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Human Rights and Registration of Vital Events

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Human Rights and Registration of Vital Events Technical Papers Number 7 II s March 1680 Human Rights and Registration of Vital Events International Institute for Vital Registration and Statistics 9650 Rockville Pike Bethesda, Maryland 20014 U.S.A. CONTENTS Foreword ........................................................... i Introduction ........................................................ 1 Historical background ................................................ 1 Implementation of human rights. ........................................ 2 A. Right to register vital events in an official'register ......................... 2 B. Rights whose realization may depend on civil registration of vital events. ....... 4 C. Summary and conclusions. ......................................... 13 FOREWORD Human rights are perhaps the most precious heritage of man. In order to implement the various cove- nants to provide for the rights of individuals, and to safeguard these iights, it is necessary to establish the iden- tity of individuals and their relationships. The different civil registration documents play an essential role in providing evidence of personal identity, age, parental filiation, nationality, marital status, etc. This study traces the international efforts to promote, protect and to gain realization ,of human rights. It shows how the various records of civil status serve the individual through his lifetime in enjoying the rights to which he is entitled. Before her retirement, the author- served for many years in the United Nations Population Division and the Statisdcal Office where she specialized on problems of civil registration and vital statistics. Human Rights and Registration of Vital Events Nora P. Powell, Vice President International Institute for Vital Registration and Statistics INTR0DU CTlON of Racial Discrimination, and the Declaration on the The f u ndamenta I relationship between human Elimination of Discrimination against Women.' rights and registration of vital events was forged when the International Covenant on Civil and Politi- HISTORICAL BACKGROUND cal Rights proclaimed that "Every child shall be regis- In the United Nations, the development of an tered immediately after birth and shall have a name International Bill of Human Rights began in 1948 . .," and the Convention on Consent to Marriage, when the General Assembly adopted the Universal Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Mar- Declaration of Human Rights, proclaimed in its pre- riages proclaimed that "All marriages shall be regis- amble as "a common standard of achievement for all tered in an appropriate official register by the compe- peoples and all nations. ." In the years that have tent authority." elapsed since it was adopted, the Universal Declara- The link between human rights and registra- tion has exercised an extremely powerful influence tion of vital events was further emphasized in the throughout the world. Its provisions have inspired a United Nations World Population Plan of Action, number of international conventions which have sig- adopted by the 136 representatives of Governments nificantly influenced national constitutions and legis- to the World Population Conference in 1974. In its lation. In fact, the Declaration has become a code of "Recommendations for Action," the Plan identified a conduct and a yardstick against which the degree of number of areas requiring research in order to fill respect for, and compliance with, the international existing gaps in knowledge and one of these was standards of human rights might be measured. It has "The collection, analysis and dissemination of infor- made the attainment of a minimum standard of eco- mation concerning human rights in relation to popu- nomic, social, cultural and political rights basic to lation matters, and the preparation of studies de- development. signed to clarify, systematize and more effectively The first stage of the transformation of these lofty implement those human rights. This study seeks to aims and principles into binding and operative instru- respond to the above recommendation by identifying ments of international law occurred when the two those human rights that obligate the States to ensure international Covenants or treaties were adopted and that vital events are registered, as well as those opened for signature, ratification and accession by whose realization may depend on civil registration the General Assembly of the United Nations in reso- having taken place. In accordance with United Na- lution 2200 A (XXI) of 16 December 1966. Important tions' standards, civil registration is defined as the as Covenants are, they exert only moral obligations "continuous, permanent, compulsory recording of on States until a sufficient number ratify them. Thus, the occurrence and characteristics of vital events it was not until 1976 that the most important mile- . .," limited for this study to livebirths, deaths, fetal stone was reached when the International Covenant deaths, marriages and divorces. on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the The human rights that form the basis of this International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights study are for the most part those set forth in the Uni- (together with its Optional Protocol) came into force versal Declaration of Human Rights, the Declaration as legally binding instruments of international law. of the Rights of the Child, and in the two interna- Additional countries continue to ratify the Covenants tional treaties known as the International Covenant every year. on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the In- The promotion, encouragement and imple- ternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. mentation of human rights and fundamental free- These instruments, couched in general terms, have doms has been the mandate of the United Nations been supplemented as necessary by others adopted Commission on Human Rights since its establish- by the United Nations for specific purposes such as ment by the Economic and Social Council in 1946. In The Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum 'The texts of these international instruments have been published in Hu- Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages, The man Rights A Compilation of International Instruments of the United International Convention on Elimination of All Forms Nations (UN Publications Sales No E 73 XIV 2) 1 1966, however, the Council directed the Commission result of this deprivation, these individuals may also to consider, as a matter of importance and urgency, be deprived of the rights guaranteed in the Cove- the question of the violation of human rights, with a nants, entitlement to which depends on the con- view to elaborating measures to halt these violations. cerned person being able to produce proof of iden- As a result of this directive, the subject of human tity, age, parental filiation, nationality, marital status, rights has tended to be seen largely in the passive and so forth, all characteristics traditionally certified sense of requiring States to abstain from certain acts by documents in.theofficial civil registers. and forms of behavior which violate human rights In one sense, these deprivations may be seen rather than in the active or dynamic sense of encour- as a denial of the right to registration of vital events, a aging implementation. This passive approach tends violation which can be removed or eliminated by the to obscure the important fact that, in a very real establishment of, and adherence to, administrative sense, all activities of the United Nations are geared procedures necessary to safeguard these rights. to the promotion, encouragement, protection and Safeguarding the right to civil registration will at the realization of human rights, since they all have as same time more effectively protect certain oth,er their objective the promotion of economic and social human rights, in the implementation of which civil progress and the attainment of better standards of registers have an essential role to play. living. Of interest in this connection is the promotion In the discussion that follows, Part A docu- of the establishment of civil registration systems, an ments the obligation of Signatory States to provide important activity of the United Nations, most re- their population with the means to register births, cently recommended by ECOSOC in its World Pro- deaths, fetal deaths, marriage and divorce in an offi- gramme for the Improvement of Vital Statistics in cial register, by a competent authority, as guaran- 1968, and by the General Assembly in its affirmation teed or implied in Articles of the International Cove- of the World Population Plan of Action in 1974. nants and in various international conventions. Part B sets forth a catalogue of human rights other than IMPLEMENTATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS’ those in Part A, identifies the Article, paragraph and subparagraph. of the international instrument that The obligation on States Parties to the Cove- guarantees each right, and describes how’its imple- nants to provide for the rights of individuals carries mentation may depend on having official proof of , with it the duty to amend or abolish laws and policies birth, death, fetal death, marriage and divorce. The ’ that conflict with the implementation of the rights, summary and conclusions of the study are set forth and to adopt new laws and policies to conform with in Part C. and further these rights. However, effective protec- In this catalogue, the roles played by vital rec- tion of human rights depends not only on the legisla- ords in implementing
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