3610NationalIdentityCardAct2010
Act No. 36 of 2010
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NATIONAL IDENTITY CARD ACT 2010
National Identity Card Act 2010 Arrangement of Sections
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Act No. 36 of 2010 Page 3
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NATIONAL IDENTITY CARD ACT 2010
Arrangement of Sections
Section
PART 1 - PRELIMINARY 5
1 Short title, commencement ............................................................................... 5
2 Interpretation ................................................................................................ 5
PART 2 - NATIONAL IDENTITY CARD OFFICE 6
3 Establishment of National Identity Card Office .................................................... 6
4 Director’s duties ........................................................................................... 7
5 Funding of Office ......................................................................................... 7
6 Accounting and Audit .................................................................................. 7
PART 3 – IDENTITY CARDS 8
7 Residents to apply for identity card ............................................................ 8
8 Definition of resident ................................................................................... 8
9 National Identity Card Office to issue identity cards ............................................. 9
10 Contents of national identity cards ............................................................. 9
PART 4 – THE REGISTER 9
11 Register to be established........................................................................... 9
12 Purposes for which register may be used ..................................................... 10
13 Secrecy and security ................................................................................ 10
PART 5 - ENFORCEMENT 11
14 Duty to produce card ................................................................................. 11
15 Offences .................................................................................................... 11
Arrangement of Sections National Identity Card Act 2010
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SCHEDULE 1 12
APPLICATION FOR NATIONAL IDENTITY CARD 12
SCHEDULE 2 13
FEES FOR IDENTITY CARDS 13
SCHEDULE 3 14
OATH OF SECRECY 14
National Identity Card Act 2010 Section 1
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Act No. 36 of 2010 Page 5
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NATIONAL IDENTITY CARD ACT 2010
Act No. 36 of 2010
AN ACT TO MAKE PROVISION FOR A NATIONAL SCHEME OF
REGISTRATION OF RESIDENTS AND FOR NATIONAL IDENTITY
CARDS TO BE ISSUED TO RESIDENTS OF TONGA; AND FOR
RELATED PURPOSES
I assent,
GEORGE TUPOU V,
24th September 2010.
BE IT ENACTED by the King and the Legislative Assembly of Tonga in the Legislature
of the Kingdom as follows:
PART 1 - PRELIMINARY
1 Short title, commencement
(1) This Act may be cited as the National Identity Card Act 2010.
(2) This Act shall come into force on such date as is specified by Notice
published by the Minister.
2 Interpretation
In this Act –
Section 3 National Identity Card Act 2010
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“Minister” means the Prime Minister or such other Minister to whom
responsibility for the administration of this Act is allocated;
“Lord Privy Seal” means the person appointed to such title by the King;
“national identity card” means an identity card issued under section 9;
“National Identity Card Office” means the office established and supervised
by the Lord Privy Seal to administer the national identity card scheme, as
provided in section 3;
“register” means the register of holders of national identity cards maintained
under section 11.
PART 2 - NATIONAL IDENTITY CARD OFFICE
3 Establishment of National Identity Card Office
(1) The Lord Privy Seal shall establish an office to be known as the National
Identity Card Office.
(2) The National Identity Card Office shall have –
(a) a Director, who shall be appointed under contract by the Lord Privy
Seal with the consent of the Public Service Commission;
(b) such other permanent staff as the Lord Privy Seal considers necessary
to carry out the functions of the office, who shall be public servants
under the Public Service Act 2002;
(c) such staff on seconded or contracted basis, who shall not be covered
under paragraph (b); and
(d) suitable office premises and facilities.
(3) The National Identity Card Office shall have th following functions –
(a) to maintain an office where applications for national identity cards shall
be received and processed;
(b) to provide advice and information about the national identity card
scheme and to print and make available forms;
(c) to process applications and if approved, to prepar national identity
cards and issue them;
(d) to maintain a register of all persons (and their photographs and details)
who have been issued with a national identity card;
(e) to take all actions, and make all enquiries, to ensure that all persons
who are defined as residents of Tonga under section 8 have applied for
and been issued with national identity cards;
(f) to make enquiries to ensure that the register contains the names of all
people eligible for a national identity card and to remove names of
National Identity Card Act 2010 Section 4
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Act No. 36 of 2010 Page 7
those no longer eligible because they are no longer resident in Tonga or
alive;
(g) to co-operate with the authorities responsible for the Electoral Roll,
Immigration, Police, Registration of Births Deaths and Marriages,
driving licences, and other relevant area of governme t, to ensure the
register is correct;
(h) to issue replacement national identity cards when they have expired or
been lost, mislaid or destroyed, and to amend natiol identity cards as
necessary;
(i) maintain the security and secrecy of the registr and allow details to be
used only for the purposes specified in section 12.
4 Director’s duties
(1) The Director shall be responsible for the prope operation of the National
Identity Card Office and shall be responsible to and obey the directions of the
Lord Privy Seal.
(2) Any action by or against the National Identity Card Office shall be taken in
the name of the Director of the National Identity Card Office as the person
representing the Crown in that matter.
5 Funding of Office
The funds available to the National Identity Card Office shall be moneys allocated
by the Legislative Assembly for that purpose or such other funds made available by
the Minister or the Lord Privy Seal.
6 Accounting and Audit
(1) The National Identity Card Office shall keep pro er accounts and other
records in relation to its finances and shall prepa in respect of each financial
year a statement of accounts.
(2) The accounts of the Office shall be audited annu lly by an auditor to be
appointed by the Office.
(3) As soon as the accounts have been audited, the Office shall forward a copy of
the statement of accounts referred to in subsection (1) to the Lord Privy Seal
and the Minister, together with a copy of any report made by the auditor on
that statement of accounts or on the accounts of the Office.
Section 7 National Identity Card Act 2010
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PART 3 – IDENTITY CARDS
7 Residents to apply for identity card
(1) It shall be mandatory that every person who is resident in Tonga, as defined in
section 8, shall have a national identity card.
(2) Every such resident of Tonga shall apply for a national identity card by –
(a) completing Form 1 in Schedule 1;
(b) applying in person at a National Identity Card Office;
(c) allowing himself to be photographed;
(d) if so required, allowing his fingerprints and other biometric information
about himself to be taken and recorded;
(e) providing such information as may reasonably be required by the
National Identity Card Office for the purpose of verifying the contents
of a national identity card.
(3) Application for a national identity card shall be made within the following
times –
(a) for all people who qualify under section 8 as re idents of Tonga at the
date of commencement of this Act, within 3 months from the date of
commencement of this Act;
(b) for all persons who qualify under section 8 as residents of Tonga after
the date of commencement of this Act, within 3 months of becoming so
qualified as residents of Tonga;
(c) if a national identity card expires or is lost r destroyed, the holder of
that card shall, no later than 10 days after such expiry, loss, or
destruction, apply for a replacement national identity card.
8 Definition of resident
For the purposes of this Act, a person is resident in Tonga if he is 14 years of age or
more, and –
(a) has been present in Tonga for the preceding 6 months;
(b) has entered Tonga intending to remain there for not less than 6 months;
or
(c) has been present in Tonga for a cumulative period of 6 months within
the preceding period of 12 months.
National Identity Card Act 2010 Section 9
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Act No. 36 of 2010 Page 9
9 National Identity Card Office to issue identity c ards
(1) The National Identity Card Office shall issue national identity cards to any
person who applies and is eligible for a national identity card.
(2) A national identity card shall be in such form as the Lord Privy Seal
determines, and different forms may be issued for different categories of
residents.
(3) A national identity card shall be valid for 5 years from the date it is issued.
(4) The fees payable for the issue of a national identity card are specified in
Schedule 2.
10 Contents of national identity cards
(1) A national identity card issued under this Act shall contain the following
information about the holder of that card –
(a) Name;
(b) Photograph;
(c) Address;
(d) Date of birth;
(e) Nationality;
(f) Signature;
(g) Sex;
(h) Date of Issue;
(i) Date of Expiry;
(j) Personal ID Number;
(k) Serial number of card;
(l) A Reference to any drivers licence or passport issued to the holder;
(m) Other biometric data which the National Identity Card Office considers
is useful in the public interest to include.
(2) At the advice of the Prime Minister, the King may exercise his royal
prerogative to include additional features on the card.
PART 4 – THE REGISTER
11 Register to be established
(1) For the purpose of issuing national identity cards, the National Identity Card
Office shall establish and maintain an accurate regist r of people –
Section 12 National Identity Card Act 2010
Page 10 Act No. 36 of 2010
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(a) to whom an identity card has been issued; and
(b) who it considers are liable to apply for a national identity card, and in
such case, the Lord Privy Seal shall issue a national identity card to
such people who he considers should hold a national dentity card.
(2) The register shall contain the information specifi d in section 10(1).
(3) If any detail on an identity card changes, the holder shall within 10 working
days notify the National Identity Card Office and provide all relevant
information requested and if it considers it appropriate, either as the result of a
notification by the holder or through its own enquiries, the National Identity
Card Office shall amend the register and issue an amended national identity
card.
12 Purposes for which register may be used
(1) The National Identity Card Office may only make use of information in the
register if it is necessary in the public interest for the following purposes –
(a) to provide for a reliable identity card to be held by all specified people;
(b) to assist in the more orderly and efficient administration of Tonga and
the dispensing of government services;
(c) to assist in the identification of electors under the Electoral Act.
(2) For the purposes of this Act something is necessary in the public interest if it
is –
(a) in the interests of national security;
(b) for the purposes of the prevention or detection of crime;
(c) for the purposes of the enforcement of immigraton controls;
(d) for the purposes of employment, education or healt services;
(e) related to elections; or
(f) for the purpose of securing the efficient and effective provision of
public services.
13 Secrecy and security
(1) Information from the register shall be kept secret, safe and secure by the
National Identity Card Office and shall not be divulged to any person except
for the purposes specified in section 12 or in pursuance of an order of the
Supreme Court.
(2) The Director and all persons employed at the Nation l Identity Card Office,
including consultants, shall before being allowed access to any of the records
of the office, take the oath of secrecy set out in Schedule 2 in the presence of a
Magistrate.
National Identity Card Act 2010 Section 14
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Act No. 36 of 2010 Page 11
PART 5 - ENFORCEMENT
14 Duty to produce card
A person who has been issued with a national identity card shall carry it on his
person at all times and produce that card if –
(a) a police officer has a reasonable doubt about the identity of a person, the
police officer may request that the national identity card be produced to him
forthwith and hold him liable otherwise;
(b) so required by any government or public authority which requires proof of
identity; or
(c) so required by any Act.
15 Offences
(1) It shall be mandatory that every person who is resident in Tonga, as defined in
section 8, shall have a national identity card.
(2) A person who deliberately provides false or misleading information to the
National Identity Card Office or who fails to comply with a provision of this
Act not otherwise specified, is guilty of an offenc against this Act.
(3) A person who, for an illegal or fraudulent purpose, is in possession of a
national identity card that –
(a) is false or has been forged or tampered with;
(b) was improperly obtained;
(c) relates to someone else,
is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of $10,0 0 or to imprisonment for
12 months, or to both such fine and imprisonment.
(4) A person who divulges any document or information contrary to section13 or
the oath in Schedule 3, is guilty of an offence andliable to a fine of $10,000
and to imprisonment for 12 months.
(5) A person guilty of an offence under this Act for which no other penalty is
provided is liable to a fine of $4,000 or to imprisonment for 6 months, or to
both such fine and imprisonment.
Passed by the Legislative Assembly on 14th day of September 2010
SCHEDULE 1 National Identity Card Act 2010
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SCHEDULE 1
THE NATIONAL IDENTITY CARD ACT, 2010
Form 1 (Section 7(2))
APPLICATION FOR NATIONAL IDENTITY CARD
To the National Identity Card Office
I hereby apply for a National Identity Card
Surname: …………………………………………………………..….……...
Maiden name: ……………………………………………………….....……..
First name: …………………………………………………………...…..…..
Middle name(s): …………………………………………………………...….
Residential address: ………………………………………………………..
Date of birth ( DD/MM/YYYY): …………………………… Sex: …………..
Place of birth ( District, Village or Country, City): ………………………….
Nationality: ...............................................................................................
Supporting document type: …………………………… No.:………………………………
(passport(if available), driver’s licence(if available), other)
I hereby declare that –
• I am a resident of Tonga because, as specified in section 8 of the National Identity Card Act
2010 – (tick which applies)
(a) I have been present in Tonga for the preceding 6 months;
(b) I have entered Tonga intending to remain there for not less than 6 months;
(c) I have been present in Tonga for a cumulative period of 6 months within the
preceding period of 12 months;
• I am of the age of 14 years or upwards;
• The above particulars respecting my application are true to the best of my knowledge and
belief.
Dated the ……………………….day of ………………………………………… 20 …………
Signature of applicant
OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Date of Issue:
Date of expiry:
Personal ID No.:
Please attach here
one recent passport
photo of yourself
National Identity Card
Application No.
123456
123456
……………………………………
National Identity Card Act 2010 SCHEDULE 2
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Act No. 36 of 2010 Page 13
SCHEDULE 2
FEES FOR IDENTITY CARDS
Item Service Fee
1 For the first and subsequent issues of a national identity card
(meaning expired card)
FREE
2 For the issue of a national identity card that has been lost,
mislaid, amended or destroyed
$50.00
SCHEDULE 3 National Identity Card Act 2010
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SCHEDULE 3
OATH OF SECRECY
I ......................................................swear by Almighty God that I shall not
communicate any document or information obtained by me by means of my holding or
having held any office or employment in or under the National Identity Card Office to any
person to whom the same or any of them ought not in the interest of the State or otherwise
in the public interest to be communicated.
So help me God.
Date……………………….. Signature .......................... ..........................................
