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Death Registration
Zambia
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Zambia
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?
1 month/3 months/12 months or after 12 months
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.
Under Section 18(1) of the Births and Deaths Registration Act, the duty to give notice of a death must be carried out within one calendar month of the death’s occurrence. If the Registrar is satisfied that the notice could not be given within this time period and that there was no undue delay, the notification can be submitted within three months after the death.
In terms of Rule 34(1) of the Births and Deaths Registration (General) Rules, deaths can also be registered, in the presence of the informant, in any case where a medical certificate of cause of death has been delivered to the Registrar within twelve months of the date of death. Under Rule 37, the Registrar may register a death that occurred more than twelve months previously, in the presence of the informant, but only with the authorization of the Registrar-General.
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.
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.
Rule 43 of the Births and Deaths Registration (General) Rules allows fees to be imposed for late or delayed death notifications, but no fees have been prescribed.
Section 9 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act makes it a criminal offence for any person with a duty to give notice of a death to fail to do so within the prescribed period. The penalty is to a fine of up to two hundred penalty units or to imprisonment for up to one month with or without hard labor, or both. (The value of penalty units is adjusted from time to time; as of 2024 one penalty point was equivalent to 40 ngwee, making the maximum fine 80 kwacha.) However, no one is to be charged with this offence if it was not reasonably practicable in the circumstances to give such notice, or where timely notice could not be given without causing unnecessary hardship or expense. In addition, no one is to be charged with this offence if that person could not reasonably be expected to have known of his or her obligations under the Act, having regard to the person’s education, knowledge and understanding, and social environment.
What is the minimum information required by law to register death?
Minimum information required goes beyond UN guidance and registrar has no discretion to register death without all required 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 particulars to be provided are evident from the form for notice of death (Form XIII). Deceased: Names and surname, occupation, residential address, date of death, type of place of death (health facility, home or other place), name of place of death, date of birth, age at death, sex, nationality, National Identity Number, Social Security / National Pension Scheme Authority number (where relevant), level of education; Cause of death: Supporting documentation for the cause of death, with details to be added by the Registrar based on the documentation provided; Informant: Names and surname, relationship to deceased, contact number, National Identity Number, nationality, residential address, postal address and date of death registration. The informant must provide these particulars to the best of his or her knowledge.
The law contains no indication that there is discretion to register a death without all of the required particulars; in fact, under section 9 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act, refusing or neglecting to state any of the particulars required by the form for notification of death (Form XIII) is a criminal offence punishable by a fine and/or imprisonment for up to one month with or without hard labor.
What evidence or documents are required for on-time death registration?
Medical Certificate of Cause of Death
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.
The form for giving notice of a death (Form XIII) requires the informant to provide a copy of the informant's identity document along with certain documentation, depending on the circumstances of the death. For a death that occurred in a health facility, the informant must include the original medical certificate of the cause of death. For a death that occurred at home, the informant must provide a letter from a traditional leader on cause of death, but there are no directions on what form this letter must take, or what information it must include. Where a body was discovered and brought in dead, a police report must be attached; alternatively, the police must complete a section of the notice form concerning details about the death. In the case of a death from unnatural causes, the coroner’s report must be attached. According to Rule 34(4) of the Births and Deaths Registration (General) Rules, a Registrar is not allowed to register a death without a medical certificate of cause of death or a coroner’s certificate provided at the conclusion of an inquest. However, the form for Notice of Death appears to contemplate the alternatives of information from the police or a letter from a traditional leader in specified circumstances.
The regulations to the National Registration Act state that a death certificate will be issued only after the Registrar has been provided with the deceased’s National Registration Card, and in practice the Ministry requires that the Notice of Death must be accompanied by the deceased’s National Registration Card or passport.
Are there additional or alternative documents required for late or delayed death registration?
No
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.
A death can be registered within 12 months of its occurrence if the Registrar has been provided with a medical certificate of the cause of death – but this is a requirement for on-time death registration as well. No additional documentation is required for late death registration.
The Registrar-General has the authority to correct any clerical error in any register (without erasing the original entry). There appears to be no charge for such corrections. The law is silent on the issue of corrected death certificates.
Death certificates are not issued automatically upon the completion of death registration, but only on application. There is a charge of 1 fee unit for the issue of a death certificate. (The value of fee units is adjusted from time to time; as of 2024 one fee point was equivalent to 40 ngwee.)
