A journey strewn with pitfalls (4/5) July 7, 2026

In the event of loss, destruction or non-registration of a birth certificate, it is possible to reconstitute or register it. This approach is often necessary for people who are victims of fraud, in order to have their rights restored on the instructions of the district court (formerly the departmental court) of their place of residence.

DIOURBEL – Non-existent or lost birth certificates can be regularized on the initiative of the people concerned by these two situations. The assurance is made by Me Djib Sarr, clerk on duty at the high court (formerly regional court) of Diourbel. Asked about the procedure to follow, the clerk took care to mention the various most frequent situations provided for by the Family Code.

According to the lawyer, the first hypothesis concerns people whose birth certificate does not exist in civil status centers.

He specified that, for this first case, the person must first find a certificate of fictitious act (if the number is held by another citizen) or a certificate of non-registration in the registers (if the person does not have a number) before contacting the district court.

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“The competent court will, after verification of the required documents, issue a judgment authorizing entry in the registers. If necessary, the civil status officer will carry out the registration in order to regularize the situation of the person concerned,” explained Me Sarr.

The clerk indicated that the second case concerns the loss of birth certificates.

For him, this situation requires a reconstruction procedure which can be triggered by the person concerned before the district court.

Souleymane Guissé, another registrar, stressed that the affected citizen must seek a certificate of reconstitution issued by the civil registrar and the copy of the destroyed act.

He informed that the public prosecutor’s office can also initiate the reconstitution of birth certificates (in the event of collective loss caused by fire, theft, floods, etc.).

“The president of the district court issues a judgment authorizing the re-registration in the civil status registers of the damaged or lost document,” he mentioned.

For Me Djib Sarr, the person concerned must, in both cases, submit a photocopy of the identity card of both parents (father and mother) with two witnesses. The latter must be able to prove his birth and family ties.

The registrar also ruled on the case of birth certificates sold to third parties.

He considers that this scenario should not occur if the civil status officers and their collaborators took the necessary steps.

“A birth certificate number cannot be sold because part 3 must be filed with the district court and part 1 given to the declarant. So, even in the event of sale to a third party, the real owner can refer to the court to have his rights restored,” explained the lawyer.