Burundi
A well developed and functioning civil registration system ensures the registration of all vital events including births, marriages and deaths and issues relevant certificates as proof of such registration. Civil registration promotes efficient government planning, effective use of resources and aid, and more accurate monitoring of progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Birth Registration
| Legal framework for birth registration | Legislative Decree No. 1/024 (28 April 1993), reforming the Code of Persons and the Family
Ministerial Order No. 530/102 (29 April 1980), establishing civil registration offices Legislative Decree No. 1/05 (22 April 2009), revising the Penal Code |
| Official authorities in charge of registering births | Directorate General of Territorial Administration at the Ministry of the Interior and Patriotic Training
Director, Department of Population Registrar: communal administrator or in his absence, the deputy officer |
| Organizational structure | Decentralized |
| Is there a legal obligation to register the birth of a child? | Yes |
| Is an official birth certificate issued as a result of birth registration? | Yes, but upon request |
| Legal informant to register a birth | Father of the child; In default of the father, the mother; In the absence of the father and mother, any person who has attended to the birth
(Code of Persons and the Family, article 38) |
| Time allowed for registration | 15 days |
| Fee for birth registration | No |
| Can the fee be increased or waived? | No, parents must pay penalties for late registration;
However, the provincial governor authorizes the registration of birth declaration received after the legal registration period (Code of Persons and the Family, article 45). |
| Fee for birth certificate | Yes |
| Penalty for late registration | Yes; Any person who, being obliged to make the declarations of birth or death, fails to do so within a statutory time limit, or who, when summoned by the officer of the court to make the declaration of birth or death refuses to appear or testify, is punished by a fine (Penal Code, article 359). |
| Other official fees involved in the birth registration process | No |
| Requirements or fees specific to children who are eligible for citizenship but were born outside the country | Yes; In addition to the costs of investigation and publication, there is a fixed fee, the amount of which is determined by the Joint Ordinance of Ministers having Finance and Justice in their attributions (Nationality Code, article 9) |
| Requirements or fees specific to children whose parents are foreign nationals | Yes |
| Requirements for birth registration | Identification of the child’s father, Identification of the child’s mother, Name of the child |
| Information collected | Regarding the child: Name, Sex, Date of birth, Date of registration, Place of occurrence of the birth, Place of registration
Regarding the mother of the child: Age, Place of usual residence, Occupation, Citizenship Regarding the father of the child: Age, Place of usual residence, Occupation, Citizenship (Per Code of Persons and the Family, article 39) |
| Processing | Manually (on paper);
All vital events are directly recorded on non-standardized forms, their fill fields are free and they are manually filled in cursive writing, which prohibits their subsequent exploitation by optical character recognition. |
| Place of registration | Civil registration offices of communes (municipalities), at place of residence of the mother |
| A birth certificate is required for: | Identification, Education, Inheritance, Obtaining social assistance |
| Process for establishing vital statistics on births | There is no provision in the law for production of vital statistics, and no text provides for cooperation between the various ministries working in the field of civil registration.
There is a lack of a formal mechanism for the collection, production and dissemination of vital statistics, and a lack of interoperability between civil registration services. In addition vital registers are not designed for sociodemographic exploitation. |
Download sample birth certificate
Data sources: Information on civil registration systems was compiled over a period from December 2016 to November 2017 using the existing relevant legal frameworks and in consultation with CRVS experts, officials within the relevant national institutions, and UNICEF country offices. All reasonable precautions have been taken by UNICEF to verify this country profile; updates will be made to reflect changes in policy and implementation and/or new information.
Marriage Registration
| Legal framework for marriage registration | Legislative Decree No. 1/024 (28 April 1993), reforming the Code of Persons and the Family
Ministerial Order No. 530/102 (29 April 1980), establishing civil registration offices |
| Official authorities in charge of registering a marriage | Directorate General of Territorial Administration at the Ministry of the Interior and Patriotic Training
Director, Department of Population Registrar: communal administrator, in his absence the deputy officer |
| Organizational structure | Decentralized |
| Legal age for marriage | 21 years for males, 18 years for females;
Exemptions: The provincial governor may grant exemption from age for serious reasons (Code of Persons and the Family, article 88). |
| Is there a legal obligation to register marriages? | No |
| Is an official marriage certificate issued as a result of marriage registration? | Yes, immediately (family record book) |
| Legal informant to register a marriage | Bride and groom |
| Time allowed for registration | N/A |
| Fee for marriage registration | Yes, varies by municipality |
| Can the fee be increased or waived? | No |
| Fee for marriage certificate | Yes, varies by municipality |
| Penalty for late registration | N/A |
| Other official fees involved in the marriage registration process | Yes, filing fees vary by civil registration centre |
| Additional registration requirements or fees if one spouse was born outside the country or has dual citizenship | No |
| Requirements for marriage registration | Presence of husband at place of registration, Presence of wife at place of registration, Residential evidence of husband, Residential evidence of wife, Proof of wife’s age, Proof of husband’s age |
| Information collected | Regarding the spouses: Date of birth or age of bride, Place of usual residence of bride, Date of birth or age of groom, Place of usual residence of groom |
| Processing | Manually (on paper);
All vital events are directly recorded on non-standardized forms, their fill fields are free and they are manually filled in cursive writing, which prohibits their subsequent exploitation by optical character recognition. |
| Place of registration | Civil registration offices of communes (municipalities), Place where the marriage occurred |
| A marriage certificate is required for: | Inheritance, Registration of children, Insurance |
| Process for establishing vital statistics on marriage | There is no provision in the law for production of vital statistics, and no text provides for cooperation between the various ministries working in the field of civil registration. There is a lack of a formal mechanism for the collection, production and dissemination of vital statistics, and a lack of interoperability between civil registration services. In addition vital registers are not designed for sociodemographic exploitation. |
Download sample marriage certificate
Data sources: Information on civil registration systems was compiled over a period from December 2016 to November 2017 using the existing relevant legal frameworks and in consultation with CRVS experts, officials within the relevant national institutions, and UNICEF country offices. All reasonable precautions have been taken by UNICEF to verify this country profile; updates will be made to reflect changes in policy and implementation and/or new information.
Death Registration
| Legal framework for death registration | Legislative Decree No. 1/024 (28 April 1993), reforming the Code of Persons and the Family
Ministerial Order No. 530/102 (29 April 1980), establishing civil registration offices |
| Official authorities in charge of registering a death | Directorate General of Territorial Administration at the Ministry of the Interior and Patriotic Training
Director, Department of Population Registrar: communal administrator, in his absence, the deputy officer |
| Organizational structure | Decentralized |
| Is there a legal obligation to register deaths? | Yes |
| Is an official death certificate issued as a result of death registration? | Yes, upon request |
| Legal informant to register a death | Any person determined by the registrar
The registrar shall take the necessary measures to ensure that any death in his or her jurisdiction is duly declared. To this end, he may invite any person likely to know the death to make the declaration (Code of Persons and the Family, article 43). |
| Time allowed for registration | 15 days |
| Fee for death registration | No |
| Can the fee be increased or waived? | No |
| Fee for death certificate | Yes |
| Penalty for late registration | Yes; Any person who, being obliged to make the declarations of birth or death, fails to do so within a statutory time limit, or who, when summoned by the officer of the court to make the declaration of birth or death refuses to appear or testify, is punished by a fine (Penal Code, article 359). |
| Other official fees involved in the death registration process | No |
| Registration requirements or fees specific for the deaths of people who were residents in the country and also of foreign nationality | No |
| Requirements for death registration | No |
| Information collected | Regarding the deceased: Name, Sex, Age, Place of birth, Place of usual residence, Occupation, Name of parents, Name of spouse
Regarding the death: Date of death, Date of registration, Place of occurrence, Place of registration |
| Information collected in case of fetal death | Fetal death is not registered. |
| Processing | Manually (on paper); All vital events are directly recorded on non-standardized forms, their fill fields are free and they are manually filled in cursive writing, which prohibits their subsequent exploitation by optical character recognition. |
| Place of registration | Civil registration offices of communes (municipalities), Place of residence of the deceased |
| A death certificate is required for: | Burial, Inheritance, Obtaining social assistance |
| Process for establishing vital statistics on deaths | There is no provision in the law for production of vital statistics, and no text provides for cooperation between the various ministries working in the field of civil registration. There is a lack of a formal mechanism for the collection, production and dissemination of vital statistics, and a lack of interoperability between civil registration services. In addition vital registers are not designed for sociodemographic exploitation. |
Download sample death certificate
Data sources: Information on civil registration systems was compiled over a period from December 2016 to November 2017 using the existing relevant legal frameworks and in consultation with CRVS experts, officials within the relevant national institutions, and UNICEF country offices. All reasonable precautions have been taken by UNICEF to verify this country profile; updates will be made to reflect changes in policy and implementation and/or new information.