Bill to change how Spain's Civil Registry works

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. The bill would amend Law 20/2011 on the Civil Registry to adapt it to a new model: an individual, computerized registry with a personal code for each person from their first entry, instead of the current sections for births, marriages, deaths and other records.
2. It proposes that the Civil Registry stop being run by judges and instead be handled by a corps of civil servants, the Letrados de la Administración de JusticiaLetrados de la Administración de Justicia A corps of civil servants who work in the courts handling legal and management tasks.. All Registry acts would still be subject to judicial review.
3. It proposes a single Civil Registry for all of Spain, electronic and accessible online. The heads of the offices would use qualified electronic signatures, and citizens could access services with an electronic signature.
4. The Registry would be organized into a Central Civil Registry Office, Civil Registry Offices and Consular Civil Registry Offices, under the Ministry of Justice and the Directorate General of Registries and Notaries.
5. The offices would keep their locations in the same towns as the current Municipal and Peace Civil Registries, and their jobs could only be filled by staff from the administration of justice. Justices of the peace would continue handling Civil Registry duties by delegation.
6. Once the law takes effect, no new Libros de Familia (family record books) would be issued, though those already issued would keep their legal effects. The amendments would take effect on the same day as the full entry into force of Law 20/2011.

Who it affects

• Citizens who need to register life events (births, marriages, deaths) or request certificates, because the offices and system for doing so would change.: Changes to offices and procedures
• The Letrados de la Administración de Justicia, who would become the heads of the Civil Registry offices.: New duties
• The judges heading the exclusive Civil Registries and the Central Civil Registry, who would lose that role and be reassigned under the Organic Law on the Judiciary.: Reassignment
• Civil servants of the administration of justice assigned to the Civil Registry, who would keep their duties and full pay.: Job continuity
• Justices of the peace, who would continue handling Civil Registry duties by delegation from the Registry head.: Job continuity

Words worth knowing

Registro Civil (Civil Registry)

The public administration that officially records major life events: birth, marriage, death and others.

Firma electrónica cualificada (qualified electronic signature)

A secure system for signing documents by computer, with guarantees that the signer is who they claim to be.

Encargado del Registro Civil (Civil Registry head)

The person in charge of running a Civil Registry office and handling its procedures.

Letrados de la Administración de Justicia

A corps of civil servants who work in the courts handling legal and management tasks.

Libro de Familia (family record book)

The official booklet once given to families to record the marriage and children.

It summarizes the text as it was introduced. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries