Comedec

What is its legislative framework?

COMEDEC is based on two frameworks:

The legal framework

The legal framework is based on Articles 53 and 114(XVII) of French Act No. 2021-1547 of 18 November 2016 on modernizing justice in the 21st century, which are partially codified under Article 101-1 of the French Civil Code, from which it follows that:

• the obligation for municipalities that have or have had a maternity unit to connect to the network came into effect on 1st November 2018;
• the online procedure for checking civil status records is an alternative means of publishing such records, alongside the issuance of full copies and extracts of records;
• this procedure is to be used as a matter of priority, in place of the issuance of a full copy or extract, provided that it can be effectively carried out between the professionals concerned.

The regulatory framework

For its part, the regulatory framework is based on:

• French Decree No. 2017-890 of 6 May 2017 on civil status, which provides:
  • under its Article 8 that the notes to be made in the margins of civil status records and the instructions for making such entries may be sent to the registrar electronically via the dedicated data exchange platform for civil status data;
  • under its Articles 39 to 42 the general terms and conditions for carrying out checks on civil status records;
  • under its Article 43 the special terms and conditions for carrying out the aforementioned checks on the COMEDEC platform;
  • under its Article 45 the period over which the State’s financial aid is paid to municipalities and its calculation on a pro rata basis according to the responses provided to the notaries.
• the French Ministerial Order of 19 January 2016 on the electronic exchange of personal data contained in civil status records, which sets out the technical characteristics of the COMEDEC routing platform;
• the French Ministerial Order of 31 May 2017 on the State’s financial contribution to the rollout of COMEDEC, which sets out the terms of this financial contribution.

How exactly does COMEDEC help?

• For users, the introduction of COMEDEC:
  • Simplifies their administrative procedures: they no longer need to request a copy of their birth certificate from the town hall in the place where they were born,
  • Ensures they get a faster response to their requests. The data is exchanged electronically, without users needing to provide it,
  • Ensures better privacy protection through secure exchanges, with the transmitted data limited to what is strictly necessary. As such, the full paper copy is replaced by the transmission of only the data required for each procedure.
• For town halls holding civil status data, COMEDEC:
  • Simplifies the checking of civil status data: checking digital data is easier than checking a scanned/paper record,
  • Reduces the number of requests received via multiple channels (online - in-person - by post), which simplifies the tracking and organization of responses to these requests,
  • Promotes a single issuing system,
• Limits checks to legitimate requests,
• Eliminates the need to post responses to requests made by mail or online (requests from users, notaries, etc.) and the related postage costs.

How do you register with COMEDEC?

The process for connecting to COMEDEC is compulsory for municipalities that have or have had a maternity unit in their locality.

For other municipalities (those that have never had a maternity unit in their locality), registering with the COMEDEC system is done on a voluntary basis.

Municipalities can register with the COMEDEC system online via a application form

• The agreements ("cards" and "COMEDEC") are then printed, signed and returned to FRANCE TITRES (ANTS). The COMEDEC agreement is signed by the French Ministry of Justice, FRANCE TITRES (ANTS) and the municipality; the card agreement is signed by FRANCE TITRES (ANTS) and the municipality.
• The signing of these agreements does not require a decision by the municipal council; a signature by the mayor is sufficient. Signing these two agreements is a prerequisite for registering on COMEDEC:
• The COMEDEC agreement is signed by the French Ministry of Justice, FRANCE TITRES (ANTS) and the municipality.
• The card agreement is signed by FRANCE TITRES (ANTS) and the municipality.

Rollout steps

The process below describes the various steps in the rollout to municipalities wishing to register on COMEDEC.

1. Census of the municipalities with maternity units

2. Online registration on COMEDEC

3. Signing of the agreements

4. FRANCE TITRES (ANTS) registration of the municipality

5. Order and delivery of the first two cards

6. Contact with the publisher

7. Publisher visits the town hall

8. The municipality is connected

What does the future hold for COMEDEC?

In order to further digitize and simplify the exchange of civil status data, the COMEDEC team is currently studying a number of possible improvements:

• Exchanges between municipalities
• The sharing of marginal notes
• New applicants (social welfare bodies, etc.)