Legal Identity & Civil Registration

1303

Parish of Givry, France produced what survives as the oldest French vital record register

The register kept at Givry is the earliest surviving vital record register in France. It predates any national requirement and shows that parish-level recording of births, marriages and burials existed long before the state took an interest.

1538

England established a statutory duty to record marriages, births and burials in the established churches

English parishes were placed under a statutory obligation to record marriages, births and burials. The duty rested with the established churches and would be transferred to civil authorities more than a century later.

1539

King Francis I of France ordered parishes to keep vital record registers in the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts

As part of wider legislation on the policing of church benefices, Francis I required local church institutions, mainly parishes, to maintain registers of vital events. This made France the first country to establish a nationwide population register, built on the records of the Catholic Church.

1631

The Church of Sweden drew up a national population register on behalf of the Swedish king

Sweden became the second country with a nationwide population register, compiled by the Church of Sweden for the crown. Recording of births and deaths was stipulated in the early 17th century, giving Sweden one of the longest and most comprehensive suites of civil records of any country.

1653

The English Commonwealth introduced civil registration through the 1653 marriage act

The act transferred the statutory duty of recording marriages, births and burials from the established churches to the civil authorities, with a justice of the peace rather than the parish priest required to maintain a register. It was the first introduction of civil registration in England and Wales.

1660

The restored English monarchy repealed the 1653 marriage act, returning registration to the churches

With the restitution of the monarchy the civil registration duty was abolished and reverted to the established churches. Civil registration in England and Wales would not return for nearly two centuries.

mid-18th century

Sweden began conducting formal national censuses

Sweden instituted regular formal national censuses alongside its church-based vital registration. Combined with the earlier register, this produced an unusually deep and continuous body of population records.

1792

The French Republic fully secularised national registration during the French Revolution

By order of the Republic, civil registration was removed from church control and vested in the state. The secular model established here was exported across Europe under French rule.

1796

French occupying authorities in the Netherlands introduced central population registration in parts of the country

Before French rule the Netherlands had no central registration of its population. The French introduced registration in some parts of the country, beginning the Dutch transition to a state-run civil register.

1806–1812

Russian occupation authorities in Romania introduced civil registries on the Tsarist model

Civil registries were introduced during the Russian occupation and followed the Tsarist practice of keeping them together with church records. This was the first systematic civil registration in the territory.

1811

The Netherlands under French rule extended population registration throughout the whole country

Registration introduced piecemeal from 1796 was made nationwide in 1811. This established the territorial completeness on which all later Dutch registration systems were built.

1836

The United Kingdom Parliament passed the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1836 for England and Wales

The act re-established civil registration in England and Wales after nearly two centuries of church control. It created the statutory basis for a national register of births, marriages and deaths.

1837

The General Register Office for England and Wales was set up and civil registration became mandatory on 1 July 1837

A central registry office was established to administer the registration of births, marriages and deaths, which became compulsory from 1 July 1837. This institutional model of a general register office was widely copied across the English-speaking world.

1841

Spain created the first civil registers in its larger cities

Spain's first civil registers were set up in the big and medium-sized cities of the country. They were the forerunner of the universal municipal system established three decades later.

1845

The United Kingdom extended civil registration to Ireland for Protestant marriages

From 1 April 1845 Protestant marriages in Ireland, then part of the United Kingdom, had to be civilly registered. Full registration of all births, marriages and deaths followed two decades later.

1850

Dutch municipalities were obliged to keep citizens' records in a bevolkingsregister book

From 1 January 1850 every Dutch municipality had to maintain a bound population register of its residents. This created a continuous local record of residence as well as vital events.

mid-19th century

Australia adopted compulsory civil registration

Australia introduced compulsory registration of vital events from the middle of the nineteenth century. It has maintained continuous compulsory civil registration since.

1855

Scotland brought civil registration into force on 1 January 1855

Scotland introduced its own system of civil registration of births, deaths and marriages, separate from that of England and Wales. It remains governed by later legislation including the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Scotland) Act 1965.

1864

Romania made the mayor responsible for civil record keeping under the Communal Law

The Communal Law of 31 March 1864 transferred record keeping to the mayor of each dwelling locality, who could delegate the task to a helper. This localised and secularised civil registration in Romania.

1864

The United Kingdom extended registration of all births, marriages and deaths to Ireland

From 1 January 1864 all vital events in Ireland, regardless of denomination, had to be civilly registered. This completed the extension of the British registration system across the whole United Kingdom.

1871

Spain established the current Civil Register in all municipalities

On 1 January 1871 civil registration was extended to every Spanish municipality, superseding the limited urban registers of 1841. This is the foundation of the Spanish civil register as it exists today.

1873

Spain created a special Civil Register for the Royal Family

A separate register for the Royal Family was created two years after the general municipal system. It still exists today alongside the ordinary civil register.

1875

The United Kingdom brought the Births & Deaths Act 1874 into force, compelling informants to report

From 1875 those present at a birth or death were legally required to report the event to the registrar. This shifted registration from a passive to an actively enforced duty and sharply improved completeness.

2018

The Federal Tax Service of Russia began operating the Unified state register of acts of civil status

The EGR ZAGS began operations on 1 October 2018 under the Federal Tax Service. It consolidated Russian civil status records into a single national digital register.

2017

Namibia launched its e-birth notification system

Namibia introduced electronic birth notification, supported by at least 22 birth registration offices located inside hospital maternity wards. Siting registration at the point of delivery is a leading method for raising birth registration coverage.

2015

The Netherlands replaced the GBA with the basisregistratie personen

The municipal personal records database was superseded by the basisregistratie personen in 2015. The successor system continued the municipally maintained digital register of persons.

2015

iCivil Africa began implementing a centralised CRVS system in Burkina Faso

The non-governmental organisation iCivil Africa has been deploying a centralised civil registration and vital statistics system in Burkina Faso since 2015. It is an example of NGO-led registration infrastructure in a low-registration country.

2009

The World Health Organization estimated that only 1% of deaths in low-income groups are reported

The World Health Statistics Quarterly found that roughly 1 per cent of estimated deaths in low-income groups and about 9 per cent in lower-middle-income groups were registered. The finding quantified the global death-registration gap that underlies poor vital statistics in much of the world.

2007

Portugal reformed its registry bodies into the Institute of Registries and Notaries

The Directorate-General for Registries and Notary was reorganised into the Instituto dos Registos e Notariado. This is the form in which the Portuguese civil registry exists today.

2007

The United Kingdom made registrars employees of their local authority under the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007

From 1 December 2007 registrars and superintendent registrars became local authority employees for the first time. The change restructured the administration of the English and Welsh registration service.

2005

The Netherlands reintroduced mandatory identification for everyone over 14

From 1 January 2005 anyone over 14 had to produce official identification when asked by a mandated person, despite the practice being widely considered un-Dutch. Official identification also became required for all important transactions between citizens and government.

2005

South Korea repealed the hojeok household registry in favour of personal registration

The hojeok, a household register written with the same Chinese characters as the Japanese koseki, was repealed in 2005. It was abolished on 1 January 2008 and replaced with the Family Relations Register system, shifting the unit of registration from household to individual.

1990s

The Swedish Tax Agency took over the civil registry from the Church of Sweden

Responsibility for Swedish civil registration passed from the Church of Sweden to Skatteverket, the tax agency. This completed the secularisation of a register that had been church-administered since 1631.

1990s

Dutch municipalities automated all local registries

During the 1990s every local Dutch registry was computerised. From 1 October 1994 the individual registration card was replaced by a digital record in the gemeentelijke basisadministratie van persoonsgegevens, kept at municipal level.

1979

The United Nations General Assembly adopted CEDAW, requiring compulsory registration of marriages

Article 16 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women obliges states to establish compulsory civil registration of marriages. It made marriage registration an international legal obligation rather than merely a domestic administrative practice.

1965

Scotland consolidated registration under the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Scotland) Act 1965

The 1965 Act and subsequent legislation govern Scottish civil registration. Responsibility for it has since been devolved to the Scottish Parliament.

1960s

Civil registries in the Americas shifted from handwritten calligraphic certificates to typed documents

Until the 1960s birth certificates were written by hand in a styled cursive calligraphy on security paper, often illegible to later generations. After the 1960s they were issued typed by machine, and later computer-printed on standardised security paper carrying identification numbers such as Mexico's CURP.

1949

Portugal created the Central Registry Office in Lisbon for citizens abroad

The Conservatória dos Registos Centrais was set up to handle registrations involving Portuguese citizens overseas and to manage citizenship procedures. It gave the civil registration system extraterritorial reach over the diaspora.

1945

Portugal created the Directorate-General for Registries and Notary in the Ministry of Justice

Established on 22 December 1945, the Directorate-General oversaw civil, property, commercial and motor vehicle registration as well as notary services. It was reformed in 2007 into the Institute of Registries and Notaries.

1940–45

The German occupying government in the Netherlands mandated citizen identification during the occupation

The Dutch government had declined to mandate identity documents in 1940, but the occupying authorities imposed them to assess who could be sent to Germany as forced labour and to identify Jewish citizens. The episode is the canonical illustration of how a comprehensive population register can be turned against the people it records.

1939

The Netherlands introduced the persoonskaart, a card registering a single individual

The move from household books toward individual registration came with the persoonskaart, a single card per person kept in the municipality. It marked the shift to the individual as the unit of registration.

1926–1932

The Romanian state attempted to gather ancient historical civil records centrally

A state effort to collect early records ran from around 1926 to 1932, with some cases continuing as late as 1948–1952. A good number of these early records were lost in the process, sometimes literally by the truckload.

1918

Soviet Russia replaced parish registers with acts of civil status

Metricheskiye knigi, the church parish registers, were superseded by state acts of civil status in 1918. All registers predating this change are now open to everyone.

1911

Portugal transferred all pre-1911 parish registers to Civil Registry Offices

The Law of Separation of the Church from the State of 20 April 1911 radicalised the secular state and gave civil effect to all prior baptism, marriage and death records. Parish registers were physically transferred to newly established Civil Registry Offices.

1911

Portugal established the civil registry through the Civil Registry Code

The Civil Registry Code of 18 February 1911 formally created Portugal's civil registry, a few months before the promulgation of the republican constitution. It remains the basis of the institution now known as the Institute of Registries and Notaries.

1895

The Civil Registry Association of Portugal was formed as an anti-clerical campaign for secular registration

The Masonic Civil Registry Association was presented by its mentors as a strong anti-clerical and antireligious stronghold. Its campaign prefigured the secularisation of Portuguese registration after the republican revolution.