News
NIC at 15 years under amended Registration of Persons Act
View(s):The Registration of Persons Act will be amended for the compulsory registration of every citizen of Sri Lanka, as well as the introduction of new age limit for the issuance of National Identity Cards (NIC). The age of registration under the proposed laws is 15, down from the present 16.
The wide changes to the Registration of Persons Act No 32 of 1968 will also see the introduction of biometrics and the compilation of a “National Register of Persons”, a database to be established and maintained by the Commissioner General (CG) of the Dept of Registration of Persons (DRP).
While persons authorized to act under the new law will be required to sign a declaration pledging observance of strict secrecy in respect of any information contained in the National Registrar, the law allows for such information to be provided in the interest of national security upon a direction issued by the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence for the prevention or detection of crimes, or for the purpose of complying with any order or direction issued by a court.
The amendments to the Act will also allow for the powers of the CG DRP to be decentralized, allowing for the establishment of offices at provincial, district or divisional level. The new laws will make it mandatory for persons who cease to be citizens of Sri Lanka to surrender their NICs, while it also provides for a waiver of the prescribed fee payable on grounds of poverty.
Once the proposed changes get parliamentary approval, all persons in possession of valid NICs will need to re-register with the Dept, in the manner and period to be prescribed by the Minister of Home Affairs under whom the Dept operates.
However, the present system of issuing NICs will continue until the necessary infrastructure arrangements and technological methodologies that are proposed in the new law are put in place and the date for the enactment of the law announced by the Minister.
The issuance of the electronic NIC (e-NIC) along with the setting up of the National Register of Persons was first advocated in 2014, when it met with criticism in some quarters over fears the law would lead to an invasion of individual privacy.