Chapter 3. Proof of Civil Status
Art. 47.- Model of proof.
(1) Births, death and marriages shall be proved, in case of doubt or of contention, by means of the records of civil status.
(2) They may also be proved, in the causes provided by law, by means of acts of notoriety of possession of status.
Section 1. Officers of Civil Status
Paragraph 1.- Appointment of officers of civil status
Art. 48.- Appointment by governor.
(1) The governor of the province shall appoint, in each urban or rural commune of his province, a person who shall carry out the duties of officer of civil status.
(2) He shall also appoint, in each commune, one or more assistants to such person.
Art.49.- Quarters or sections of communes.
(1) Where an urban commune is divided into several quarters, a different officer of civil status may be appointed for each quarter by the governor.
(2) Where a section of a rural commune is isolated or is far from the center of the commune, a different officer of civil status may be appointed for such section of a commune by the governor.
(3) In such cases one or more assistants to each officer of civil status shall be appointed.
Art. 50.- Assistants to officer of civil status.
(1) The assistant to the officer of civil status shall replace him in case of any impediment on his part.
(2) If the order in which the assistants are called upon to carry out their duties has not been fixed by the governor of the province or by the officer of civil status, it shall be fixed having regard to their age, the 2 eldest being called in the first place.
(3) The records drawn up by any one of the assistants shall have the same effect as if they had been drawn up by the officer of civil status himself.
Art.51. Commencement of duties.
(1) The duties of officer of civil status shall start when he has accepted such duties and when his signature has been registered in the departmental office or in the registers of civil status.
(2) The duties of officer of civil status shall also start when the person appointed by the governor has in fact carried out such duties by drawing up a record or by taking part, in the capacity of officer of civil status, in the drawing up of such record.
(3) The provisions of the Article shall also apply to the duties of assistants.
Art.52. Termination of duties
(1) The duties of an officer of civil status shall terminate on his death or when he is relieved of his duties or dismissed or when his resignation has been accepted by the governor.
(2) The dame shall apply to the duties of the assistants.
Art. 53.- Death or lasting impediment.
(1) The officer of civil status shall without delay inform the governor of the province of the death of his assistants, or of any circumstance which prevents in a lasting manner any one of them from carrying out his duties.
(2) The assistants of the officer of civil status shall without delay inform the governor of the province of the death of the officer of civil, status or of any circumstance which prevents him in a lasting manner from carrying out his duties.
Art. 54.- Head of commune.
(1) The head of the commune shall be officer of civil status in the territory of his commune, where the person appointed by the governor and his assistants are not in a position to carry out their duties.
(2) He may, in such cause, require to be helped or substituted in his duties of officer of civil status, under his own responsibility, by one or more helpers.
(3) He shall without delay inform the governor of the situation.
Art. 55.- Departmental office.
(1) The governor of the province shall appoint in each chief town of the departments of his province the personnel of the departmental office of civil status.
(2) Such personnel shall include, besides a director responsible for the organization and supervision, officials in sufficient number to ensure the performance of the work incumbent on the office.
Art. 56.- Records relation to the Imperial Family.
(1) The Minister of the Pen shall carry out the duties of officer of civil status as regards the records, relating to His Majesty the Emperor of Ethiopia and the members of the Imperial Family.
(2) For the purpose of this Article, the persons mentioned in Art. 16 of the Constitution shall be deemed to be members of the Imperial Family.
Art.57.- Consuls of Ethiopia.
The consuls of Ethiopia shall, within their territorial limits and as regards Ethiopian subjects, carry out the duties of officers of civil status.
Art. 58.- Commanding officers of ships.
The commanding officers of ships flying the Ethiopian flag shall carry out the duties of officers of civil status as regards the birth, deaths and marriages which take place on board their ship.
Paragraph 2.- Duties of officers of civil status
Art . 59.- Principle.
The officer of civil status shall ensure that the births, deaths and marriages, taking place within his jurisdiction, be entered in the register of civil status.
- Urban communes
Art. 60. Keeping and conservation of registers.
(1) The officer of civil status shall himself keep the registers of civil status in those communes where such duty has been expressly imposed on him by the governor.
(2) He shall ensure their custody and conservation and deliver to interested persons extracts from or copies of the records of such registers.
Art. 61- Drawing up of records.
(1) The records of civil status be drawn up by the officer of civil status on his own initiative whenever he has the particulars required for drawing up such records.
(2) The officer of civil status may, where he thinks fit, summon any interested party, with the object of completing the information which he requires.
Art. 62.- Periods.
Records of civil status shall be drawn up within the following periods
(a) three months for records of death;
(b) one month for records of death;
(c) one month for records of marriage.
Art. 63.- Sanctions of prescribed periods.
(1) The records of civil status drawn up after the periods laid down in Art. 62 have expired shall only have the probatory value of simple information.
(2) The provisions of sub-art. (1) shall not apply where such records are entered in the registers by virtue of a judgment.
(3) In this case, the record shall bear on its back a reference to such judgment.
- Rural communes
Art. 64.- Declaration.
(1) In those communes in which such duty has not been expressly imposed on him by the governor, the officer of civil status shall not be bound to keep the registers himself.
(2) He shall communicate to the departmental office of civil status such in formations as are required for drawing up the records of civil status relating to births, deaths and marriages which have taken place in the commune.
(3) The records of civil status shall be drawn up immediately, on the basis of such information’s, by the officials of the departmental office of civil status.
Art. 65.- Regulations of application.
(1) Regulations made by the governor shall prescribe in regard to each commune, under what conditions such information’s shall be gathered.
(2) They shall prescribe in particular in which place and at what time such information’s are to be furnished.
Art.66.- Place where information’s are to be furnished.
(1) Regulations may impose on the officer of civil status the duty go to the chief town of the department or to another center less distant from the commune in order to furnish there the information’s relating to civil status.
(2) They may on the other hand provide that such information’s shall be gathered by the officials of the departmental office of civil status in the same commune for which the registers are to be drawn up.
(3) In the case mentioned in sub-art, (2), regulations shall prescribe whether the registers are to be kept in the commune or in the departmental office of civil status.
Art. 67.- Time within which information’s are to be furnished.
(1) The informations concerning civil status shall be gathered at least once a year in each commune.
(2) In the case provided for in sub-art. (1) of Art. 66, the duty to go to the chief town of the department or to another center may not be imposed on the officer of civil status at intervals of less than three months.
Art. 68.- Possibility of declarations at intervening times.
(1) The officer of civil status may, at any time, even on dates other than those prescribed by the governor, communicate to the departmental office of civil status informations concerning the civil status of persons in his commune.
(2) Such informations shall be immediately recorded in the registers by the departmental office of civil status when the registers relating to the commune are kept in such office.
Art. 69.- Drawing up of records by officer of civil status.
(1) The instructions may authorize the officer of civil status to draw up the records of civil status himself.
(2) Each record thus drawn up shall, in such case, be approved by the departmental office of civil status.
(3) Mention of such approval shall be made on the back of the record.
Art. 70.- Late declarations.
(1) The records drawn up or approved more than two years after the event which has given occasion for them shall only have the probatory value of more information.
(2) The provisions of sub-art. (1) shall not apply where the record has been entered in the registers by virtue of a judgment.
(3) In such case the record shall bear on its back a reference to such judgment.
- Special Cases
Art. 71.- Minister of the Pen.
(1) The Minister of the Pen shall himself keep the registers of civil status relating to His Majesty the Emperor and to the Imperial Family.
(2) He shall ensure their custody and conservation and deliver copies of the records in such registers.
Art. 72.- Consuls
(1) Consuls of Ethiopia in foreign countries shall draw up records only at the request of interested persons.
(2) They shall themselves keep the registers of civil status.
(3) They shall ensure their custody and conservation and deliver to interested persons extracts from, or copies of, the records in such registers.
Art. 73.- Commanding officers of ships.
The commanding officers of Ethiopian ships shall immediately declare, at the first Ethiopian port, or at the first port in which a Consul of Ethiopia resides, the events which give occasion to the drawing up of a record of civil status and which take place on board their ship.
Section 2. Registers of civil status
Art. 74. Enumeration of registers.
A register of births, a register of deaths and a register of marriages shall be kept for each commune and in each consulate.
Art. 75.- Supply of registers.
(1) The registers shall be supplied free of charge to the offices of civil status by the governor of the province who receives them from the Ministry of Interior.
(2) They shall be supplied free of charge to the consulates by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
(3) Te persons having the duty to keep the registers shall, six months before the probable date on which a register will be terminated, apply for a new register to be supplied to them.
Art. 76. Prohibition to remove registers.
The registers may not be removed from the place where they are kept, except in the cases where the law provides for or authorizes such removal.
Art. 77.- Compulsory indications.- 1. Registers of communes.
(1) Each register shall indicate the commune and where appropriate the quarter or section of the commune to which it refers, as well the province in which such commune is situated.
(2) It shall bear a reference number.
(3) Such indications shall appear on the cover and on the edge of the register and be reproduced on each leaf of the register.
Art. 78.- 2. Other registers.
(1) the registers of the Imperial Family shall bear, instead of the indications mentioned in sub-art. (1) or Art. 77, the indication: Registers of the Imperial Family.
(2) The registers kept in the consulates shall bear the indication of the consulate in which they are draw up.
Art. 79.- Form of registers.
(1) The registers shall commence with several pages on which shall be mentioned the persons authorized to keep the registers with the signature of such persons against such mention.
(2) The registers shall contain next a series of numbered leaves each one of which shall serve for drawing up a record of civil status.
(3) They shall end with several pages intended to contain the alphabetical index of the persons to whom the records of the registers refers.
Art. 80.- Leaves of registers.
(1) The leaves of the register of civil status shall be made up of detach able slips, bearing identical particulars attached to a counterfoil.
(2) The registers of birth and of marriage shall comprise three detachable slips and the registers of death only two detachable slips.
(3) The back of the leaves shall be reserved for writing thereon the hand written particulars prescribed by the law.
Art. 81.- Detachable slip lNo.3.
(1) The detachable slip farthest from the counterfoil, called detachable slip No.3, shall be detached from the counterfoil as soon as the record is drawn up.
(2) It shall be sent by the officer of civil status to the guardian of the child in the case of a record of birth and to the husband in the case of a record of marriage.
(3) The slip No. 3 shall be kept by the interested party.
Art. 82.- Detachable slip No.2.
(1) When the register finishes, the detachable slips No.2 shall be detached from the counterfoil and put together in a file which shall be deposited in the registry of the court of the chief town of the province or in such other place as may be prescribed, distinct from that where the detachable slips No. 1 are conserved.
(2) The detachable slips No. 2 of the register kept by the Minister of the Pen and by the consuls shall be sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Empire of Ethiopia to be conserved therein.
(3) Upon receiving the detachable slips No. 2 the person who is constituted depositary thereof shall bind them.
Art 83.- Detachable slip No.1.
The detachable slips attached to the counterfoil (slips No.1) shall be conserved attached to the counterfoil of the register, in the place where the registers have been kept or in another place fixed by regulations.
Art. 84.- No unutilized leaves.
(1) The office of civil status before drawing up a record shall verify the number of the leaf on which the last record appearing in the register has been entered.
(2) He shall draw up the record on the leaf whose number immediately follows that of such last record.
(3) He may in no case leave an unutilized leaf in the register.
Art. 85.- Leaf unutilized by mistake.
(1) If, as a result of a mistake, a leaf has been left unutilized, the officer of civil status, as soon as he notices such mistake, shall annual the leaf in question.
(2) He shall draw across each detachable slip of the record two diagonal lines forming a cross and write on the back of each such slip of the record the indication “Leaf unutilized by mistake”
(3) The unutilized leaf may in no case serve for writing thereon a record of civil status.
Art. 86.- index
(1) when a register finishes, the officer of civil status shall draw up, in the pages which are at the end of the register, the alphabetical list, according to their family names, of all the persons to whom the records in the register refer.
(2) He shall form a file of the detachable slips No. 2, and send such file, together with a copy of the index drawn up by him, to the place prescribed by regulations.
Art. 87.- Destruction of registers.
(1) If a register kept in a commune is lost or destroyed it shall immediately be recompiled with the help of the detachable slips No. 2 of such register, on the initiative of the officer of civil status of the commune.
(2) If the detachable slips No. 2 of a register are lost or destroyed, they shall immediately be reconstituted, with the help of the detachable slips kept in the commune, on the initiative of the depositary of the detachable slips lost or destroyed.
(3) The provisions of this Article shall apply mutatis mutandis in the case of registers kept in a place other than a commune.
Art.88.- Destitution of registers still in use.
(1) If a register still being used is lost or destroyed before the detachable slips No. 2 have been detached, the officer of civil status shall immediately give notice of such fact to the departmental office of civil status.
(2) This office shall take the necessary measures for the recompilation of the register.
(3) The same shall apply where the detachable slips Nos,1 and 2 of a register are both destroyed or lost for any reason whatsoever.
Art.89.- Control of the keeping of registers.
(1) The departmental office of civil status shall supervise civil status officers and control the proper keeping of registers of civil status in the commune.
(2) It shall organize their inspection and take action for the repression of the criminal infringements which it ascertains.
(3) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall carry out the same duties as regards registers kept in consulates.
Section 3. Records of Civil Status
Paragraph1. General Provisions
Art.90..- Particulars to be mentioned.
(1) The records of civil status shall be drawn up by filing in the bank spaces in the registers.
(2) The records shall mention in all cases, the day, the month and the year when they are received and bear the signature of the officer of civil status who receives them.
Art.91.- Particulars which may not be mentioned.
No mention of particulars other than those required by the law maybe made in the registers.
Art. 92.- Unknown or uncertain information.
(1) If one of the blank spaces left in a record of civil status can not be filled in on account of lack of sufficiently accurate information given to the person who keeps the registers, such per on shall fill in the blank space by inserting the work “unknown”.
(2) If the officer of civil status knows approximately the particular to be entered, he shall enter such particular in the appropriate place adding he word “probably”.
Art. 93.- No abbreviations.
The particulars required in the record shall be written clearly and with out any abbreviation.
Art.94.- No erasures or words written over others.
The records shall contain no erasure or word written over another or addition.
Art. 95.- Signature.
If any of the person whose signature is required on a record cannot or does not know how to sign, such person shall affix on the record his thumb mark instead of his signature.
Art. 96.- Leaves not utilized
(1) When, on account off erasures, or for any other cause, a record has to be redone, the officer of civil status shall draw across each detachable slip of the record two diagonal lines forming a cross.
(2) On the back of each detachable slip of the record he shall write the indication “Leaf not utilized”.
(3) The detachable slip number 3 of the leaf shall be destroyed immediately.
Art. 97.- Probatory force of records.
(1) The records of civil status regularly entered in the registers, shall, saving evidence to the country, be proof of the statements which they contain.
(2) Evidence to the contrary may be adduced except where it is authorized by the court.
(3) It may, in such case, be adduced in any manner.
Art. 98.- Records not entered in registers.
(1) Records which are not entered in the registers shall not have the probatory value inherent to records which are registered.
(2) They have only the value of mere information.
Paragraph 2. Records of birth
Art. 99.- Particulars of record.
The record of birth shall show:
(a) the day, month and year of the birth;
(b) the sex of the child;
(c) the first names which are given to him;
(d) the names, first names, dates and places of birth of is father and mother;
(e) where appropriate, the names, first names, date and place of birth of the person making the declaration.
Art. 100.- When record required.
A declaration of birth and the drawing up of a record of birth are required when the child has lived for forty-eight hours, notwithstanding that the dies before the expiration of the time fixed for drawing up the record of birth.
Art. 101.- Declaration of birth.
(1) The birth of a child may be declared to the officer of civil status by any person.
(2) Such birth shall be declared by the father of the child, or, in his default, by the mother or by the guardian of the child, or, in default, by the person who has taken care of the child.
(3) The officer of civil status shall draw up the record of his own motion if he is aware of the birth.
Art. 102.-First names of child.
(1) Before drawing up the record of birth the officer of civil status shall require the parents or, in their absence, the guardian of the child, to stats the first name or names which the child is to be given.
(2) If he does not receive any reply or if the first names proposed are not acceptable in terms of the law, the officer of civil status shall him self choose the first name or names of the child.
Art.103.- Foundlings.
(1) A record of birth shall be drawn up for every new-born child, found in the locality, whose identity is unknown.
(2) A detailed process-verbal shall be drawn up stating the day and the place where the child has been found, the apparent age of the child, his sex, the names and the first names which are given to him.
(3) The record of birth, drawn up for the child, shall contain on its back a references to such process-verbal.
Paragraph 3. Records of death
Art. 104.- Particulars of records of death.
The record of death shall show:
(a) the day, month and year of the death;
(b) the name, first names, date and place of birth of the deceased;
(c) the names, first names, dates and places of birth of the father and mother of the deceased;
(d) the name, first names, date and place of birth of the spouse of the deceased if such spouse is still alive, and the date of the marriage;
(e) where appropriates, the name, first names, date and place of birth of the person who makes the declaration of the death.
Art. 105.- When record required.
A declaration of death and the drawing up of a record of death are required whenever the deceased is a person in respect of whom a record of birth should have been drawn up.
Art. 106.- Persons bound to declare death.
(1) Where a person dies, the persons who live with him shall be bound to declare his death.
(2) In default of such persons, such obligation shall devolve on his relatives by consanguinity or affinity, if they live in the same commune, and, in their default, on his nearest neighbors.
Art. 107.- Death in another person’s house.
If the deceased dies outside his home, the person in whose house the death has occurred shall be bound to declare the death.
Art. 108.- Hospitals, schools, hotels and prisons.
(1) If a death occurs in a hospital, a school, a hotel or a prison, the death shall be declared by the person who is in charge of the establishment in question.
(2) The death of person executed by virtue of a criminal sentence passed on them shall be declared by the director of the prison where, at the time of his execution, the condemned person was in custody.
Art. 109.- Soldiers on active service.
Deaths of soldiers on actives shall be declared by the commanding officer of the unit to which they belong, unless the solider is living with his family or his death occurs during a period of leave granted to him or in a place where his unit is not stationed.
Art. 110.- Finding of corpse.
(1) If the corpse of a person is found outside a dwelling place, the person who found the corpse the shall be bound to declare the death.
(2) If the identity of the deceased person is unknown, a detailed process verbal shall be drawn up indicating the day on which and the place where the corpse has been found, the apparent age and the sex of the dead person, and the probable date of the death.
(3) The record of death shall contain on its back a reference to such process verbal.
Art. 111.-Corpse not found. 1. Judgment declaring death.
(1) Where a person has disappeared in such circumstances that his death is certain, although his corpse had not been found, any interested person may apply to the court to give a judgment declaring the death of such person.
(2) The judgment declaring the death shall take the place of a record of death.
Art. 112.- 2. Court having jurisdiction.
(1) The court having jurisdiction shall be that of the place where the person whose death the person making the application wants to establish had his principal residence at the time of his death.
(2) The court may waive its jurisdiction in favor of the court of the place where the event which brought about the death has occurred or in favor of the court of another place.
(3) The delegation of jurisdiction thus made is binding on the court in whose favor it is made.
Art. 113.- Diasters.-1 Collective judgment.
(1) If death is due to an event, such as a ship wreck, an air disaster, an earthquake, a land-slide, as a consequence of which there is reason to believe that several persons have perished, the death of such persons may be declared by a collective judgment.
(2) The court having jurisdiction in such case shall be that of the place where the event occurred.
(3) However in the case of disappearance of a ship or of an aircraft the court having jurisdiction shall be that of the home port of the ship or aircraft.
Art. 114.- 2. Individual extracts.
(1) Individual extracts from a collective judgment may be obtained by interested person.
(2) They shall take the place of a record of death.
Art. 115.- Date of death.
(1) When the court delivers a judgment declaring death, it shall fix in the judgment the presume date of the death or deaths having regard to the presumptions drawn form the circumstances of the case.
(2) The date thus fixed may not be rectified except in the case where it is proved that is has been fixed as a result of fraud.
(3) Any application having as its object the rectification of the date shall be dismissed when three years have elapsed from the date of the judgment.
Art. 116.- Annulment of judgment declaring death.
If the person whose death has been judicially declared reappears after the judgment declaring death, the judgment shall be annulled, at his request or at the request of the public prosecutor, by the court which gave it.
Paragraph 4.- Records of marriage
Art. 117.- Particulars of records of marriage.
The record of marriage shall show:
(a) the names, first names, dates and places of birth of the husband and of the wife;
(b) the names, first names, dates and places of birth of the witnesses of the husband and of the wife;
(c) the date on which the marriage has been celebrated.
Art. 118.- When record required.
A declaration of marriage and the drawing up of the record of marriage shall be required in all cases, irrespective of the form according to which the marriage is celebrated
Art. 119.- Duty to declare marriage.
(1) The obligation to declare the marriage shall lie with the authority who has celebrated the marriage.
(2) It shall also lie with the spouses and with their witnesses.
Art. 120.-Drawing up “ex officio” of record
(1) The officer of civil status shall draw up the act of marriage of his own motion when ever he is aware of the marriage.
(2) In such case, he shall summon the interested persons to make them sign the record of marriage.
Section 4. Correction of the records
of civil status
Art. 121.- Principle.
The records of civil status may not be corrected except by virtue of an order or judgment given by the court .
Art.122.- Application for correction.
An application for the correction of a record of civil status may be made to the court by the public prosecutor or by the departmental office or any interested person.
Art. 123.- Adding first name
Where the application has as its object the addition of a first name to a person, at the time when such person contracts marriage or during the six months which follow such marriage, the president of the court shall decide on the application by order.
Art. 124.- Clerical mistakes.
Where the applications has as its object the correction of a clerical mistake committed in the drawing up of a record of civil status, the president of the court shall decide on the application by order.
Art. 125.- Other cases.
(1) In all other cases decision on the application shall be given by a judgment delivered by the court.
(2) The court, before deciding, shall give the person or persons to whom the record refers and all interested persons the opportunity of making their submissions.
Art. 126.- Manner in which the record is corrected.
(1) The particulars the correction of which is ordered shall be cancelled in the record, provided that they shall remain legible.
(2) The particulars which replace them or which are added in the record shall be entered on the back of the record, with a reference to the order or judgment which has ordered the correction of the record.
(3) Such alterations shall, as far as it is possible, be made on all the detachable slips of the record which is corrected.
Art. 127.- Drawing up of new record.
(1) The court may, where it thinks fit, order the annulment of the record which is to be corrected and the drawing up of a new record in its places.
(2) Every detachable slip of the old record shall in this case be crossed out across the registers by two diagonal lines forming a cross, and references shall be made, on the back of each detachable slip, to the new record which replace it.
(3) On the back of the new record reference shall be made to the judgment which has ordered its drawing up.
Art.128.- Authority of judicial decision.
The judicial decision which orders the correction of a record of civil status may be set up against everybody, in the same conditions as the record corrected by it.
Section 5. Copies and extracts of Records of civil status
Art. 129.- Record of birth.
(1) The depositaries of the registers in the communes or consulates shall issue to any person making an application to this effect copies or extracts from the record of birth showing, without any other particulars, the date when the record had been drawn up, the date and the place of birth, the sex, the first names and the name of the child as they appear from the particulars of the record of birth.
(2) Copies of the record of birth may only be issued to the heirs of the child or to public administrative bodies or with the authorization of the court.
Art. 130.- Record of death.
The depositaries of the registers in the communes or consulates shall issue a copy of the record of death to any person making an application to this effect,.
Art. 131.- Record of marriage.
They shall issue a copy of the record of marriage to any person making an application to this effect.
Art. 132.- Records relating to the Imperial Family.
The Minister of the Pen shall not issue copies of the records contained in the registers relating to the Imperial Family unless an application to this effect is made to him by the court.
Art. 133.- Depositaries of detachable slips No.2.
The depositaries of detachable slips No. 2of the registers shall have the same obligations where:
(a) the corresponding register of the commune has been destroyed or lost;
(b) in such register, kept in the commune, a record is missing which is recorded in the file the detachable slips No, 2;
(c) the record entered in the register kept in the commune does not correspond with that recorded in the file of detachable slips No. 2;
(d) it is a case of records drawn up by a consulate of Ethiopia in a foreign country;
(e) Such obligation is, in a particular case, imposed on them by the court.
Art. 134.- Corrected records.
(1) Where a record has been corrected in accordance with the law, the extract or copy of the record, issued to the interested persons, shall take such correction into account.
(2) It shall not show that the purport of the extract or of the copy is due to a correction of the record.
(3) Corresponding copies, reproducing the record as it is, and showing the corrections which may have been made to it, shall be delivered only to the court at its request.
Art.135. Forum and cost.
(1) The copies or extracts of the records of civil status shall be drawn up on printed forms which the governor of the province shall supply to the officers of civil status.
(2) Such copies or extracts shall be signed by the officer of civil status who delivers them and bear the seal of the administrative department to which the belongs.
(3) The prescribed fee shall be charged on their delivery, as well as, where appropriate, the postal expenses for the sending of the copy or of the extract.
Art. 136.- Probatroy force.
Extracts or copies of the records of civil status, issued by the depositaries of the registers, shall have the same probatory force as the records of the registers themselves.
Art.137.- Verification.
(1) The court may, where it thinks fit, Order that the extracts or copies be collated with the original.
(2) It may order that a photocopy of the record he supplied to it.
Section 6. Sanction of the rules relating to civil status
Art. 138.- Civil liability of officials.
Any violation, by the officials charged with keeping or with conserving the registers, of the provisions of this Chapter or of the provisions of the regulations made for their application, shall render them liable to all persons who suffer prejudice form such fact.
Art. 139.- Refusal to draw up record.
(1) Where the officer of civil status or the official charged with keeping the registers refuses to draw up a record corresponding with the declarations which are made to him, any interested person may apply to the court against such refusal.
(2) The provisions of sub-art. (1) shall apply where the officer of civil status fails to supply to the office of civil status the informations relating to an event in respect of which a record of civil status is to be drawn.
(3) The same shall apply also if a depositary of the register refuses to deliver a copy or an extract of a record of such registers.
Art. 140.- Liability of witnesses and declarants.
(1) The declarants and the witnesses shall be liable for the accuracy of the facts which they attest or corroborate in the records of civil status.
(2) Where they acted in good faith they may sue the persons who led them into error.
Art. 141.- Criminal liability. -1. Failure to draw record.
The punishments prescribed by the Penal Code shall apply to:
(a) the officer of civil status who, being bound to draw up a record of civil status, fails to draw it up within the period prescribed by the law;
(b) the officer of civil status whom, being bound to declare an event to the departmental office of civil status, fails to declare it within the period prescribed by the law;
(c) the official of the departmental office of civil status who has not immediately drawn up a record when the informations intended for drawing up such record have been communicated to hi9m.
Art. 142.- 2. Failure to make declaration.
The punishments prescribed by the Penal Code shall apply to:
(a) any person who, being bound to declare an event to the officer of civil status, fails to declare it within the periods prescribed by law, when, as a result of such failure, a record of civil status has not been drawn up;
(b) any person who, having been required by the officer of civil status to give information for the purpose of the drawing up of a record of civil status concerning them, fails to give such information.
Art. 143.- 3. Inaccurate declarations.
(1) The punishments prescribed by the Penal Code shall apply to any person who, for the purpose of drawing up a record of civil status, makes a declaration which he knows to be inaccurate to the office of civil status or to the officials of the departmental office of civil status
(2) The punishments prescribed by the Penal Code shall apply to the witnesses who support such declarations knowing them to be false,
(3) The punishments prescribed by the Penal Code shall apply to the officer of civil status or the official of the departmental office of civil status who drawn up a record of civil status on declarations which he knows to be inaccurate, or who issues an extract or a copy of a record not corresponding with the original.
Art. 144.- 4. Destruction or alteration of registers.
The punishments prescribed by the Penal Code shall apply to any person who destroys or alters a register of civil status.
Art. 145.- 5. Use of altered record.
The punishments prescribed by the Penal Code shall apply to any person who knowingly make use of a record or of a copy of a record or of an extract of a record of civil status fraudulently altered.
Section 7. Action of Notoriety
Art. 146.- Principle.
(1) Acts of notoriety are drawn up by officers of civil status or by notaries.
(2) They shall be authorized and approved by the court.
Art. 147.- Authorization.
Proof by means of acts of notoriety may only be authorized by the court where:
(a) it is proved that the registers of civil status have not been kept regular or that they contain gaps;
(b) it is proved that such registers have been lost or torn;
(c) it is impossible or very difficult to obtain a copy of a record in such registers;
(d) the person who refers to a record does not know in which place such record has been made, and such ignorance is excusable;
(e) the law so provides.
Art. 148.- Who drawn up the act.
(1) When the court authorized the proof by means of an act of notoriety, it shall specify in which place the act of notoriety shall be drawn up.
(2) It shall give the officer of civil status or the notary required to draw up the act all the appropriate instructions, for the purpose of provoking opposition and of ensuring the genuineness of the act.
Art. 149.- Particulars of the act.
Acts of notoriety shall contain the same particulars as records of civil status the default or irregularity in which they correct.
Art. 150.- Report annexed thereto.
(1) The officer of civil status or the notary who has drawn up an act of notoriety shall annex thereto a report to the court on the circumstances in which be has performed his task.
(2) He shall mention in particular whether the act of notoriety is in conflict with a record of civil status or with another act of notoriety previously drawn up.
Art. 151.- Probatory value.- 1. Before approval.
(1) The court shall determine freely the value attached to acts of notoriety taking into consideration the date the circumstances in which they have been drawn up.
(2) It may take such steps as are necessary to verify the particulars therein.
Art. 152.- 2. After approval.
An act of notoriety approved by the court, shall have the same effect as a record of civil status.
Art. 153.- Liability of witnesses.
(1) The declarants and the witnesses shall be liable for the accuracy of the facts which they attest or corroborate in an act of notoriety,
(2) Where they acted in good faith, they may sue the person who led them into error.