On holding a board meeting in the Department of Archives and Records Management of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus

On November 29, 2024, a board meeting of the Department of Archives and Records Management of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus (hereinafter referred to as the Department) was held.

The following issues were considered at the board meeting:

1. On the work of the Department and state archives on the implementation of administrative procedures in 2024.
2. On the work on the implementation by state archival institutions of the Directive of the President of the Republic of Belarus dated March 11, 2004 No.1 «On measures to strengthen public security and discipline».
3. On the status and volume of permanent storage documents and personnel documents temporarily stored in government agencies and other organizations that are sources of state archives, as of January 1, 2024.

On the first and second issues of the agenda, reports were made by the head of the department for the use of documents, ideological work and international cooperation, Yu.V.Baidanova, who noted that this year, in accordance with subparagraphs 18.25 and 18.26 of paragraph 18 of the Unified List of Administrative Procedures Carried out by Government Agencies and Other Organizations upon Applications from Citizens, approved by Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus dated April 26, 2010 No.200, state archives carried out an administrative procedure for issuing an archival certificate (archival copy, archival extract, information letter) upon requests of a social and legal nature.

In January-October 2024, state archives reviewed 5,540 applications from citizens on requests of a social and legal nature (4,960 applications for the same period in 2023), an increase of 12%.

Based on subparagraph 18.19.1 of paragraph 18 of the Unified List, the Department carried out the administrative procedure for affixing an apostille to documents originating from the state archives of the Republic of Belarus. In the reporting period, the Department’s employees affixed 745 apostilles (140 for the same period in 2023).

The growth in the number of applications from citizens for affixing an apostille to documents originating from state archives, which began in October 2023, continues. On average, 3 or more applications are received per day during the reporting period, previously – about 4 applications per month. Complaints from citizens about the administrative procedures carried out by the Department and state archives were not received by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus and the main justice departments of the regional executive committees.

N.M.Kralko, the co-rapporteur and head of the department of archival institutions, notaries and registry offices of the main justice department of the Brest regional executive committee, shared her experience in implementing administrative procedures in the state archives of the Brest region. She noted that the ZGA in Pinsk reviewed the largest number of requests for administrative procedures – 316 requests from January to November of this year. This is due to the fact that the archive was actively staffed with documents on the funds of government bodies (the Drogichin, Stolin, Luninets district executive committees, the Pinsk city executive committee transferred documents to the state archive up to 2020 inclusive), as well as on the funds of the courts (documents up to 2015 were accepted). N.M.Kralko named the lack of payment or the sending of the application beyond the competence as the decision to refuse to accept an application for the implementation of the administrative procedure. In the Brest region this year, such refusals accounted for 8% of the inquiries received.

A striking example of the work of archivists of the Brest region was the analysis of inquiries received by the state archives by mail: 49% of them did not arrive at the place where the documents were stored. In this regard, a negative position was expressed on the possible transfer of the administrative procedure 18.25.2 to electronic form for its implementation through the Unified Portal of Electronic Services.

With regard to the work on the implementation by state archival institutions of the Directive of the President of the Republic of Belarus dated March 11, 2004 No.1 «On measures to strengthen public safety and discipline», the speaker Yu.V.Baydanova noted that measures aimed at ensuring healthy and safe working conditions, the formation of law-abiding behavior and a healthy lifestyle among employees are carried out in state archives on an ongoing basis. The co-rapporteur was the acting director of the National Historical Archives of Belarus in Grodno O.B.Olesyuk, who reported that the archive had developed and agreed with the trade union committee an Action Plan for improving working conditions and labor protection for 2020-2025. Labor protection in the archive is organized in accordance with the Labor Protection Policy and through the functioning of the labor protection management system (LPMS).

Summing up the discussion of the second issue, the Director of the Department O.L.Voinov noted that discipline and labor protection, public safety are issues that are always a priority for consideration.

Currently, the credo of the archival industry is fire safety, both in connection with the onset of the heating season and in connection with the repair and construction work carried out in many archival institutions.

On the third issue, T.V.Ryabtsevich, a consultant of the department of office work, formation and preservation of the National Archival Fund, spoke. She noted that at present, 7,253 government agencies and organizations are sources of staffing of state archives. At the same time, the number of organizations excluded from the lists prevails, and the negative trend towards a decrease in the number of organizations remains.

In temporary storage in organizations that are sources of staffing of state archives, there are permanent storage cases for 1899 – 2023. Compared to 2022, this figure has decreased by 12%. The percentage of cases prepared for transfer to permanent storage in the republic is 61.16%.

State archives carry out a lot of work to prepare documents of organizations for transfer to permanent storage, provide methodological and practical assistance, hold seminars, and constantly monitor contracts concluded with organizations.

In the co-report, Director of the State Archives of the Minsk Region Yu.S.Romashko presented an analysis of the status and volume of documents of permanent storage and on personnel, which are in temporary storage in organizations-sources of the state archive of the Minsk Region, where 297,716 cases are stored in excess of the established period. The main reason for the current situation is the lack of free shelving space in the archive.

As a positive example, the board noted the work of the State Archives in Slutsk, where the percentage of cases stored in excess of the term is the lowest in the republic.

Director of the Department O.L.Voinov instructed that the reports of state archives on the measures taken to eliminate the debt on the acceptance of documents stored beyond the deadline be considered as a separate issue at a meeting of the Department’s board in 2025.

1. The head of the department of document use, ideological work and international cooperation Yu.V.Baidanova speaks

2. The consultant of the department of office work, formation and preservation of the National Archival Fund T.V.Ryabtsevich speaks.

3. The director of the State Archive of the Minsk Region Yu.S.Romashko speaks