Under the new draft Civil Registry Law, approved by the Justice Committee of Congress, parents will have a duty and obligation to agree upon the names of children and only when no agreement can be reached will the Civil Registrar make a decision taking into account the best interests of the children.
The Commission rejected the Government’s initial proposal whereby the order of names of children, in case of disagreement by the parents, would be determined by the Registrar on the basis of alphabetical order.
The compromise amendment puts the onus on parents to reach an agreement regarding names with Registrar being a sort of final resort. Those parents who fail to agree will be given an extra three days to continue ‘negotiations’ before the Registrar is called upon to intervene.