Additional record in the book of births

The ombudsman dealt with the case of a Vietnamese citizen born in 1997 in Mariánské Lázně, who is interested in obtaining citizenship of the Czech Republic by declaration (possible until 21 years of age). However, the Czech Registry of Births and Deaths notified her that according to the records, she has been using a wrong surname. The Czech Registry refused to accept her Vietnamese birth certificate. It recommended to the woman to contest paternity at court, which would allow her to legalise the surname used in all her documents. However, the Czech Registry of Births and Deaths’ procedure was wrong, and it should have accepted the Vietnamese birth certificate.

The problem was that according to the Registry, she should have been using the surname H., while her identity documents (Vietnamese passport, residence permit card) were issued with the surname D.The Registry did not accept her Vietnamese birth certificate issued by the Vietnamese Embassy in Prague. The ombudsmana recommended that the complainant should file a written request for an additional record (of determination of paternity and change of surname) in the Book of Births. The Registry replied that she had been using the surname D. unlawfully, and it was necessary to first contest paternity at court.

According to the Agreement between the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and the Vietnamese Socialist Republic on legal cooperation in civil and criminal matters, acknowledgement, denying and determining paternity is governed by the laws of the state of which the child was a citizen at the time of birth. The Registry erred when it requested the complainant to submit a public document on denying paternity citing provisions of the Czech laws. However, the circumstances of the case did not indicate that it would be in the complainant’s interest to apply Czech laws.

The Registry erred when it informed the complainant that she had been using the surname D. unlawfully. The fact that the complainant had two different surnames in her Czech documents was not a result of her mistake, but was caused by imperfection of the Czech legislation. It is very inappropriate and rude for a Czech Authority to tell a citizen of a foreign country that they have been using the surname in their passport unlawfully. Moreover, the Registry did not consider the age of the complainant.

The Registry discontinued the proceedings on the complainant’s application by a resolution. However, it failed to inform the complainant of the underlying documents it used. The complainant did not file her appeal in time due to performance of her study duties. For this reason, the ombudsman sent my inquiry report to the Regional Authority as an application for initiation of review proceedings.

The Regional Authority accepted the conclusion of the report and cancelled the resolution of the Registry in the review proceedings, and returned the matter for a new hearing and decision. The Registry issued a new birth certificate to the complainant stating the surname D.