ICCS Convention No.24

Convention (No.24) on the recognition and updating of civil status booklets

signed at Madrid on 5 September 1990

The signatory States to this Convention, members of the International Commission on Civil Status, being desirous of promoting and facilitating the recognition and updating of their civil status booklets, have agreed as follows:

Article 1

1. For the purposes of this Convention, a civil status booklet is a document issued in accordance with the law by a civil registrar and destined to contain the original particulars appearing in civil status records concerning births, marriages and deaths and subsequent annotations thereto.

2. The particulars and annotations relating to civil status entered in such booklets shall be dated and bear the signature and seal or stamp of the authority entering them.

Article 2

Each Contracting State shall, without legalisation or equivalent formality, recognise the booklets referred to in Article 1 which are issued in another Contracting State as having the same evidential value as extracts from civil status records issued in that other State.

Article 3

Where such booklets are drawn up in accordance with the model appended to the Convention introducing an international family record booklet, signed at Paris on 12 September 1974, or where they contain codes forming part of a coding system approved by the International Commission on Civil Status, no translation thereof can be demanded; in other cases the authority to which they are produced may ask for a translation.

Article 4

When civil registrars of a Contracting State draw up a civil status record, they shall, on the basis of that record, update any civil status booklets presented to them which were drawn up by a civil registrar of another Contracting State.

Article 5

1. An authority to which a civil status booklet is presented may, in case of doubt as to the date, signature, seal, stamp or capacity of the signatory, have the necessary verification effected by the authority which issued or updated the booklet.

2. The request for verification may be made by means of a multilingual form, a model of which is appended to this Convention.

3. The form shall be sent either direct to the authority which issued or updated the booklet to be verified or to any central authority designated by the signatory State and shall be accompanied by a copy of the booklet or, if necessary, the original.

4. The verification shall be effected free of charge and the reply and, if appropriate, the original booklet may be sent direct. The reply shall be sent as expeditiously as possible.

Article 6

For the purposes of this Convention, refugees and stateless persons whose personal status is governed by the law of a particular Contracting State shall be assimilated to nationals of that State.

Article 7

1. Each Contracting State shall, at the time of signature, ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, draw up, if appropriate, a list of the documents issued by it to which this Convention applies.

2. Any list drawn up at a later date or any amendment of a list shall be notified to the Swiss Federal Council.

Article 8

This Convention shall be ratified, accepted or approved and the instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval shall be deposited with the Swiss Federal Council.

Article 9

1. This Convention shall enter into force on the first day of the third month following the month of deposit of the second instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.

2. In respect of a State ratifying, accepting, approving or acceding after its entry into force, the Convention shall take effect on the first day of the third month following the month of deposit by that State of the instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.

Article 10

Any State which is a member of the International Commission on Civil Status, the European Communities or the Council of Europe may accede to this Convention. The instrument of accession shall be deposited with the Swiss Federal Council.

Article 11

Chaque État contractant pourra, lors de la signature, de la ratification prévue à l'article 8 ou de l'adhésion, déclarer que ses officiers de l'état civil n'effectueront pas les mises à jour :
a) non prévues par sa loi interne ou
b) dont le contenu est contraire à son ordre public.

Article 12

1. Any State may, the time of signature, ratification, acceptance, approval or accession or at any later date, declare that this Convention shall extend to all of the territories for whose international relations it is responsible, or to one or more of them.

2. The Swiss Federal Council shall be notified of such declaration and the extension shall take effect when the Convention enters into force for that State or, subsequently, on the first day of the third month following the month of receipt of the notification.

3. Any declaration of extension may be withdrawn by notification to the Swiss Federal Council, and the Convention shall cease to apply to the designated territory on the first day of the third month following the month of receipt of that notification.

Article 13

1. This Convention shall remain in force indefinitely.

2. However, any State party to this Convention shall have option of denouncing it at any time after the expiry of a period of one year from the date of the entry into force of the Convention in respect of that State. Denunciation shall be notified to the Swiss Federal Council and shall take effect on the first day of the third month following the month of receipt of that notification. The Convention shall remain in force among the other States.

Article 14

1. The Swiss Federal Council shall notify the member States of the International Commission on Civil Status and any other State which has acceded to this Convention of:
(c) the deposit of any instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession;
(d) any date of entry into force of the Convention;
(e) any declaration concerning the territorial extension of the Convention or its withdrawal, together with the date on which it will take effect;
(f) any denunciation of the Convention and the date on which it will take effect;
(g) the lists of documents to which the Convention applies, referred to in Article 7, and any amendment made under Article 7, paragraph 2.

2. The Swiss Federal Council shall inform the Secretary General of the International Commission on Civil Status of any notification made in pursuance of paragraph 1.

3. On the entry into force of this Convention, a certified copy shall be transmitted by the Swiss Federal Council to the Secretary General of the United Nations for the purposes of registration and publication, in accordance with Article 102 of the United Nations Charter.

In witness whereof the undersigned, duly authorised to this end, have signed this Convention.

Done at Madrid, on 5 September 1990, in a single copy in the French language, which shall be deposited in the archives of the Swiss Federal Council and a certified copy of which shall be transmitted, through diplomatic channels, to each of the member States of the International Commission on Civil Status and to the acceding States. A certified copy shall also be sent to the Secretary General of the International Commission on Civil Status.

Declarations made pursuant to Article 7 of the Convention

at the time of signature:

For the Kingdom of Spain: The Convention will apply exclusively to the family record booklet ("Libro de Familia") issued by the Spanish Ministry of Justice.

For the Republic of Portugal: The individual civil status booklet ("Cédula pessoal") is the only civil status booklet which is issued by Portugal and to which this Convention will apply.

Declarations made pursuant to Article 11 of the Convention

at the time of signature:

For the Republic of Portugal: Portugal declares that its civil registrars will not make updatings the contents whereof are contrary to its public policy and that they may refrain from making updatings that are not provided for by its domestic law.

For the Turkish Republic: The Government of the Republic of Turkey declares, pursuant to Article 11 of this Convention, that its civil registrars will not make updatings
(a) that are not provided for by its domestic law
(b) the contents whereof are contrary to its public policy.

at the time of ratification:

Spain declared: "España, de conformidad con el articulo 11 del Acuerdo, declara que sus Encargados del Registro Civil no efectuarán las actualizaciones que no se hallen previstas por su ley interna o cuyo contenido sea contrario a su orden público."

Italydeclared : "Il Governo italiano formula la riserva di cui all'articolo 11 della Convenzione, secondo la quale gli Ufficiali di stato civile non effettueranno gli aggiornamenti non previsti dalla legge interna o il cui contenuto sia contrario all'ordine pubblico."

Only the French original is authentic.