Information on a Duplicata d'acte de naissance could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
Regarding the birth certificate known as acte de naissance, Législation comparée d'état civil, a December 2003 Association internationale des maires francophones (AIMF) report, indicated that, in conformity with Article 46 of the Congolese Code de la famille (Family Code), the acte de naissance contained the following information:
[translation]
- The year, month, day, hour and place of birth, the sex of the child, the surname and first names that were given to him/her;
- The ages, surnames, first names, occupation, place of residence of the father and the mother and, where applicable, those of the informant or the witnesses (AIMF Dec. 2003, 27).
The AIMF report explained that, [translation] "every birth must be registered with the registrar (officier de l'état civil) (ibid. 19). The registration must be completed within one month or by the end of the first working day following that if the last day of the month does not fall on a working day (ibid., 17). However, upon the request of the public prosecutor (procureur de la République), the registrar may accept a birth registration within three months of the birth of child (ibid., 24). After three months, according to the AIMF report, the registrar cannot issue the acte de naissance unless he or she is authorized by the president of the people's court of the village-centre or the neighbour hood (president du tribunal populare de village Centre ou de quartier (ibid.). In addition, the public prosecutor can, at any time, issue a birth certificate for a birth that has not been registered by the registrar (ibid.).
Referring to Articles 25 and 27 of the Congolese Code de la famille, the AIMF report stated that the registrars include chairpersons of executive committees of the districts, chiefs of the districts, chiefs of administrative control stations (poste de contrôle administratif), mayors and chairpersons of village committees (AIMF Dec. 2003, 6).
In Brazzaville, there are eight principal (the town hall and seven arrondissements) and three secondary centres of vital statistics that administer birth and marriage registrations (AIMF n.d.). According to a November 2002 government report, these centres for vital statistics are located in the central mayoralty of Brazzaville (mairie centrale de Brazzaville) and seven other wards: Makélékélé (Arrondissement No. 1), Bacongo (Arrondissement No. 2), Poto-Poto (Arrondissement No. 3), Moungali (Arrondissement No. 4), Ouénzé (Arrondissement No. 5), Talangaï (Arrondissement No. 6) and M'Filou (Arrondissement No. 7) (Republic of Congo Nov. 2002, 4).
The same report stated that Congolese law allows the registration of births at any centre regardless of where the birth took place (Republic of Congo Nov. 2003, 4).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Association internationale des maires francophones (AIMF). December 2003. Brunau Leuvrey. Législation comparée d'état civil. <http://www.aimf.asso.fr/images/ville/110_1.pdf> [Accessed 16 Aug. 2005]
_____. N.d. Programmes: Informatisation de l'état civil - Brazzaville - État civil. <http://www.aimf.asso.fr/article2.asp?numéro=4&m_menu=2024> [Accessed 16 Aug. 2005]
Republic of the Congo. November 2002. Direction des statistiques démographiques et sociales, Centre national de la statistique et des études économiques, ministère du Plan, de l'Amenagement du territoire et de l'intégration économique. Aperçu sur les faits d'état civil enregistrés à Brazzaville de 1996 à 1998. <http://www.cnsee.org/INS/pdf/Faits%20d'état%20civil%20à%20Brazzaville.pd> [Accessed 15 Aug. 2005]
Additional Sources Consulted
Oral sources: The following sources did not respond to the information request within time constraints: The Canadian Embassy in Abidjan, the Consular representative of the Republic of the Congo in Toronto, the Embassy of the Republic of the Congo in Washington, The Hôtel de ville of Brazzaville and The Pointe Noire-based Rencontre pour la Paix et les Droits de l'Homme (RPDH).
Internet sites, including: AllAfrica, European Country of Origin Information Network (ECOI), Government of the Republic of the Congo, High Commission for the Republic of Cameroon, International Crisis Group (ICG), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United States Department of State.