ICCS Convention No.25

Convention (No.25) on the coding of entries appearing in civil status
documents

signed at Brussels on 6 September 1995

The signatory States to this Convention, members of the International Commission on Civil Status,
Being desirous of facilitating the international circulation and the understanding of civil status records, extracts therefrom and other civil status documents,
Have agreed as follows:

Article 1

1. Entries appearing in civil status documents drawn up pursuant to the Conventions and Recommendations of the International Commission on Civil Status listed in Appendix 1 to this Convention shall bear the code numbers set out in Appendix 2 to this Convention.

2. Each Contracting State may also, at any time, indicate those of its national civil status documents in which the entries will bear the code numbers set out in Appendix 2. Any such indication shall be notified to the Swiss Federal Council.

Article 2

1. Any civil status document drawn up by a Contracting State in conformity with Article 1 shall be accepted without translation by the civil registrars of the other Contracting States.

2. If the interested party so requests, the meaning of the code numbers used in the said document will be given in the official language or one of the official languages of the State where it is being used. The document may also be decoded and drawn up in the official language or one of the official languages of the State where it is being used.

Article 3

1. The decoding provided for in paragraph 2 of Article 2 shall be effected either by a civil registrar or by any other authority of the Contracting State where the document is being used.

2. At the time of ratification, acceptance or approval of or accession to this Convention, each Contracting State must designate the competent authorities referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article. It must deposit with the Secretariat General of the International Commission on Civil Status the translation in its official language or languages of the terms included in the list in Appendix 2 to this Convention. This translation must be approved by the Bureau of the International Commission on Civil Status.

3. Any subsequent alteration to the designation of the competent authorities shall be notified to the Swiss Federal Council.

Article 4

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 5

Tout État pourra adhérer à la présente Convention. L'instrument d'adhésion sera déposé auprès du Conseil Fédéral Suisse.

Article 6

1. This Convention shall enter into force on the first day of the seventh 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 seventh month following the month of deposit by that State of the instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession.

Article 7^[1]

1. The Appendices to this Convention may be modified by a resolution adopted unanimously by the representatives of the member States of the International Commission on Civil Status and the non-member States party to this Convention.

2. Coded entries may be added to Appendix 2 by a resolution adopted by a simple majority of the representatives of the member States of the International Commission on Civil Status and the non-member States party to this Convention.

3. The resolutions mentioned in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article shall be deposited with the Swiss Federal Council and shall take effect in relations among the Contracting States from the first day of the seventh month following the month of such deposit.

Article 8

1. Until all the States party to one of the Conventions listed in Appendix 1 have become parties to this Convention the pre-printed translations provided for by the said Conventions must continue to appear on the documents drawn up in pursuance of Article 1, paragraph 1, of this Convention.

2. When all the States party to one of the Conventions listed in Appendix 1 have become parties to this Convention, they will no longer be obliged to include the pre-printed translations in those documents.

Article 9

1. Any State may, at 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 seventh 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 seventh month following the month of receipt of that notification.

Article 10

1. This Convention shall remain in force indefinitely.

2. However, any State party to this Convention shall have the 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 seventh month following the month of receipt of that notification. The Convention shall remain in force among the other States.

Article 11

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:
(a) the deposit of any instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession;
(b) any date of entry into force of the Convention;
(c) any declaration concerning the territorial extension of the Convention or its withdrawal, together with the date on which it will take effect;
(d) any denunciation of the Convention and the date on which it will take effect;
(e) any document referred to in Article 1, paragraph 2;
(f) any designation of the competent authorities referred to in Article 3 and any alteration of such designation;
(g) any resolution adopted by virtue of Article 7, paragraph 1.

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 Charter of the United Nations.

Article 12

No reservation to this Convention shall be permitted.

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

Done at Brussels, on 6 September 1995, 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.

^[1]Editor’s note : In application of Article 7, appendices 1 and 2 to the Convention were modified by a Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 17 September 2015 ; the said Resolution was notified to the Swiss Federal Council.

English version certified by the General Assembly on 20 September 2023. Only the French original is authentic.