BIRTH REGISTRATION RESEARCH A collection of three comparative reports prepared for UNICEF by DLA Piper November 2015–August 2016 The views expressed in this Report do not necessarily represent the views of UNICEF, the United Nations or any of its affiliated organisations. BIRTH REGISTRATION A Comparative Report Prepared for UNICEF November 2015 CONTENTS PREFACE ________________________________________________________________________ 1 ANGOLA _________________________________________________________________________ 3 QUESTIONNAIRE ON BIRTH REGISTRATION - ANGOLA _____________________________________ 3 References __________________________________________________________________________ 9 BANGLADESH ___________________________________________________________________ 10 QUESTIONNAIRE ON BIRTH REGISTRATION - BANGLADESH _______________________________ 10 References _________________________________________________________________________ 22 Appendix 1 - Birth and Death Registration Act 2004 __________________________________________ 24 Appendix 2 - Additional Information _______________________________________________________ 32 INDIA __________________________________________________________________________ 36 QUESTIONNAIRE ON BIRTH REGISTRATION - INDIA ______________________________________ 36 References _________________________________________________________________________ 51 INDONESIA _____________________________________________________________________ 54 QUESTIONNAIRE ON BIRTH REGISTRATION - INDONESIA _________________________________ 54 References _________________________________________________________________________ 69 KENYA _________________________________________________________________________ 72 QUESTIONNAIRE ON BIRTH REGISTRATION - KENYA _____________________________________ 72 References _________________________________________________________________________ 87 Appendix 1 - Birth Registration Forms ____________________________________________________ 91 MOZAMBIQUE ___________________________________________________________________ 95 QUESTIONNAIRE ON BIRTH REGISTRATION - MOZAMBIQUE _______________________________ 95 References ________________________________________________________________________ 103 PAKISTAN _____________________________________________________________________ 105 QUESTIONNAIRE ON BIRTH REGISTRATION - PAKISTAN _________________________________ 105 References ________________________________________________________________________ 117 SWAZILAND ____________________________________________________________________ 121 QUESTIONNAIRE ON BIRTH REGISTRATION - SWAZILAND ________________________________ 121 References ________________________________________________________________________ 133 UGANDA ______________________________________________________________________ 136 QUESTIONNAIRE ON BIRTH REGISTRATION - UGANDA __________________________________ 136 References ________________________________________________________________________ 143 ZAMBIA _______________________________________________________________________ 145 QUESTIONNAIRE ON BIRTH REGISTRATION - ZAMBIA____________________________________ 145 References ________________________________________________________________________ 155 Appendix 1 - NAPSA Member Registration/Amendment Form _________________________________ 158 Appendix 2 - Act No.22 of 2003 ("Passports Act Scan") _____________________________________ 160 Appendix 3 - Passport Application Form __________________________________________________ 170 ZIMBABWE ____________________________________________________________________ 174 QUESTIONNAIRE ON BIRTH REGISTRATION ZIMBABWE _________________________________ 174 References ________________________________________________________________________ 186 Appendix 1 - Requirements for Birth Registration ___________________________________________ 189 Appendix 2 - Towns and Districts with Registration Facilities __________________________________ 193 BIRTH REGISTRATION November 2015 DLA Piper The views expressed in this Report do not necessarily represent the views of UNICEF, the United Nations or any of its affiliated organisations. This publication is intended as a general overview and discussion of the subjects dealt with. It is not intended to be, and should not be used, as a substitute for taking legal advice in any specific situation. DLA Piper UK LLP will accept no responsibility for any actions taken or not taken on the basis of this publication. DLA Piper is a global law firm operating through various separate and distinct legal entities. For further information please refer to www.dlapiper.com or www.dlapiperprobono.com. Copyright © 2015 DLA Piper. All rights reserved. BIRTH REGISTRATION November 2015 DLA Piper PREFACE Please note the following in relation to the research questionnaires: 1. The purpose of this report is to compare the legal frameworks governing birth registration in eleven jurisdictions. Birth registration is the process by which a child's birth is recorded in the civil register by the applicable government authority. It provides the first legal recognition of the child. 2. The questionnaires have been prepared by lawyers from the UK and other jurisdictions performing desk based research. We have endeavoured to make the questionnaires as comprehensive as possible, but they should not be regarded as exhaustive. 3. Every attempt has been made to access English versions of all relevant and up to date legislation. However, given the nature of desk based research, some legislation was not available in English (or at all) and some may be outdated, although it was not always clear when this was the case. Where possible we have attempted to provide hyperlink references to online versions of legislation or provided scanned copies as an appendix to the questionnaire. 4. For many jurisdictions, reports and resources may be several years old. Due to a lack of up to date resources, in some cases older resources have been cited and relied upon as representing current practice. We would recommend referring to footnotes before relying on information. 5. The lawyers preparing these questionnaires are not experts on civil registration law or on the law of the jurisdictions which they researched, but have applied their general research skills to prepare answers to the questions. Words such as 'child', 'registration', and 'certificate' may not always be used with the strict definition ascribed to them by that jurisdiction's legislation. 6. Eleven groups of lawyers from different jurisdictions have carried out the research presented in these questionnaires and may have taken slightly different approaches to answering the questions. The questions requiring an answer of 'Yes' or 'No' are there to provide an easy-to-read overview of each jurisdiction and cannot capture all the relevant information and qualifications. In light of this, we recommend that the answer to each question is read in full and in the context of the questionnaire as a whole. 7. The final section of the questionnaire deals with the requirement for birth registration in order to access services. Where the answer to a particular question is 'Yes', we have made every attempt to provide the relevant legislative provision or have referred to the fuller narrative explanation below. Where the answer is 'No', we have either provided the legislative provision (if relevant) or left the space blank. Where the answer is 'Unclear', we have left the space blank. 8. The scope of the questionnaires is limited to the domestic legal framework in relation to birth registration for each of the relevant jurisdictions. A small number of questionnaires refer to specific international treaty obligations relating to child rights or birth registration in order to provide a fuller picture of the situation within that jurisdiction. However, the absence of a reference to an international treaty does not imply that a country is not a party to it or that the treaty itself is not relevant to the issue of birth registration as a matter of international law. 9. The questionnaires focus on the registration of births occurring within the relevant jurisdiction. A number of questionnaires also refer to the registration of children born outside the jurisdiction to BIRTH REGISTRATION November 2015 DLA Piper 1 citizens of that country, i.e. consular birth registration, but this information has not been included in every questionnaire. 10. The legal definitions of citizenship and nationality may not be identical in each jurisdiction, and there are some jurisdictions which do not distinguish clearly between the two concepts. In a number of questionnaires we have referred to both citizenship and nationality in order to provide a more comprehensive picture of the legal framework in relation to birth registration. Where possible, we have tried to use the particular terminology that appears in the relevant jurisdiction's legislation. 11. We would recommend that more exhaustive research is undertaken to verify particular information before reliance is placed on particular content for the purposes of publication or disclosure to third parties. This report may not be relied upon by any party other than UNICEF. 12. Where fees or fines have been quoted in US Dollars, the conversion was approximate and made at the time of writing the questionnaires using a commercial exchange rate, available at www.xe.com. BIRTH REGISTRATION November 2015 DLA Piper 2 ANGOLA QUESTIONNAIRE ON BIRTH REGISTRATION - ANGOLA