The International Commission on Civil Status,

Considering that the Recommendation relating to the harmonisation of civil status records, adopted by the General Assembly in Lisbon on 10 September 1987, requires supplementing as regards the format and content of extracts from civil status records,

Recommends that the member States of the International Commission on Civil Status be guided by the following principles:

1. Extracts from records of birth, marriage or death, drawn up in conformity with the appended forms, consist essentially of reproductions of part 1 or parts 1 and 2, as the case may be, of those records after incorporation of the relevant annotations, in accordance with the Recommendation relating to the accessibility to the public of civil status registers and records, adopted by the General Assembly in Rome on 5 September 1984.

2. Such extracts have another part in which appear such compulsory or optional indications, peculiar to certain States, as are prescribed by their domestic law.

3. A final part contains entries of an administrative nature relating to the date of issue of the extract, the conformity of the extract to the original record and the identity of the competent civil registrar signing the extract.

4. The blank space following the aforementioned parts is for making - in chronological order, irrespective of the parts of the extract to which they relate and in the manner prescribed by the law of each State - annotations relating to the various events they concern, other than the annotations or indications, referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, that have already been incorporated in the extract.

In practice, it is by means of extracts that information on civil status is proved and can be exchanged.

If States give effect to the Recommendation relating to the harmonisation of civil status records, adopted by the General Assembly in Lisbon on 10 September 1987, by drawing up their civil status records in documentary form, this will make the preparation of extracts easier since they will essentially reproduce part 1 or parts 1 and 2, as the case may be, of those records.

It will be for the domestic law of each State to specify which entries in the extracts might serve to establish filiation and accordingly which entries must be subject to restrictions on their accessibility to the public.

Each extract indicates the civil registration department that drew up the record and the reference number of the record.

As regards the entries in parts 1 and 2, reference should be made to the corresponding sections of the Explanatory Report on the Recommendation relating to the harmonisation of civil status records, adopted in Lisbon on 10 September 1987. Each State will be free to insert in part 3 any entries or indications peculiar to its domestic law, such as the place and number of the register of families, the identity number and certain indications concerning the father and mother (date and place of birth, marriage, permanent residence). The blank space at the bottom of the forms is for any subsequent entries or annotations not incorporated in parts 1 or 2 (for example, a decision concerning divorce or separation). If the extract is obtainable by any person on request, care should be taken to comply with the provisions of the Recommendation relating to the accessibility to the public of civil status registers and records, adopted by the General Assembly in Rome on 5 September 1984. If such entries or annotations cannot be contained in the blank space, they may of course be put on a separate page.

The final part contains the date of issue of the extract, the identity and signature of the civil registrar certifying that the extract conforms to the record, and the seal.

Appendix for the extract from record of birth
Appendix for the extract from record of marriage
Appendix for the extract from record of death