Attorney General Anil Nandlall will soon be tabling an amendment to the Births and Registration Act which will prevent Magistrates from ordering alterations to birth and death certificates without first allowing the General Registrar to defend the official record.
“There is a lacuna [gap] in the law. Currently the Act allows for a correction of clerical errors on a Birth or Death certificate based on an order by a Magistrate. The Magistrate in granting this Order is required to hear from the complainant and those responsible for making the entry,” Nandlall told Stabroek News.
He noted that the issue which his office now seeks to address is the fact that several of these Orders are granted without any representation from the Registrar.
