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Civil Registration System
Bolivia
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Bolivia
Civil Registration System
Civil Registration Offices and Officers
Civil Registration Offices and Officers
Location of Primary Civil Registration offices
At what level of civil division are primary registration offices located?
Municipal and town level.
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
To ensure that civil registration services are accessible to public, it is advisable that a primary registration office be maintained in locations that correspond to minor civil divisions of the country (such as municipalities, towns or districts). The jurisdictional boundaries of primary offices can be adjusted on the basis of population size, resource availability, accessibility, literacy rate and simplicity of registration. If civil registration services are available online (and the entire population has access to internet), the location of physical offices becomes less important.
Civil Registry Officers are assigned to all capital cities, as well as to other urban centers and settlements with more than 8,000 inhabitants. Central offcies of the SERECI (agency in charge of civil registration) are located in La Paz. Primary registration offices are located at settlements with more than 8,000 inhabitants. This means that the offices are located at municipal and town level.
Does the law establish or authorize the establishment of secondary civil registration offices under the jurisdiction of the primary civil registration office?
Authorized by the law
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
Establishing secondary civil registration offices as sub-units of primary registration offices at locations with high occurrence of vital events, such as in hospitals or other health facilities, is a key contributor to facilitating higher rates of registration.
In some countries the law estalishes the secondary registration offices at health facilities rather than providing authority to establish them.
The law establishing secondary registration offices or providing a power to establish them should include the process of appointing a responsible registrar, and clearly define boundaries for the registration area.
The law designates the Supreme Electoral Tribunal as the branch of government in charge of organizing the civil registration system. As such, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal has the power to establish secondary civil registration units. However, the laws that govern the powers of the SERECI, including Supreme Electoral Tribunal Resolutions do not mention whether the SERECI (as primary registration office) have the power to establish secondary civil registration units.
Powers and Responsibilities of local civil registrars
Is the local civil registrar empowered by law to register vital events? If yes, do they have the power to issue certificates of registration?
Yes civil registrar empowered to register vital events and issue certificates
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
Legislation should clearly state the duties and powers of local registrars (the civil registrar responsible for the primary registration area), which include recording and registering vital events in compliance with registration laws, and issuing certificates or copies of vital records upon request.
Does the law empower the local civil registrar to make minor corrections and add uncontested information to the civil registration record?
Yes
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
Legislation should authorize the local civil registrar to make minor corrections such as typographical errors in civil registration record, add uncontested information such as uncontested paternity information, and add ommitted information such as amending the name of child within a defined time period.
Yes. The Plurinational Electoral Body Law No. 18 of June 16, 2010 states in article 73 that the SERECI can make minor corrections such as typographical errors, add uncontested information like amending or altering names. Additionally, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal issued the TSE-RSP Resolution No. 80 of 2012 for the rectification, supplementation, ratification, replacement, cancellation, and transfer of civil regsitration elements, which regulates the administrative processes for correcting and ammending civil registers
Does the law require the local civil registration office to transmit registration records to the national civil registration authority on a regular and timely basis?
Unclear
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
The legislation should set time frames for transfer of information from the local register to the centralized register. The time frames may vary based on policymakers' discretion, depending on whether the system is computerized or non-computerized.
Does the law provide the criteria or required qualifications for appointing, designating, or selecting local registrars?
Yes
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
It is important that the law provide clear requirements governing fitness and qualifications of local civil registrars. To prevent corruption, legislation and regulations should provide that registrars be full-time public service officials, with defined terms of employment and salary level.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal issued the TSE-RSP Resolution No. 429 of 2018, whose articles 6 and 7 state all the qualifications to be a civil registry officer. Some of the qualifications include: Being Bolivian nationality,having no criminal record, ability to speak local language, being a registered voter, holding a law degree, and having relevant registry/legal experience.
Does the law authorize the local civil registrar to use mobile registration to reach remote or rural areas?
No
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
For those areas of the country where the population density is too low to justify setting up a permanent registration unit or where the accessibility to an existing registration unit is limited by terrain or distance, consideration should be given to establishing a mobile (by land, sea or air) registration unit. Such a unit would travel to predetermined places according to a fixed and well publicized schedule and remain in each such place long enough to collect and record the required registration data for the vital events that will have occurred since its last visit.
