Namibia: Civil Registration and Identification Act, No. 13 of 2024
Published: 30/Dec/2024
To provide for compilation and maintenance of a Civil Register; to provide for the appointment of Registrar-General and Registrars; to determine the age of certain persons recorded in the Civil Register in accordance with this Act; to provide for name changes and other alterations to the Civil Register; to provide for the issue of identity documents to certain persons listed in the Civil Register; to provide for an Appeals Tribunal and incidental matters.
Article 16 provides:
Birth certificates as evidence of citizenship
(1) For purposes of this section, persons who would be stateless include persons who ̶
(a) do not meet the legal requirements for the nationality of any country; or
(b) have been denied the nationality of every other country to which they may be legally entitled by a competent authority of such country, after
trying in good faith to satisfy the legal requirements for nationality of that country.
(2) A birth certificate referred to in section 15 must be issued in either of the prescribed forms, to indicate that the person born in Namibia whose birth has been registered is a ̶
(a) Namibian citizen; or
(b) person whose right to Namibian citizenship is undetermined.
(3) The registrar must issue a person contemplated in subsection (2)(a) with a birth certificate if the registrar is satisfied that a parent listed in the application for birth registration is a Namibian citizen or a permanent resident of Namibia.
(4) The registrar must in every other case issue a person with a birth certificate referred to in subsection (2)(b) which indicates that there is insufficient information to make an immediate determination of the right to Namibian citizenship.
(5) A person issued with a birth certificate contemplated in subsection (2)(b) ̶
a) is considered to have the rights pertaining to full citizenship, except ̶
(i) the right to vote;
(ii) the right to run for political office in Namibia, and will not be issued with a Namibian identification document unless citizenship has been established according to the criteria specified in the Namibian Constitution and the Namibian Citizenship Act; and
(b) must hold that certificate until the Registrar-General, after investigation by a staff member of the Ministry designated by the Executive Director and who has received training in the relevant legal issues, determines that the person ̶
(i) meets the conditions for Namibian citizenship or would be stateless if not accorded Namibian citizenship, in which case the Registrar-General must alter the Civil Register accordingly and must withdraw the certificate contemplated in subsection (2)(b) and issue the holder of that certificate with a birth certificate contemplated in subsection (2)(a); or
(ii) does not meet the conditions for Namibian citizenship, in which case the Registrar-General must alter the Civil Register accordingly and must withdraw the certificate contemplated in subsection (2)(b) and issue the holder of that certificate with a birth certificate in the prescribed form indicating that the holder is not a Namibian citizen.
(6) The Registrar-General may require reasonable information or documentation from any person, including a parent of the person whose birth is to be registered and an informant, to facilitate an investigation into the citizenship status of a person whose birth is to be registered in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
(7) The person whose citizenship is being investigated in accordance with subsection (6), or the parent or parents or other informant who has applied for the registration of the birth of that person, may not be compelled to give any information about the parents beyond that which is necessary for proof of citizenship status.
(8) If the Registrar-General has reason to believe that, at the time of the birth of the person whose birth is to be registered, neither parent of the child was ordinarily resident in Namibia, or one of the exceptions in Article 4(1)(b) or (d) of the Namibian Constitution applies in relation to the parents of that person, the Registrar-General must provide the ̶
(a) reasons for that belief in writing to the parent or parents or informant applying to register the birth and invite the parent or parents or informant to provide information to the contrary within 90 days of receipt of such invitation; and
(b) parent or parents or informant with an opportunity to demonstrate within a period of 90 days of being notified of the opportunity that the
person whose birth is to be registered would otherwise be stateless.
(9) If the Registrar-General has failed to prove that a person does not meet the requirements for Namibian citizenship within six months from the date on which the application for registration of birth was received, he or she must alter the Civil Register or cause it to be altered to indicate that the person in question is a Namibian citizen and must withdraw the certificate contemplated in subsection (2)(b) and issue the holder of it with a birth certificate contemplated in subsection (2)(a), unless the failure can be attributed, supported by evidence, to the fact that the person is or was not acting in good faith.
(10) The absence of any documentation pertaining to citizenship of the parents of a person whose birth is to be registered does not prohibit registration of that person’s birth and issuing of a birth certificate in terms of this Act.
(11) Regardless of anything contained in this section, any determination of citizenship made in terms of section 14, 15 or 16 of the Namibian Citizenship Act must take precedence over a determination made in terms of this section, and the Registrar- General must alter the Civil Register to reflect any determination made in terms of the Namibian Citizenship Act and issue a corresponding birth certificate.
Download: https://gazettes.africa/akn/na/officialGazette/government-gazette/2024-12-30/8547/eng@2024-12-30