The Judicial Department of the Government of Anguilla has taken a bold and commendable initiative to modernise the registration of births, deaths, marriages and adoption records by computerising the vital statistics system and issuing digital certificates.
It is a work that has been in progress – over the past ten years – involving many stakeholders and which is only now being brought to fruition under the leadership of Senior Magistrate, Head of the Judicial Department and Registrar General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Ms. Ivenia Benjamin.
Under the new arrangement, supported by the Government of Anguilla, and by legislation which has already gone before the House of Assembly, the cost of the computerised records, to members of the public requesting them, will be EC$25.00, an increase from EC$20.00. It means that persons applying for a Birth Certificate for example, the most common document applied for, will no longer receive the customary hand-written certificate, but a computer print-out with all the necessary security features – like a water mark.
The enabling legislation, which has had its first reading, comprises a Bill for the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Amendment) Act, 2018; and a Bill for the Adoption of Children (Amendment) Act, 2018.
The Anguillian newspaper was granted an interview with Ms. Benjamin, in her capacity as Registrar General of Births, Adoptions, Deaths and Marriages, and was given the following explanatory information:
“In Anguilla, our civil registration system dates as far back as September 1881 to the present. However, our records are kept in hand-written register books, many of which are fading and some have dry rotted and had to be re-written over the years. Currently, Anguilla is in the process of modernising its civil registry and vital statistics system firstly to preserve the integrity of our records and to catch up with some of our Caribbean islands and the rest of the developed world. This is done by way of automation or computerisation of births, deaths, marriages and adoption records which are referred to as our Vital Statistis records.”
“The main aim behind our computerisation efforts is to modernise the way we create and maintain the Civil Registry. Currently, the Registrar General is only authorised to record births, deaths, marriages and adoptions in Register Books in accordance with the Schedules of the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages Act of Anguilla – as well as the Adoption Act. These forms are all paper-based and the legislation speaks only to paper-based registers and not to the creation and maintenance of a register in electronic form. The Registry is therefore seeking to expand the means of generating and preserving vital statistics data to include the production of registers in the form of a computer database in addition to the documentary form.”
The explanation from the Registrar General continued: “The births, deaths, marriage and adoption registers are now being computerised. This means that the information is entered into the computer and maintained electronically and upon request the relevant certificate will be issued electronically.
“This process required the existing legislation to be amended to reflect the new arrangements and to prescribe the new form of electronic certification that will be issued.
“The cost to produce the electronic certificates, under the new system, will increase and a small sum will be added [EC$5.00] to the current fees being charged for certificates.”
According to further information from Ms. Benjamin, it is of vital importance for countries to know how many people are born and how many people die each year and the main cause of their deaths. “The only way to count everyone, and to track all births and deaths, is through civil registration,” she pointed out. It provides the basis for individual legal identity and is something that all developed countries have, and need.”
The Anguilla Registrar General added: “Civil registration brings multiple benefits. An individual’s right to be counted at both extremes of life is fundamental to social inclusion. Birth and Marriage certificates for example are breeder documents used in the process of obtaining citizenship and for purposes of determining lineage and rights to property inheritance where a loved one dies intestate while death registration and certification are required prerequisites for burial, re-marriage, or the repatriation of corpses abroad.
Miss Benjamin had high praise for the team of persons who have worked tirelessly behind the scenes over the last ten years to bring this project to fruition. She spoke very highly of and expressed gratitude to the Government IT department under the leadership of Vaughn Hazel and in particular Ms Chantelle Hughes and Mr Delon Skellekie of that department, Ms Esline Richardson former Manager of the Judicial Department and Ms Nadia Ruan the current Manager of the Judicial Department for their tireless research and meetings with all parties to ensure that project got on stream, The Anguilla Social Security Board and Mr Timothy Hodge for much needed financial support to employ additional staff to input data into the new system as well as the Attorney General’s office and in particular Mr Anthony LaRonde and Ms Keri Horsford for assisting in drafting the new legislation.
The official launching of the digitized system is expected to take place in April of 2018 and this will be the cut-off date for issuing hand written certificates.
