Moldavian nation’s genealogical tree is deeply rooted with multidimensional marks left in the Registers of Birth/ Marriage/Death acts. They keep living memories about every person individualizing them in society and family.

The Civil Status records are registered in an organized way in the Republic of Moldova.

The supervision of the Civil Status acts drawing up process and providing them a legal status is realized by a single state administration body - The Civil Status Service of The Ministry of Informational Development.

During five decades from the foundation (January 11, 1957), the Civil Status Service promoted the family values in the society through legislative framework improvement, birth/marriage/death acts automatization, making the state’s electronic database complete.

Past, present and future are the pillars which back up the Civil Status Service whole potential achievement, valorizing its successful activity.

The history of the Civil Status Service

Today it its unanimous accepted that the Civil Status Service and its branches represent the main source of information that makes possible the citizen’s individualization in society and family.

Since the beginning of time, the Civil Status Service had been recognized as a part of human personality that knew a strong development, marked by the specific social-political character of the historical epoch.

The first Civil Status Record attestation, although primitive, dates back to October 1, 1808. The Moldavian metropolitan bishop, Banulescu Bodoni initiated the process of keeping the parish registers. According to Alexandru the 1st‘s Order from March 28, 1808 Banulescu Bodoni was named Exarch of Moldova, Valahia and Basarabia’s Saint Synod.

The Fundamental Regulations of Romanian Principality (Moldova and Muntenia) adopted in 1832 stimulated the Civil Status consolidation on Moldavian territory. The regulations instituted a public trait to the archives and, as a result, the parish registers importance was recognized by the state authorities. The registers were kept in the church archives.

The Birth, Marriage, Death acts predecessor, the parish written record, was filled in by the priest who officiated the baptism, marriage and death ceremonies.

Written record of the Parish Register

Parish registers were structured in three sections which contain data about:

The parish registers were filled in 2 copies:

Although the tsarist government (1812) lasted more than a century, the statute of Russian administrative unit (until 1917), haven’t brought any important changes to the parish register’s content, in the way it was preserved and in persons who were in charge of it.

Even if the registers were in Slavonic language and the church “management” suffered important changes, the religious factor stood its old ground.

Extract of the Parish Register

During this period of time appeared a diversification of the Civil Status responsibilities. The need to recognize the person in space, time and family appeared as far back as in XIX century and went before the moment of setting up the Civil Status Service.

It could be proved by the use of excerpts from parish registers, of birth/marriage/death acts, of birth notifications and the communications about changes made in the parish written records.

Birth Notification

Social, political and economic changes caused by the union of Basarabia with Romania in 1918 enforced the adoption of the Romanian Constitution in 1923. The Constitution established the secular feature of birth/marriage/death acts recognizing, meanwhile, the church’s responsibilities.

The unification of juridical system of birth/marriage/death acts on the whole territory of the country was achieved by the Romanian law from February 25, 1928.
Registry activity was carried on by the registrars as part of Registry Office (in villages as part of town halls).

The Birth/Marriage/Death acts were countersigned by a notary, the head of the Office.

Marriage Certificate

Parish Registers continued to be the only source of information in the process of searching the evolution of blood relationships and the genealogical tree of Moldavian nation until the 30’s of the XX century. Thus, being released from the sacred burden, the Civil Status Service was taken under state’s patronage and submitted to juridical-normative interventionism.

The year 1925 marked the uncertain and distant beginning of the Civil Status Service creation on the left part of Nistru, a beginning that constituted a first step for the actual system of Civil Status bodies’ foundation.

Alongside with the Proclamation of Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (MASSR) and the adoption of the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic’s Constitution it was necessary to strictly delimit the state from the church, establishing a compulsory regulation about the secular trait of the state certificates. Therefore, during this period the state tried hard to secularize the registration of Birth/Marriage/Death acts and to hand the power over to the state.

Religion beliefs, as well as the deeply rooted customs of Moldavian nation, had been for almost a century the main factors which postponed the secularization process of Birth/Marriage/Death acts registration. These were the factors which explained the existence of both parish acts (drawn up by churchmen) and birth/marriage/death secularized acts (drawn up by qualified authorities) in 1930-1931.

In conclusion, The Civil Status Service, as a legal entity, is a relatively recent invention.

The social impact of Civil Status Service explains countless submissions to different state organizations which were responsible for taking care of the service.

Initially, in 1944 were created offices that were subordinated to USSR’s Internal Affairs Community Institution. The Civil Status Department controlled the activity of territorial offices.

In 1946 the USSR’s Internal Affairs Community Institution was reorganized into USSR’s Ministry of Internal Affairs.

On January 1, 1957 in accordance with “USSR’s Soviet Ministers Resolution from October 25, 1956 regarding the measures of improving the activity of USSR’s Ministry of Internal Affairs”, the duties concerning the Civil Status acts registration were passed on to Members of Local Deputy. Therefore, the Civil Status Bodies were not subordinated to USSR’s Ministry of Internal Affairs anymore.

USSR’s Soviet Ministers Resolution from October 25, 1956

According to the Resolution from October 25, 1956, the Members of the Local Deputy were obliged to contribute to the Civil Status acts registration improvement by mean of recruiting qualified specialists, providing working conditions with rooms, furniture, etc., focusing on the infrastructure development of Birth/Marriage/Death Certificate registration offices.

Next step of evolution started with the promulgation of “MSSR’s Soviet Ministers Resolution nr.7 from January 11, 1957 regarding the set up of the Republican Office of Civil Status acts”.

MSSR’s Soviet Minister Resolution from January 11th, 1957

The resolution contributed to the creation of the Republican Office of Civil Status and included in its structure the Republican Archives of Civil Status acts. The central body was represented by 13 units, out of which 9,5 units belonged to the Republican Archives and 3,5 units to the Republican Office of Civil status.

First normative documents of juridical intercourse settlement appeared in the process of acts registration and carrying out the Registry Office services. These documents were: “The Marriage and Family Code” adopted on December 26,1969 and “the MSSR’s Soviet Minister Resolution from April 20, 1970 nr.54 about the Promulgation of the method of registering in MSSR”.

During this period, the Civil Status acts were registered by the Executive Soviet District Committee Department, City Nation Representative Department. In the regions where did not exist such departments, the registration was done by the Executive Committee Small Town’s Soviet, the Village Nation Representatives.

Point 4 of “MSSR Soviet Minister Resolution nr.452 from December 30, 1970 regarding the issues of the Ministry of Justice of MSSR structure” stipulated that the Republican Office of Civil Status registration was directly subordinated to the Ministry of Justice. Thus, in the Central Public Administration System, the Republican Office of civil status was represented by the notary office, Civil Status acts registration and judicial survey of MSSR’s Ministry of Justice.

MSSR’s Soviet Minister Resolution from December 30th, 1970

Further, national office of Civil Status acts was reorganized in the Directorate of Civil Status Acts as a part of the Ministry of Justice, later - in the Main Directorate of Civil Status of the Ministry of Justice.

The Ministry of Justice will transfer all the subdivisions of the Main Directorate of Civil Status to the Department of Information Technology in accordance with the Government Resolution nr. 398 from June 6, 2001.

The progressive development of the Civil Status system was influenced by the “Government Resolution nr.1855 from October 27, 2002 regarding the Registry Office of the Department of Informational Technology”.

Beginning with June 2001, the Main Directorate of Civil Status (known later as Directorate General of Civil Status together with the reorganization of the Department of Information Technologies, according to the decision of the Government Resolution nr.606 from June 24, 2005 regarding the structure and the staff approval of the central apparatus of the Ministry of Informational Development) and its territorial subdivisions will meet a new period in its ascending development, marked by modernization and automatization policy of Registry Office activity.

The 2001-2007 years are characterized by imposing normative achievements. The Registry Office made efforts in order to create the juridical-normative framework according to the international ones.

Thus, on October 26th, 2000 was adopted the Family Code of the Republic of Moldova; on April 26, 2001 was adopted the Republic of Moldova law nr. XV-100 regarding the Civil Status acts, and on January 21, 2004 was approved the Instruction regarding the Civil Status acts registration in accordance with the written disposition nr. 4 of the Ministry of Informational Development.

On July 26, 2007, the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova adopted the law nr. 203-XVI about the modification and completion of Law nr.100-XV from April 26, 2001 regarding the Civil Status acts (published in the Official Monitor nr. 127-130/570 from August 17, 2007). The most important modification was to set up the Civil Status Service into a public institution with legal entity statute.

The Government approved the Civil Status Service Regulation on January 31, 2008, in accordance with the Resolution nr. 82 (published in the Official Monitor nr.28-29 on February 8, 2008).

For today, according to the Governmental order № 597 from October, 21st 2009, civil status Service, has returned to submission of the Ministry of Justice.
 

Nowadays, the Civil Status Service and its territorial subdivisions, consolidated a solid basis as part of state institutions, identifying themselves with the system where predominates harmony, collaboration and constant auto-improvement tendency.

This information was updated by Elena Gajos,  Stefan Gajos and Amarfii Natalia
at February 01, 2010.