News in Brief

New BDM Certificates Available

Australia’s new Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDM) Certificates have been launched nationally and are now available to the public.

State governments around the country are promoting the new design – which was created by the Note Printing Australia (NPA) Design Team – with a particular focus on the increased security of the certificate to prevent identity fraud. Feedback received from BDM registries indicate the new certificate is a welcome improvement to Australia’s Life Event Certificate family.

As the Minister responsible for the BDM program, the Attorney General will visit NPA’s Passports Print Room, when restrictions ease, to meet the Operations Management and the BDM Team and to view the new certificate as it comes off the press.

UK Driving Licence Likely to go Virtual by 2024

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) intends to develop an app, which will be used to display digital provisional driving licences by 2024, with full licences expected to be included soon afterwards.

The current plastic licences will initially be available alongside the app for drivers who still want them but are likely to be scrapped if the system proves successful.

Other planned changes include bringing MOTs (the UK vehicle road worthiness test) into the modern age by introducing digital test booking systems and certificates.

The changes are set out in the DVLA’s Strategic Plan ¹, which also includes targets and expectations of the organisation through to the end of 2024.

Announcing the measures, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the changes would make the UK’s transport network ‘fairer, greener and more efficient’.

The report states that the changes will ‘ultimately give our customers personalised, easy and secure access to a range of services and allow them more choice in how they transact with us’.

It adds that: ‘our services will be secure, scalable and resilient and we will continue to explore and expand the use of emerging technologies.’

This isn’t the first time the DVLA has taken steps to update driving licences.

In 2015, it scrapped the paper counterparts of driving licences, which showed information about any penalty points the holder had accumulated and the types of vehicles they could drive legally. These have been replaced by online records.

A year later, the then Chief Executive of the DVLA, Oliver Morley, tweeted a photo of a prototype digital driving licence, intended to be used as an ‘add-on’ to the plastic card licence, rather than a replacement.

Afghanistan Passports and ID Cards to be Changed by Taliban

The Taliban has announced that the name ‘Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’ will appear on Afghan passports and national identity cards (NIDs).

According to The Khaama Press News Agency, Deputy Minister of Information and Culture and Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid suggested that the name ‘Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’ will be written on Afghan passports and national identification cards.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has stated that the former Afghan government’s national identity cards and passports are still valid.

Zabiullah Mujahid also stated that the former government’s documents are still recognised as legal documents in the country. Only individuals who have already completed their biometrics can obtain passports and NIDs in Afghanistan, as the passport and NID departments are currently closed.

The situation regarding passports and ID cards in Afghanistan is understandably volatile at the moment. Recently, a large crowd gathered outside Kabul’s passport office trying to get travel documents, claiming that their family members or relatives needed to travel overseas for medical treatment.

The Afghan identity card, also known as the Afghan Tazkira, is a national identity document granted to every Afghan citizen or national, whether they live inside or outside of Afghanistan. It proves identity and residency, but most importantly, Afghan nationality. The Afghan Tazkira, which is over 100 years old, has recently been upgraded. When former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani received his eID cards on 3 May 2018, the campaign was formally launched in Kabul. The eID cards, also known as e-Tazkira, were eventually distributed in various parts of Afghanistan.

The new eID card is compliant with international identification document standards. Over 6 million Afghans have received their new Tazkiras as of August 2021.

Kosovo Adopts Draft Law on Electronic Identity and Trusted Services

On 22 July, the Minister of Economy, Artane Rizvanolli presented for review to the members of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo the Draft Law on Electronic Identification and Trust Services in Electronic Transactions, after the Assembly had recommended its adoption in principle.

The draft law was passed in the Assembly in its first reading, with 66 votes in favour and none against.

The draft law aims to regulate the manner of identification and electronic identification schemes and to trust service providers in electronic transactions. Included in the bill are:

• Terms of use of electronic signature, electronic stamp, electronic time stamp and equipment for their creation.

• Transmission services recommended for legal transactions, litigation and other proceedings.

• Conditions for issuing and using qualified certificates for certification of services and website authentication.

• Trust services in electronic transactions and electronic documents.

Minister Rizvanolli emphasised that the Ministry of Economy has received continual requests, both from the private and public sectors and the banking and financial sector, for this draft law to be approved as soon as possible.

The law is in line with the EU regulation on Electronic Identification and Trust Services for Electronic Transactions in the Internal Market (eIDAS).

During the Assembly session, Minister Rizvanolli added that this draft law will not have additional costs for the Kosovo budget. For its practical implementation, the government has won a grant from the European Commission worth €4 million, which will be used for the development of the eIDAS system.

1 - https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/ file/979996/DVLA003_Strategic_Plan_2021-24_230421.pdf