A Draft Bill on the Civil Registry (the “Draft Bill”) has been submitted to the House of Representatives (the “DPR”) for further discussion. The Draft Bill which contained 18 Chapters and 74 Articles was submitted to the DPR as a public initiative Draft Bill by concerned members of the society.

According to the draft, The Civil Registry shall be implemented with due regard to the principle of equality before the law and the principle of legal certainty. Application of the Civil Registry system shall be aimed at the fulfillment of every person’s human rights in civil registry sector, the improvement of civil awareness on Civil Registry, fulfillment of statistic database of important events related to each person’s life, support towards development of civil administration system and indiscriminative public service institution.

The scope of Civil Registry covers the recording of important events affecting every individual’s life, publication of records and copy of records, documentation of records and the utilization of such records for public benefits. The Draft Bill guarantees the rights of every individual in obtaining similar treatment before the Civil Registry, including in obtaining copies of Civil Registry Deeds.

Indonesian nationals and foreign nationals residing in Indonesia are defined as “Citizens”.  Every Citizen is obligated to report important events occurring in their life to Civil Registry office. The Bill stresses the right of the Civil Registry Institution in obtaining clarification and data pertaining the life of every individual and in utilizing such information for public interest. The Civil Registry Office, on the other hand, must ensure equitable treatment in providing public access to its database and to guarantee the security and secrecy of such information. The Civil Registry database can only be accessed by the owner of the database or by a court order.

Events obligated to be recorded before the Civil Registry office shall include birth, marriages, divorces, deaths, adoption, recognition of a child and legalization of a child. Change of name and aliases, gender and citizenship shall also be reported to the office. Civil Registry office will provide deed to certify the registration of important events to the individual any other person authorized by the law.

Supervision and development of the Civil Registry institution will be authorized to a minister.

The Bill imposed up to IDR 1 million to Citizen who deliberately and intentionally do not report important events occurring in their lives. IDR 10 million may be imposed to those who deliberately render inaccurate information to officials.

When enforced as law, Regulations on the Civil Registry in Staatsblad of 1849, 1917, 1920, 1933, 1939, and 1946, as well as laws from 1961 will be revoked. The Draft Bill is a public initiative and may not gain proper attention from the Government. (mma)