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Death Registration
Uganda
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Uganda
Death Registration
Procedure and Certificates
Procedure and Certificates
Place
Where must deaths be reported?
Place of occurrence
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
Registration may be place of occurrence of place of residence. The law should clearly state where deaths must be reported for purposes of registration.Reporting in the place of occurrence usually makes the registration process faster and easier for the informant, and also allows reporting of death at health facilities. Countries with electronic systems for civil registration may allow more flexibility and allow reporting from anywhere the civil registration system can be accessed.
What are the reporting time periods for death registration specified in the law?
Deaths in medical facilities: immediately/90 days/120 days
Deaths outside medical facilities: 14 days/44 days
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
The time period for reporting a death should be as short as possible, to facilitate accurate and current registration. Time periods vary by country, but are usually 3-5 days. Deaths in health facilities may have a shorter reporting deadlines. It is important to have uniform time periods across the country to register deaths. A late death registration occurs when a death is reported after the legally specified time period but within a grace period, usually one year after death. Delayed registration occurs after the expiry of grace period (after 1 year). Late notification should be permitted with a valid notice of death or alternative documentation that is not too burdensome, such as affidavit of witness or record of burial/cremation. Delayed registration may require additional evidence.
The Registration of Persons Act imposes a duty to report deaths immediately after they occur, and in any case not later than 3 months from the date of death. Deaths notified after that period will be registered only if the registrar is satisfied about the truth of the particulars provided, and only after approval by the Executive Director of the National Identification and Registration Authority.
The Registration of Persons (Births and Deaths) Regulations reiterate these timeframes in Regulation 16, but then set out some contradictory rules. Regulation 19 states that a death that occurs in any place other than a medical facility must be notified within 14 days of its occurrence – and can be registered by the National Identification and Registration Authority after 14 days only if the person required to notify the death has reasonable grounds for failing to do so within the stipulated time. Regulation 23 states that, after the prescribed period for the registration of a death has expired, there is a one-month grace period during which the death may still be registered.
Prompt death registration is encouraged by the imposition of a fee for death certificates where a death is registered more than one year after it occurred.
Are there any fees for on-time death registration?
No
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
It is not recommended that fee be charged for the timely registration of a death. To encourage registration, the legislation should clearly state that registration of a death within the time period prescribed by the law is free of charge.
There are no fees for on-time death registration, and a death certificate is free for citizens in respect of deaths registered within one year of their occurrence. Non-citizens ("foreigners") must pay US$ 40 for a death certificate, no matter when the death is registered.
Are there any fees or sanctions for late or delayed death registration?
Yes
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
Fees and sanctions for late or delayed registration discourage and disincentivize registration. If fees are applied to late or delayed registration policymakers should consider a fee-waiver for those for whom fee payment is a hardship. More effective results to increase registration rates are observed through educational programmes aimed at the public. Some countries have opted to impose a penalty for failure to register or, more precisely, refusal to register, rather than impose a fee for late registration.
The Registration of Persons (Births and Deaths) Regulations make provision for a fee to be imposed where death notification does not take place immediately, but no fee has been imposed for citizens. Non-citizens (“foreigners”) must pay a fee of US$ 20 for late registration of death.
Failure to comply with the duty to register a death within the prescribed period is a criminal offence punishable by a fine or imprisonment for up to 3 months. The maximum fine is six currency points. (Currency points can be amended by the Minister responsible for finance with the approval of Cabinet. As of December 2023, one currency point was valued at 20,000 shillings, making six currency points equivalent to 120,000 shillings.)
There is a fee of 20,000 shillings for citizens for the issue of a death certificate in respect of a death that is registered more than one year after its occurrence. Non-citizens (“foreigners”) must pay a fee of US$ 40 for a death certificate no matter when the death is registered. No fee is charged at any stage for the death certificate of a refugee.
What is the minimum information required by law to register death?
Minimum information required goes beyond UN recommendations but registrar has discretion to register death without all information.
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
The information required for legal purposes is minimal, and usually consists of: Name of deceased; place and date of birth; place and date of death; sex; unique personal identifier.
The minimum information required goes beyond the UN Guidance, including the occupation, nationality and residential address of the deceased – although information about place of burial or cremation is not required. Persons notifying deaths are required to provide the prescribed particulars “to the best of the person’s knowledge and ability”. The regulations and the form for notification of birth are not in complete agreement about the particulars required; the discrepancies could lead to confusion for persons notifying deaths as well as for registrars. Refusal to state any of the required particulars is a criminal offence punishable by a fine or imprisonment for up to three months – but this would apply only where the particulars were known to the informant.
The law is somewhat unclear on whether registrars have discretion to register deaths without complete information. Regulation 20(4) of the Registration of Persons (Births and Deaths) Regulations states that the registration officer must enter the particulars of the death in the register when he or she is “satisfied" with the information required by the regulations.
What evidence or documents are required for on-time death registration?
Unclear
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
Registrars should require proof as to the veracity of the information to be registered. Proof or evidence required for registration must be sufficiently stringent to provide assurance of the accuracy of the information without being so burdensome as to discourage or prevent registration. Documentary evidence is always preferred. Ideally all deaths will have an accurate, detailed medical certificate of cause of death (MCCD). However, in many contexts this will not be possilbe. Lack of MCCD should not prevent death registration; evidence of fact of death should be sufficient to register death. Evidence of fact of death could be a notification of death or other similar document, Witness Statement or other similar evidence.
No specific evidence is mentioned in the Act or the regulations.
However, the Death Registration Handbook published by the National Identification and Registration Authority in 2022 indicates that the following documentation should be submitted along with the signed form for notification of death (Form 12) in the case of a natural death: * a Death Notification Record from a health facility or a local administrative authority * a copy of the national ID of the notifier * the National Identification Number of the deceased * a receipt for payment of any applicable fee (such a late registration fee) * if the death occurred at home, a letter from a local council or a local government official confirming the death * minutes of a family meeting witnessed by the local council giving responsibility to the person notifying the death. According to this Handbook, a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death must be provided before the Death Notification Record can be issued.
Are there additional or alternative documents required for late or delayed death registration?
Unclear
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
While late and delayed reporting should be discouraged, the procedures should not be so restrictive as to prevent late and delayed reporting of events. Late registration (within 1-year grace period) can be permitted with notice of death or similar document. If such a notice is not available, the law may stipulate what alternative documentary evidence of fact of death may be accepted, such as affidavit from witness or record of burial or cremation. Declaration delayed by more than one year may require recourse to judicial procedures and decisions. However, to increase death registration rates, consideration should be given to creating a non-judicial procedure for delayed death declaration, with the provision of adequate documentation proving the fact of death.
Deaths that are not notified within three months of their occurrence will be registered only if the registrar is satisfied about the truth of the particulars provided, and only after approval by the Executive Director of the National Identification and Registration Authority. The law does not specifiy what evidence may be required for this purpose.
The Executive Director of the National Identification and Registration Authority may give written authorization to staff members to correct any errors in the death register or in a death certificate, without charge. Such corrections must be done without erasure, and they must be authenticated by the Executive Director or other staff of the Authority authorized by the Executive Director for this purpose.
A death certificate is issued on application by the National Identification and Registration Authority; no specific official is specified in the law.
A death certificate in respect of a citizen is free if the death was registered within 1 year of its occurrence, but there is a fee of 20,000 shillingsif the death was registered later. Non-citizens ("foreigners") must pay a fee of US$ 40 fee for a death certificate no matter when the death is registered. No fee is charged at any stage for the death certificate of a refugee.
