoked (Sec. 5)

Art. 66

Punishment for failing to declare is imprisonment of a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine of 500 BIRR to 5000 BIRR


Using forged or falsified certificate: rigorous imprisonment for 5 to 10 years

Making forged or falsified certificate: rigorous imprisonment for 7 to 15 years; in the case of civil servants or officials, can be extended to 25 years

Falsifying data collected through alteration, modification, or deletion of content: 10 to 25 years

Damaging, destroying, suppressing, or unlawfully accessing data collected: rigorous imprisonment for 10 to 25 years

None specified None specified

Format for registration form and register, including whether electronic or manual, because CR has dual function of providing legal documents to individuals and collecting statistical information on all vital events occurring in the country

Electronic registration—register online or forward data through data communication network (Population Register Act Sec. 29)

Set form is used (Art. 19(2)).

Registration is manual in nearest administrative office (Art. 43)

Region organ prepares and distributes civil status register with appropriate federal organ and then sends it to all administrative offices (Arts. 11 & 13)

Standard form of marriage declaration is used, then information is registered in civil book and electronic database

Set forms provided in Supreme Court rules (Art. 24)


(continued)


Table 20 . Marriage



Circumstances and processes for modifying or annotating registration record, including for name changes, errors, and disputed entries

For obvious inaccuracies, VS office can correct by filing correction application or ex officio (Sec. 12)

Other changes may be made by application, court judgement, VS office decision, or other certifying documents (Sec. 13)

Clerical mistakes: civil officer request of interested party to make corrections to register; if correction involves deleting a word or number, it must be done so that the canceled word or number is still leg-ible; if correction affects all copies of registration form, civil officer must give notice to all bodies that received copies (Art. 49)

Corrections other than clerical mistakes cannot be made except through judg-ment of the court (Art. 50)

To apply for correction, public prosecutor, civil status officer, or any interested person can petition the court (Art. 51)



State agency can make corrections when the civil status registration shows error (Art. 4–12)

Requester shall submit declaration on changes to be recorded with other necessary documentary evidence; if all requirements are met, civil officer shall record such change in civil status book (Art. 28)

Original registrant files for modification or annotation as neededHead of district level may make changes if original registrant is not available only with permission of supervisory court

(continued)


Table 21 . Divorce

Divorce: Statutory Instrument(s) & Articles


Divorce should be registered

Divorce shall immediately be registered in population register (Sec. 46(3))

One or both partners must present decision of competent court on divorce and present such document to civil status officer within specified time under Art. 18(1) (Art. 35)

Court settling divorce must send judgment to registering agency (Art. 57–2 of MFL); marrying a married person who is not divorced already (and registered so) is prohibited (Art. 10 MFL), and the civil office registers changes on civil status (Art. 26)

Registration must be filed to make divorce legally effective (Civil Act Art. 836)

Place of registration for divorce (according to place of occurrence or usual residence)

No specification regarding domicile or place of occurrence

Administrative office nearest to place where divorce occurred (Art. 36)

Agency registers marriage as provided in Marriage and Family Law (Art. 57–2 of MFL)

At original domicile of person directly involved in such reporting or domicile or current address of person who files report (Art. 20–1)

Special circumstances, such as for refugees, undocumented migrants, internally displaced persons, stateless persons, and nomadic populations

No specific provision None None (no divorce-specific provisions in Law on Civil Status, no relevant information in Marriage and Family Law)

None

Time allowed for registering divorces

Same-day registration (Sec. 46, 48)

30 days from date of divorce (Art. 18(1))

None (no divorce-specific provisions in Law on Civil Status; Marriage and Family Law provides no time limit)

Report of divorce by agreement shall be filed within 3 months of date on which family court issues or delivers certified copy of confirmation, attaching certified copy of confirmation (Art. 75)

Nature and content of divorce form

Application for divorce must be filed jointly, expressing wish to divorce and confirming no disputes; application must list time and place of marriage, surname after divorce if wishes to restore, number of marriage being dissolved, and number of joint children (Sec. 44)

Full name, date and place of birth, principal residence, citizenship, ethnic origin, religion of divorcing partners; date and place of conclusion of marriage and date of divorce; reference to decision of competent court for divorce; name and signature of civil status officer, seal of administrative office, date of registration

None (no divorce-specific provisions in Law on Civil Status or relevant information in Marriage and Family Law)

Report of divorce shall include the following information:

1. Name, origin of surname, date of birth, resident registration, number and original domicile of parties to a divorce (name, nationality, and alien registration number when any party to divorce is a foreigner)



Table 21 . Divorce



Nature and content of divorce form(continued)

2. Name, original domicile, and resident registration number of parents and adoptive parents of parties to divorce

3. If person with parental authority is determined in accordance with Article 909 (4) and (5) of Civil Act, details thereof (Art. 74)

Arrangements for registration of divorces taking place abroad

Consular officers may make entries by foreign divorce documents (Sec. 3(5))

No specified provision within subsection 4: Registration of Divorce, but general provision within definition of officers of civil status (Art. 7)


If person does not reside in state, such confirmation shall be made at the Seoul Family Court (Art. 75–1)


Core: Time and place of marriage, surname after divorce if wishes to restore, marriage certificate, notarized application explaining inevitable absence of one spouse, if a spouse is not available

Noncore: number of marriage being dissolved, number of joint children (Sec. 44)

Core: Date of occurrence, date of registration, date of birth of both partners, place of registration, place of usual residence date of marriage

Noncore: place of birth, ethnic origin, and religion of each partner, citizenship (Art. 34(1) & (2))


No classification


Divorce application, marriage certificate (Sec. 44)

Court rendering decision for divorce must provide copies to each divorcing partner (Art. 37)


Divorce by agreement: Family court issues or delivers certified copy of confirmation is, attaching certified copy of confirmation (Art. 75–2)


State fee paid for divorce entry (Sec. 48)

No specified provisions None (no divorce-specific provisions in Law on Civil Status or relevant information in Marriage and Family Law)

None

Penalties for not complying with divorce registration

None; VS office will enter divorce



None


(continued)


Table 21 . Divorce




Electronic registration—register online or forward data through data communication network (Population Register Act Sec. 29)

Set form is used (Art. 19(2)).

Registration is manual in nearest administrative office (Art. 43)

Region organ prepares and distributes register of civil status with appropriate federal organ and sends to all administrative offices (Arts. 11 & 13)


Format for registration form and register (Art. 74)

Circumstances and processes for modifying or annotating the registration record

For obvious inaccuracies, VS office can correct by correction application or ex officio (Sec. 12)

Other changes may be made by application, court judgement, VS office decision, or other certifying documents (Sec. 13)

Clerical mistakes: civil officer request of interested party to make corrections to particulars of register; if correction involves deletion of word or number, it must be done so that the deleted word or number is still legible; if correction affects all copies of registration form, civil officer must give notice to all bodies that received copies (Art. 49)

Corrections other than clerical mistakes cannot be corrected except through judgment of court (Art. 50)

To apply for correction, public prosecutor, civil status officer, or any interested person may petition court (Art. 51)




Original registrant is to file for modification/annotation

as needed.

Head of the District Level may make changes, if

the original registrant is not available, only with the permission from the

supervisory court.

(continued)


Table 22 . Annulment and Judicial Separation

Annulment and Judicial Separation: Statutory Instrument(s) & Articles


Annulment should be registered

Should be registered in Population Register (Art. 7(11))

No specified provisions for registration of annulment


Person who filed such report or party to reporting case may apply for rectification of register after obtaining permission of family court with jurisdiction over original domicile of person to the case (Art. 105)

Place of registration for annulment (according to place of occurrence or usual residence)

County governments (Art. 3(4))

No specified provisions Deciding court sends annulment decision to agency where marriage registered (Art. 11 of MFL)

Original domicile of person directly involved in reporting or domicile or current address of person who files report (Art. 20–1)


No specific provision No specified provisions None None

Time allowed for registering annulments

No expiry of claims for annulment (FLA Art. 13(1))

Claim for annulment of marriage may be filed within 1 year of restoration of the capability to exercise his or her will or within 1 year of discovery of mistake, fraud, or termination of influence of threat or violation annulment (FLA Art. 13(2))

No specified provisions None Within 1 month of date of final court decision (Art. 107)

Nature and content of annulment form

No specific provision, but application for performance of VS procedures should be submitted so VS entry is made (Art. 9(1), (3))

No specified provisions None Supreme Court rules prescribe report forms; when report on registration of family relations substitutes for any report prescribed in other statutes, when Supreme Court prescribes relevant report forms, it shall consult in advance with heads of relevant ministries and offices (Art. 24)






Nature and content of annulment form(continued)

Following matters shall be entered in report; person who files report shall write name on report, sign name, and affix his/her seal thereto:

1. Events to be reported2. Date of report3. Date of birth, citizen

registration number, original domicile, address of person filing report

4. Original domicile, address, name, date of birth, and citizen registration number of person to such reporting if person filing report is someone other than the person to the reporting.

5. If citizen registration number was entered in report document when report document was prepared pursuant to this Act, date of birth may be omitted (Art. 25)

Arrangements for registration of annulments taking place abroad

Consular officers make entries on basis of foreign VS documents and issue extracts of such data (Art. 3(5))

No specified provisions None At family relation registration office for Korean citizens residing abroad (Art. 20–1)


No specific provision, but in addition to other data required by law, application submitted to VS office should set out following data on applicant (Art. 9(5)):

Personal name

Personal identification code; in absence thereof, date of birth and sex

Clearly worded content of application

No specified provisions No classification No classification


(continued)





Core and noncore information to be collected(continued)

Information on place of birth

Data on residence

Contact details, including telephone number and e-mail address

Citizenship

Marital status

Nationality

Native language

Education

Area of activity


No specific provision No specified provisions None Rectification of register shall be applied with ceartified copy of written judgement attached thereto (Art. 106)



Penalties for not complying with annulment registration





(continued)





Circumstances and processes for modifying or annotating registration record

No specific provision No specified provisions None Original registrant files for modification or annotation as neededHead of district level may make changes if original registrant is not available only with permission from supervisory court

Judicial separation No such provisions exist

(continued)


Table 23 . Adoption

Adoption: Statutory Instrument(s) & Articles


Adoption registration must be continuous, permanent, compulsory, universal, and confidential

Continuous: VS data should be changed and corrected (Art. 11)

Compulsory: VS data should be registered in population register (Art. 2(3))

No provisions for adoption registration in CVRS or Family Code 2000




Continuous: Record may be changed according to Supreme Court Rules (Art. 10–2)


Compulsory: Lifetime events must be recorded on family relationship record (Art. 9–2–3)

Universal: Covering whole country


Every adoption occurring in territory should be registered irrespective of citizenship of parents

No specific provision No provisions for adoption registration in CVRS or Family Code 2000

Common-level people’s committee organizes adoption and records in civil status book (Art. 22 of Adoption Law)

None

How to register adoptions to nationals that have occurred abroad

Consular officers make entries on basis of foreign VS documents and issue extracts of such data (Art. 3(5))


For Vietnamese child adopted by parents abroad, justice department records and issues certificate (Art. 37, 38 of AL)

For foreign child adopted by Vietnamese citizen living abroad, Vietnamese parents register process with provincial-level Justice Department (Art. 40 of AL)

At family relation registration office for Korean citizens residing abroad (Art. 20–1)

Place of registration for adoptions (according to place of occurrence or usual residence)

County governments (Art. 3(4))

There are no such provisions as to adoption registration in the CVRS or in the Family Code 2000

Domestic adoption: Common-level people’s committee (Art. 22 of AL)

Intercountry adoption: Justice Department (Art. 37 of AL) (Art. 40 of AL)

At original domicile of person directly involved in reporting or domicile or current address of person who files report (Art. 20–1)



Table 23 . Adoption





None None

How adoptions at agencies are to be registered and adoption certificates issued, including who is responsible for notification of adoption to civil registrar


Domestic adoption: Common-Level People’s Committee (Art. 22 of AL)

Intercountry adoption: Justice Department (Art. 37 of AL), (Art. 40 of AL)

If a person to be adopted is younger than 13 years of age, his/her legal representative shall permit adoption on his/her behalf (Civil Act Art. 869–2)

Responsible for notification: Legal representative who assented to adoption shall file report of adoption. (Art. 62)

Certificate of adoptive relations (Art. 15–1–4)

How adoptions at court are to be registered and adoption certificates issued, including who is responsible for notification of adoption to civil registrar

No specific provision No provisions for adoption registration in CVRS or Family Code 2000, although

powers of court in investigation of whether a person is suitable to adopt provided for in Art. 194 Family Code 2000

Government agency predominantly arranges and decides adoptions; the law is silent on court-involved scenario.

Court does not issue certificate

Report of adoption:

1. If adoptee is younger than 13 years of age, legal representative who assented to adoption shall file report of adoption

2. If minor is adopted, written permission of family court shall be attached

3. If judgement in lieu of consent of parents is rendered, written statement of family court’s judgement shall be attached (Art. 62)


(continued)


Table 23 . Adoption



Designation of legally responsible informant (who needs to report adoption and alternate informants if primary informant not available)


Because government agency always involved in adoption processes, decision-making body responsible for initiating registration of adoption

None



None Matters to be entered in report of adoption

4. Name, origin of surname, date of birth, resident registration number, and original domicile of person to adoption (name, date of birth, nationality, alien registration number if person to adoption is a foreigner), sex of adoptee

5. Name, resident registration number, and original domicile of birth parents (Art. 61)

Time allowed for registering adoptions


None None

Minimal supporting documents required if adoption is registered within allowed time period; additional supporting documents required for late and delayed registration


None Permission of family court (Art. 62)

No time period

No provisions for late and delayed registration


No specific provision, but consent of child, child’s parents or guardian, and spouse required (FLA Art. 151–154)


No classification No classification


(continued)


Table 23 . Adoption



Whether fees aree charged.


No fees specified for registering adoption in civil status book; fees charged for adoption process (Art. 12 of AL)

None

Penalties for not complying with adoption registration


None None

(continued)


Table 24 . Legitimation and Recognition

Legitimation and Recognition: Statutory Instrument(s) & Articles


Legitimation No specified provisions

Recognition registration must be continuous, permanent, compulsory, universal, and confidential

No specific provision, but consent of mother of child required for recognition of paternity (FLA Art. 89(2))

No such provisions exist Continuous: Update electronically (Art. 5–5)



Continuous: Record may be changed according to Supreme Court rules (Art. 10–2)


Compulsory: Lifetime events recorded on Family Relationship Record (Art. 9–2–3)

Universal: Covering all of the country


How to register recognition of nationals that have occurred abroad

No specific provision No such provisions exist No specific provision on recognition, but generally changes on family abroad are recorded at representative mission abroad

At family relation registration office for Korean citizens residing abroad (Art. 20–1)

Place of registration for recognition (according to place of occurrence or usual residence)

No specific provision No such provisions exist Place of residence of parents or children (Art. 24)

At original domicile of person directly involved in reporting or domicile or current address of person who files report (Art. 20–1)


No specific provision No such provisions exist None None






How recognition at court is registered and recognition certificates issued, including who is responsible for notification of recognition to civil registrar

No specific provision No such provisions exist No involvement at court specified

Father or mother (Civil Act Art.855)

Designation of legally responsible informant (who needs to report recognition and alternate informants if primary informant not available)



No specific provision No such provisions exist Standard form (Art. 25–1); content not specified in law

1. Name, sex, date of birth, resident registration number, and original domicile of child (name, sex, date of birth, nationality, alien registration number if child is a foreigner)

2. If a dead child is recognized, date of death and name, date of birth, resident registration number, and original domicile of the child’s lineal descendants

3. If a father recognizes a child, name, original domicile, and resident registration number of mother

4. If surname and origin of surname are maintained before recognition, purport and details thereof


(continued)






5. If the person in paternal authority has been determined in accordance with Article 909 (4) or (5) of the Civil Act, purport and details thereof

6. In cases falling under paragraph (1) 4 or 5, documents to prove the details shall be attached to the report; if decision of family court on permission of continuous use of surname and origin of surname or trial to determine person in paternal authority has been concluded, Article 58 shall apply mutatis mutandis (Art. 55)

Time allowed for registering recognition

No specific provision No such provisions exist Three working days after receiving complete papers for recognition request (Art. 25–2); if needed, may extend to 5 working days.

Within 1 month of date on which final decision made (Art. 58)

Minimal supporting documents required if recognition is registered within allowed time period; additional supporting documents required for late and delayed registration

No specific provision No such provisions exist Evidence proving relationship (Art. 25–1)

Certified copy of written judgment and certificate (Art. 58)


No specific provision No such provisions exist None No classification



Penalties for not complying with recognition registration


(continued)


Conclusion

A CR system that is comprehensive, continuous, per-manent, and compulsory is the main source of VS .

The Estonian CRVS laws, mainly the Vital Sta-tistics Registration Act, provide the legal grounds for continuous, permanent, compulsory, universal registra-tion of birth, death, marriage, divorce, and other vital events . Registration of vital events is confidential and protected against uses or disclosures for other purposes without consent of the person concerned or permission from a competent authority according to the Personal Data Protection Act .

In Ethiopia, there was no system because the Civil Code 1960, pertaining to vital events registration, was not functional . Although the Civil Code made it compulsory to register births, deaths, and marriage, Article 3361 prohibited the CR articles from being ef-fective until an official order was issued . As a result, the issuance of certificates for births, deaths, marriages, and divorces were provided for without proper registration established in national law . With the enactment of the Revised Family Law 2000, provisions for registration of marriage and births were implemented with a stipula-tion that the federal government must enact a registra-tion law that would establish an Office of Civil Status . In 2012, the Registration of Vital Events and National Identity Card Proclamation No . 760/2012 was enacted and required registration of vital events in Ethiopia .

Previously used for political motives, the Viet-namese citizen registration system currently has a comprehensive legal framework that is designed to re-cord lifetime events and keep VS of Vietnamese citi-zens since the enactment of the Law on Civil Status in 2014 . Coupled with substantive laws on civil matters such as the Law on Residence, Law on Marriage and Family, Law on Adoption, and Law on Children, the Law on Civil Status covers vast amounts of CR suggest-ed by the Principles and Recommendations . The Law on Civil Status implies the construction, implementa-tion, and use of the central depository database that keeps information intact and permanent, yet the level

of computerization of information storing and sharing accomplished thus far is not clear .

The Korean resident registration system was es-tablished to ascertain where people live and to control residents, but the purpose has been changed to securing statistical data . Statistical data obtained through resi-dent registration are used to realize government policy and the welfare system in Korea . Placing greater weight on constructing informational infrastructure for gov-ernment functions and services is in line with the Prin-ciples and Recommendations, although not all parts of the Principles and Recommendations are reflected in Korean law . Laws on resident registration in Korea, coupled with an advanced e-government system, ad-here to substantial parts of the Principles and Recom-mendations and are highly effective, although there are concerns about human rights violation because of the amount of information in the system .

UN recommendations for vital events that should be registered for CRVS purposes are birth, death, fetal death, marriage, divorce, annulment, judicial separa-tion, adoption, legitimation (acknowledgement), and recognition (judicial declarations of paternity) . The pri-ority is for the vital events of births, marriages, divorces, and deaths to be recorded . Not every country records all vital events that the United Nations recommends, although it is the eventual goal .

In Estonia, the registration system does not cov-er or recognize fetal death, judicial separation, or legit-imation because the Family Law Act, responsible for setting forth substantial provisions regarding such vital events, does not contain any statutory provisions on them, and there may be good reasons for why Estonia has not codified them in the law . In terms of registra-tion of birth, death, marriage, and divorce, the Esto-nian CRVS system has most of the characteristics that the United Nations recommends to promote accuracy and completeness of registration . Most of the interna-tionally recommended minimum core characteristics are included in the CRVS system .

In Ethiopia, in the CRVS law 2012 to facilitate the establishment of a vital events registration system,


priority was given to birth, marriage, divorce, and death . Although the fundamental legal requirements have been established in national law, the main task for Ethiopia is to continue to plan and provide for orga-nization and administration arrangements and proce-dures that are indispensable for the registration of vital events is resourced, organized and monitored .

In Vietnam, there are provisions for registration of birth, death, marriage, divorce, and adoption but not for fetal death, judicial separation, annulment, le-gitimation, or recognition . Societal reasons and histor-ical contexts play with having or not being equipped with laws for registration of a lifetime events, just like any other countries . These country-specific historical traits, along with the rapid development and changes that Vietnam is undergoing, should be the baseline in understanding and assessing the status and projecting the future of CRVS in Vietnam .

In Korea, birth, death, marriage, and divorce are covered in the law, but fetal death, judicial separation, recognition, and legitimation are not . Korea has im-plemented a full adoption system in response to socie-tal changes . Equipped with information on important vital and statistical events, the Korean law on CRVS operates seamlessly on the top-notch e-government

system . As the Korean CR system evolves and devel-ops along with societal and political changes, lack of or nonconformity with principles and recommendations should not be a ground to consider Korean legal sys-tem right or wrong .

The systems of all four countries differ, reflect-ing each country’s understanding and stages of adap-tation of international rules and standards on CRVS . Core events, including births, deaths, marriages, and divorces, are generally recorded and registered, backed up by legal systems in all four countries, whereas re-sidual lifetime events lack official registration system . Events that are inherently foreign to the cultures and legal systems of those four countries, such as legitima-tion, judicial separation, and fetal death, do not have regulatory standing or need for such legal system . Thus, although suggestions made on the Principles and Rec-ommendations are devised as the best practice in re-cording and registering CRVS, it may not be practical to apply such principles in some countries with differ-ent backgrounds, as shown above . Nevertheless, the core values of the Principles and Recommendations are vital and universal, and countries should be encouraged to adopt and make use of those principles regarding lifetime events in a comprehensive fashion .

REFERENCES

Estonia Company Laws and Regulations Handbook: Volume 1 . Strategic Informa-tion and Basic Laws . 2012 . International Business Publications USA .

Miil, Kart, Jannu Kuusik, and Maia Ruttu . “Guide to Estonian Legal System and Legal Research .” http://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/Estonia1.html .

UN (United Nations) . 1998 . Administrative infrastructures: centralized, decentral-ized and local civil registration systems, and the interface with vital statistics systems . In: Handbook on civil registration and vital statistics systems: man-agement, operation and maintenance . New York: United Nations, pp . 4–15 .

UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs . 2014 . Principles and Recommen-dations for a Vital Statistics System, Revision 3 . New York: United Nations .

U .S . Department of State .2005 . Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2004—Vietnam. Washington, DC: U .S . Department of State .

Vietnam Academy of Social Science, World Bank Group . 2016 . “Vietnam’s House-hold Registration System .” Hong Duc Publising House, Ha Noi, Vietnam .

WHO (World Health Organization) . Nd . “Civil Registration and Vital Statistics .” http://www .who .int/healthinfo/civil_registration/en/ .

1818 H Street, NWWashington, DC 20433

KOREA-WORLD BANK PARTNERSHIP FACILITY

KWPF

estonia, ethiopia, vietnam, and south korea

Documents

Transcript of estonia, ethiopia, vietnam, and south korea