Is there an overlap in the issuance of personal identification numbers?

From January 1, 2016, the expected effective date of the Civil Registration Law, civil registration officials will issue identification numbers to newborns during birth registration procedures, but the number pool will remain under the management of the Ministry of Public Security. For the more than 90 million people who have lived before this date, the Ministry of Public Security will issue numbers when each person applies for a new national identity card/citizen identification card.

This was the statement made by Ngo Hai Phan, Director of the Department of Administrative Procedure Supervision (Ministry of Justice), in response to the question of whether there was any "overlap" when the Ministry of Justice was drafting the Law on Civil Registration, while the Ministry of Public Security was developing the Law on Citizen Identification.

The Director of the Department of Administrative Procedure Control (Ministry of Justice) answers questions regarding the relationship between the Law on Civil Registration and the Law on Identity Cards.

According to Mr. Phan, the Ministry of Public Security's issuance of new 12-digit identity cards is entirely consistent with the development of personal identification numbers and the creation of a national population database.

The Ministry of Justice's report clearly indicates that, in order to meet the objectives of the overall plan to simplify administrative procedures, citizen documents, and the national population database (Plan 896), the legal framework for issuing personal identification numbers must be perfected. This identification number is considered the "key" to accessing individual information within the national population database. The database contains basic information about individuals and is built uniformly nationwide for shared use by ministries, sectors, and localities, ensuring connectivity and sharing with the databases of these agencies.

"The drafting of the Law on Civil Registration and the Law on Citizen Identification in the context of implementing Project 896 must ensure coherence and synchronization between specific tasks and solutions," Director Ngo Hai Phan emphasized.

Accordingly, the Law on Citizen Identification, drafted by the Ministry of Public Security, stipulates the content and legal value of the Personal Identification Number, and regulates the issuance of identity cards to citizens aged 14 and above. The identity card records basic information and external identifying characteristics of a citizen to identify a specific person and distinguish them from others. The purpose of issuing and managing identity cards is to facilitate transactions for citizens, serve the requirements and tasks of the police, and contribute to crime prevention and combating violations of social order and safety.

Meanwhile, the Law on Civil Registration was drafted by the Ministry of Justice. "If the national population database is already operational, when registering a birth, the civil registration officer will enter the birth information into the electronic civil registration database connected to the national population database. The personal identification number will be obtained from the national population database, recorded in the civil registration book and the birth certificate extract by the civil registration officer. When applying for an identity card or other administrative procedures, citizens only need to provide their personal identification number," Mr. Phan stated.

In cases where the national population database is not yet operational, when registering a birth, the civil registry officer will enter the information into the electronic civil registry database and issue a birth certificate extract. When applying for an identity card, citizens must present the birth certificate extract. Citizens' information is entered into the identity card database and assigned an identity card number. The civil registry database and the identity card database will be the sectoral databases providing information to the national population database, and the identity card number will be the individual's identification number.

According to news