On February 17th, the Federal Parliament’ Commission for External Relations, adopted a draft legislation to ratify the Convention (No. 34) on the issue of multilingual and coded extracts from civil-status records and multilingual and coded civil-status certificates.
Signed at Strasbourg on March 14th 2014, the Convention aims to facilitate the international circulation of civil-status documents for persons required to provide proof of their civil status in a country other than the State of registration.
The Convention applies to the issue of multilingual and coded extracts from the following civil-status records:
- births
- acknowledgments of a child
- marriages
- registered partnerships
- deaths
- multilingual and coded certificate confirming the registration of a partnership by a public authority other than a civil registrar
The Convention shall replace the Convention No 16 (Vienna September 8th 1976), limited to civil-status records related to births, marriages and deaths.
The extracts and certificates will be issued in conformity with the ICCS models.
The extracts and certificates will be accepted without legalization or equivalent formality in each of the Contracting States.
As laid down by Article 12, “This Convention shall enter into force on the first day of the fourth month following the month of deposit of the second instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession by two ICCS member States.”
Where Belgium will be the first state to ratify the Convention, it is early to anticipate when the latter will enter into force.
Documents currently issued by the local administrations in Belgium, are prepared in conformity with the Convention No 16, and as a consequence an easy transition is expected.
A wide ratification of the Convention No 34, will reduce inter alia financial and administrative burden associated with international mobility procedures.
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