Star Law Analysis
Legal identity for social inclusion
Ahamuduzzaman
The Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh is the apex law of the country. The law making power is primarily vested in the Legislature called the Jatiya Sangsad. Subordinate law making authorities include the different ministries, autonomous bodies and other organisations duly authorised by law which may have the power to make Rules for better implementation of the parent laws.
Pluralism of legal orders
If we go through the present laws of Bangladesh we can see that there are a lot of laws existing which are considered as instruments of identification e.g. Birth and Death Registration Act, 2004, The Registration Act, 1908, The Company Act, 1994, The Patent Act, 1911 etc. Legal identity is a very wide term. It relates to person, property (corporeal & incorporeal) etc. Even licence may be considered as an instrument of legal identification relating to particular subject. For personal identification there are some ways and means e.g. DNA test. The present discussion is on some laws of Bangladesh through which a person can be legally identified and on the prevailing situation relating to the subject matter.
Several vital events are required to be registered e.g. Births, Marriages (Muslim and Christian), Divorces (Muslim and Christian), Deaths, Deeds i.e. sale and contract of sale, Heba, will, pre-emption, partition, mortgage and lease (all these relating to property).
Documents of identity in Bangladesh: Birth and Death (Registration) Certificate, Passport, Citizenship certificate, Marriage certificate, Education certificates, Voter list, Medical reports (DNA test, post mortem and inquest report after death etc).
Passports: Bangladeshi passports are issued under the Bangladesh Passport Order, 1973 and Bangladesh Passport Rules, 1974. Passports are valuable proof of identity and citizenship. However, a passport is considered as prima facie but not conclusive evidence of citizenship or nationality of its holder.
A passport application requires the applicant to state details regarding father's/husband's and mother's name; physical characteristics such as colour of hair and eyes, distinguishing marks etc., marital status, whether Bangladesh national and how (i.e. whether by birth, descent etc.), address etc. As regards his/her age the declaration of the applicant is sufficient.
Citizenship certificate: The Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh declares that the citizenship of Bangladesh shall be determined and regulated by law and the citizens of Bangladesh shall be known as Bangladeshis.
The Citizenship Act of 1951, the Bangladesh Citizenship (Temporary Provisions) Order, 1972 and Rules under the latter determine citizenship in Bangladesh. Citizenship may be obtained by birth, descent, migration, naturalisation and so forth.
Birth registration: The Birth and Death Registration Act of 1873 still continues to be in effect as the parent law. Enacted during the colonial British period, it has been amended several times. By an amendment in 1979, the process of civil registration was decentralised and entrusted upon elected representatives.
Registrars of births and deaths: To register of Births and Deaths under the present law the following persons are ex officio Registrars in Bangladesh :
- For Pourashavas (Municipality), the Chairmen
- For City Corporations, Mayors
- For the rural areas, the Chairmen of the Union Parishad
- For the Cantonment areas the Presidents of the Cantonment Boards
- Ambassadors of Bangladesh in foreign countries.
The Act of 1873 : The Act of 1873 has been affected by the changes in the structures of Local Government. The local government system includes (1) City Corporations, (2) Municipality Corporations, (3) Upazila Parishad, (4) Zila Parishad, (5) Union Parishad and (6) Gram Sarkar. Among the above local government institutions Upazila Parishad and Zila Parishad are now ineffective. It is important to note that in the Hill Tracts region (Chittagong Hill Tracts i.e. Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachhari) constituted under the Hill Tracts Act of 1900 and the functions of law are quite same except in some aspects relating to judiciary.
The Birth, Death and Marriage Registration Act of 1886: The Birth, Death and Marriage Registration Act of 1886 applies to the voluntary birth, death and marriage registration of certain sections of the community i.e. births and death registration of members of the Christian community and marriage registration of persons married under the Special Marriage Act, 1872, Christian Marriage Act, 1872 and the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act 1865. The new law of 2004 relating to registration of births and deaths declares that the sections of the Act of 1886 relating to registration of births and deaths are to be suspended from the date of enforcement of the present Act.
Period/time and fees of birth registration : The LGRD ministry has enacted rules according to the Parent Law of 2004 for its better implementation:
a) For birth registration from date of birth until six years of age -- free of cost
b) For death registration from date of death until six years -- free of cost.
c) Date of birth or death after six years Tk. 5.00
d) For English copy of certificate Tk. 50.00
e) For Bangla copy of certificate Tk. 20.00
f) For correction of data Tk. 10.00
Birth registration in urban areas
City Corporations and Pourashavas : Under the amended law of 1873, for towns, the Pourashava (Municipality) Chairmen is the Registrar and for areas which fall within the City Corporations, the Mayors. There are approximate 254 Municipalities and six City Corporations. The birth registration processes of all six city corporations and of several Municipalities/Pourashavas were investigated. Within the urban areas all births are to be registered within 90 days. The parents or guardian of the child is under a duty to report particulars of the birth in the prescribed form. An investigation of the City Corporations as well as several Municipalities shows that awareness and the practice of registration of births differ widely. Government officials appear to be aware that in future the registration of births is going to become more and more important.
Important information in prescribed form
The information required to be given usually includes: Child's name and sex, Name of the father and the mother and their religion, Present and permanent address of father, Child's paternal grandfather's name and address, Date of birth, Date of birth reporting, Place and address of birth, Name, address of reporter and relation, Names and addresses of two witnesses.
Registration of adults and children above 90 days: If the birth is reported within 90 days, the above details are sufficient. If, however, the birth is reported later or presumably in the case of an adult requiring a birth certificate, the following documents are also required: Medical certificate (if born in any hospital or clinic); If no medical certificate is available, then names and addresses of witnesses as stated above; Attested copy of Secondary School Certificate if applicable; Attested copy of passport if available; Affidavit by Magistrate First Class or Notary Public with all the details of birth.
The six City Corporations
Dhaka: The DCC is divided into 10 Zconal Offices and births can be registered at the City Corporation Office or at the Zonal Offices (Ten zonal offices of birth registration are situated at (i) Sayedabad, (ii) Nagar Bhaban 12th floor (iii) Azimpur, (iv) Khilkhet, (v) Nagar Bhaban 9th Floor, (vi) Kawranbazar, (vii) Mirpur 10 (Goal Chottor), (viii) Mirpur-2, (Grameen Bank), (ix) Gulshan-2, (x) Uttara and five DCC graveyards are: (i) Azimpur, (ii) Banani, (iii) Uttara, (iv) Jurain, (v) Mirpur Shaheed Buddhijibi Kaborsthan)
- The official ost of registration is Taka 50
- No computerization
- No data is sent to any authority at present<
Now DCC follows the prescribed form under the Act of 1873 and certificates are issued under the Rules of 1983.
Rajshahi:
- A very successful and pro-active project is ongoing
- The responsibility to register is decentralised and the RCC Wards can register and issue certificates within 45 days of birth
- Details are computerised
- Different costs of registration depending on age of person
- No data sent anywhere
Barisal:
- The BCC registers births -- no decentralisation
- Data preserved in ledgers
- Cost: Generally 50/- for registration within 90 days
- No flow of information
- Recently they have computerised the data up to December, 2005 (Total percentage of birth registration is 30% now)
Chittagong:
- Wards can receive applications and register births but certificates are collected from the CCC.
- Official cost is at Tk. 300 for ordinary and Tk. 500 for emergency
- No flow of data
Khulna City Corporation
- Authority to register and issue certificates decentralised to Wards
- Wards send information to CC but from there no flow of information
- Data however is computerised
- Cost is officially Tk. 43/-
Sylhet City Corporation
- Registration of births and issuance of certificates are done from the City Corporation
- Wards do not register since there are no secretaries in any of the Wards
- Official fee Tk. 500 in general cases
- No flow of information
Pourshavas
- In different Paurashavas and Municipalities there exists wide disparity as regards the awareness of birth registration and the actual numbers registering
- Generally no flow of information
Union Parishads
- Varying degrees of awareness on laws for re-birth registration
- Shortage of manpower
- Generally the Chairman and Secretary are aware about the importance of laws
- Grievances of Secretaries regarding pay and other benefits
- No consistency regarding costs
- Flow of information to the UNO's Office
Cont...
The concluding part of the article will be published in the next issue.
The author is lecturer, Law & Justice Department, Southeast University, Banani
