Civil Law
In general, unlike in common law countries, names cannot be changed at will in civil law jurisdictions. Usually, a name change requires government approval and is only rarely granted. Though legal name changes has become more common in some of these countries over the last years. The reason given for this system is usually the public interest in the unique identifiability of a person, e.g., in governmental registers, although with the advent of personal identification numbers, that rationale may be in need of reconsideration.
Read more about this topic: Name Change
Famous quotes containing the words civil and/or law:
“Civil servants and priests, soldiers and ballet-dancers, schoolmasters and police constables, Greek museums and Gothic steeples, civil list and services list—the common seed within which all these fabulous beings slumber in embryo is taxation.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
“Laws can be wrong and laws can be cruel. And the people who live only by the law are both wrong and cruel.”
—Ardel Wray. Mark Robson. Thea (Ellen Drew)