Overcoming shortcomings in issuing copies of birth certificates

"Supply" does not meet "demand"

In early August 2020, Ms. Le Thi Xam went to the People's Committee of Dien Bich Commune (Dien Chau) to request a copy of her daughter's birth certificate to complete the school admission procedures. Ms. Xam expressed her wish to be issued 5 copies of her child's birth certificate, both to meet the document requirements of the school where her child is enrolled, and to keep a few copies so that if needed in the future, she would not have to go through the trouble of asking for them again. Similarly, Ms. Tran Thi Hanh and her husband just registered their son's birth and requested to be issued 10 copies of his birth certificate because "later on, he will need many related procedures, so it is "convenient" to do it right away".

However, a Justice officer of Dien Bich commune said that the commune can only issue one copy of the birth certificate to each case because there are not enough blanks to provide. “In 2019, Dien Bich commune had 760 new birth registration cases, in the first 6 months of 2020 there were 502 cases, but the commune has only been issued about 100 blanks per month, which is not enough to meet the needs of the people” - Ms. Dau Thi Son - Justice officer of the commune said.

Officials of the Dien Chau District Justice Department guide localities in implementing regulations on judicial and civil status procedures. Photo: Hoai Thu

According to Head of the Justice Department of Dien Chau District Hoang Thi Xuyen, not only Dien Bich Commune, but also other communes of Dien Chau are facing a similar situation, the number of blanks for printing copies of birth certificates is currently not enough to meet the needs of the people. Every year, Dien Chau has more than 7,000 new birth registration cases, which also means that tens of thousands of blanks are needed to issue copies of birth certificates according to the provisions of Circular 04. However, up to now, Dien Chau has only been issued more than 8,000 blanks, divided equally into about 100 blanks/commune, a large shortage compared to the needs of the people.

Not only in Dien Chau district, through research in Hung Nguyen, Thanh Chuong, Quynh Luu districts... are also facing the same situation. In some remote districts such as Quy Hop, Ky Son, by the end of August 2020, there were still no blank copies due to remote conditions and could not be transported in time. Discussing this content, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy - Head of the Department of Administrative Justice (Department of Justice) also confirmed that the department has also received feedback from the district level about the lack of blank copies of birth certificates.

Some localities have reported that the regulation of the Ministry of Justice to print and issue copies of Birth Certificates in Clause 1, Article 28 of Circular 04/2020/TT-BTP causes difficulties for people. Because copies of documents are used by people to replace the original in transactions such as land procedures, school admission, job applications, appointment records... and the number of copies issued depends on the needs of each person. Therefore, the demand for copies will be very large, especially in August when children of many families have to go through school admission procedures. Or in cases where inheritance division procedures are performed for families with 7-10 children, each person needs 3-4 copies, so 30-40 copies of birth certificates will be needed.

Copy of Birth Certificate according to the new form as prescribed by the Ministry of Justice. Photo provided by the facility

Meanwhile, the issuance of original forms for all types of civil status documents, especially original birth certificates, is sometimes not timely. In many cases of birth registration, the originals are owed, and copies are seriously lacking if they have to be printed from blanks. Currently, the demand of the people in the whole province is estimated at about 400,000 blank copies, but the Ministry has only issued 100,000 copies.

According to the reflection of the judicial officials we discussed, in addition to the shortcomings in quantity, the implementation of the provisions in Circular 04 also conflicts with the provisions of the 2014 Law on Civil Status. This Law only regulates the issuance of extracts of civil status but does not regulate the issuance of copies of birth certificates. Therefore, the provisions of Circular 04 are not consistent with the provisions of the Law on Civil Status.

Specifically, Article 9 of the Law on Civil Status stipulates that a civil status extract is a document issued by a competent State agency to prove an individual's civil status event registered at the civil status registration agency. The original civil status extract is issued immediately after the civil status event is registered. A copy of the civil status extract includes a copy of the civil status extract issued from the civil status database and a copy of the civil status extract certified from the original. When requested by the people, the civil status agency only needs to go to the civil status database and print it on A4 paper, confirming that it is legally valid, without the need for expensive and cumbersome forms. This is also the regulation on issuing a copy of the birth certificate according to Circular No. 15/2015/TT-BTP.

People come to apply for a copy of their Birth Certificate at the One-Stop Department of Thach Giam Town (Tuong Duong). Photo: Hoai Thu

Another shortcoming also mentioned by the facility is the confusion in fee collection. According to Point c, Clause 2, Article 5 of Circular No. 85/2019/TT-BTC dated November 29, 2019 of the Ministry of Finance, the civil status fee is the amount collected from people whose civil status matters are handled by competent State agencies. In particular, the issuance of copies of civil status extracts is subject to fee collection according to the provisions of Circular No. 281/2016/TT-BTC dated November 14, 2016 of the Ministry of Finance (fee for exploiting and using information in the civil status database). However, the issuance of copies of birth certificates according to Circular 04/2020/TT-BTP currently does not have specific guidance documents, so judicial officials do not know whether to collect the fee for issuing copies of extracts or collect additional fees because they have to buy sample forms from the Ministry of Justice's publishing house. Meanwhile, people's needs are increasing, especially when students need to do admission paperwork.

Fix the problems

Regarding the shortage of blank copies of birth certificates, the leader of the Department of Justice said that the immediate solution is to limit the number of blank copies of birth certificates issued for each case, waiting for the Ministry of Justice to issue enough blank copies. For units that do not have blank copies, the old regulations will still apply until December 2020.

The leader of the Department of Administrative Justice (Department of Justice) also said that immediately after Circular 04 took effect, the Department issued Official Dispatch No. 851/STP-HCTP dated July 13, 2020 to the Department of Justice of districts, cities and towns on instructions for implementing Circular 04. It clearly stated that, for birth certificates in the form issued under Circular No. 15/2015/TT-BTP currently used at civil status registration offices, they can be used until December 31, 2020. “The birth certificate extract form (copy) is replaced by a copy according to Circular 04. However, due to the slow guidance of the Department of Civil Status, Nationality, and Authentication, the Department of Justice cannot advise on the cost of purchasing additional forms in a timely manner according to the prescribed time. Therefore, from July 16, 2020, when people request a copy of the birth certificate, the civil status registration agency is requested to instruct people to use other types of copies such as: certified copies from the original; photocopies of birth certificates with the original for comparison; if people still request a copy of the birth certificate, the civil status registration agency is requested to continue using the birth certificate extract form issued with Circular No. 15/2015/TT-BTP until a copy is provided by the Department of Justice”.

Three types of copies of Birth Certificates have the same legal value. Photo provided by the facility

The Department of Justice has also advised the Provincial People's Committee to issue directives and official dispatches to departments, branches, agencies and units in the province to strengthen propaganda and compliance with legal regulations on the use of copies of birth certificates in recruitment work. It is not necessary to require people to submit copies according to the new form, because the three forms of issuing birth certificates have the same legal value.

In addition, the Department of Justice will also report to the superior agency to promptly review, adjust, and amend the above-mentioned problems and shortcomings so that the regulations on household registration excerpts are implemented in a unified, strict, legal manner, in accordance with the spirit of administrative procedure reform, helping to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the people.

Hoai Thu