Our staff is undertaking analysis for this metric. Please check back later.
Disclaimer / Limitations
This country’s legal measures were reviewed by our legal staff in consultation with in-country lawyers and/or CRVS legal experts. All efforts were made to ensure the accuracy of the legal analysis, however, if you consider there to be any discrepancies or if there have been changes in the law of the country since our staff last updated the legal analysis, we welcome any additional information or insights. Please contact us via this form.
Birth Registration
Zambia
Responsive Image
Zambia
Birth Registration
Specific Situations
Specific Situations
Foundling
Does the law specify the process and responsibilities for registering the birth of a child who was abandoned and whose parents are not known?
Yes
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
All births should be registered, including those of a foundling (a child who has been abandoned and whose parents are unknown.) Generally, the person or the head of the institution that assumes custody of the infant should be responsible for notifying the registrar of the birth. The person reporting the birth should provide: date and place of finding, sex, approximate birth date of child, name and address of person/institution reporting finding, name given to the child by the custodian of the child, and any other information requested by registrar. The entry should be marked as "foundling" (or similar) and information about parentage left blank. If child is later identified, the foundling registration should be voided and placed under seal
Under the Births and Deaths Registration Act, a person who finds an abandoned new-born child the child and any person in whose charge the child is placed must give notice of the birth, furnishing as many of the prescribed particulars as possible to the Registrar of the district where the child was found. Time frames in the law that would normally be counted from the date of birth are counted from the date the child was found, and the place where the child was found is treated as the place of birth.
For purposes of determining citizenship, the Citizenship of Zambia Act provides that a child of unknown nationality and parentage who is under age eight must be referred to the appropriate Government department for investigations to determine the child’s origin. If the child’s origin and identity cannot be determined, the government must initiate proceedings in the Children’s Court for the determination of the child’s age, nationality, residence and parentage. The Children’s Court is authorized to issue an order directing that the child must be presumed to be a citizen by birth, or any other order that the Court considers just. Abandoning a child with the intention of enabling the child to be treated as a Zambian citizen is a serious criminal offence.
Does the law clearly state the process for amending birth registrations in adoption cases?
Yes
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
Laws should contain clear provisions for amending the birth registration record in the case of adoption. Country laws vary regarding the legal requirements and arrangements for adoption. Many jurisdictions require that adoptions be kept confidential. Courts should be required to transmit adoption orders to the civil registrar.
If a child is adopted from a foreign country, most countries have a process by which the adoptive parents may apply for a domestic birth certificate.
An adoption order must contain a direction to the Registrar-General to enter the details of the adoption into the adopted children register. If the adopted child is registered in the register of births, the adoption order must contain a direction to the Registrar-General to add the word "Adopted". A non-Zambian child who is adopted by a Zambian citizen and is resident in Zambia is entitled, on application by the adoptive parent or legal guardian, to be registered in the birth register of Zambia as a Zambian citizen.
Information in the adopted children register can be accessed only by an adopted child who has reached age 19, the adoptive parent or a public officer. The child’s biological parent can access this information only after the adoptive child reaches age 19 and only with the written consent of the adoptive parent and the adopted child. The Registrar-General is required to keep an additional register which links entries in the register of births which are marked "Adopted" with corresponding entries in the adopted children register, but this additional register is accessible only through an order of the Children’s Court.
Does the law provide for a third sex marker option or a sex-neutral marker at birth registration?
No, the law only provides for registration of sex as male or female.
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
Issuing a birth certificate with an assigned male or female sex at birth can have a profound impact on the rights of intersex people. UN guidelines recommend that States consider allowing a sex-neutral option at birth registration such as "intersex", "unclear", "unknown" or "other", alongside "Male" and "Female". Some states have considered removing sex markers from birth certificates.
The Births and Deaths Registration Act and its subsidiary enactments make no provision for a third sex marker option or a sex-neutral marker at birth registration. However, a 2017 court case ruled that intersex individuals must be allowed to correct their legal gender markers on presentation of medical evidence of their appropriate sex.
If surrogacy is legal, is there a defined process to register the internationally recommended data for surrogate births?
No
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
The notification and registration of the birth should be as complete as possible including in States which permit surrogacy arrangements or [States of destination] which subsequently register the child in their national registries. Identifying information should include date and place of birth, the surrogate mother, intending parent(s) and information relating to persons providing human reproductive material if any. Medical clinics, providers and/or registries of human reproductive material should make all identifying information available to national registries.
There are two general processes for surrogacy. 1) the original birth registration record has the names of the intended parents (no amendment required). 2) the birth is registered under the name of the surrogate (gestational) mother, and then the birth registration record is amended, based on a court surrogacy decree, to have the names of the intended parents included.
