The Law of the Republic of Belarus “On Amendments to the Law on Archives and Records Management in the Republic of Belarus” has been signed

On 18 April 2022, the President of the Republic of Belarus signed the Law of the Republic of Belarus “On Amendments to the Law on Archives and Records Management in the Republic of Belarus” No. 163-З.

The document aims to improve the efficiency of legal regulation in the sphere of archives and records management in line with the latest achievements in science and technology as regards the creation of documents, their management and preservation.

The Law provides that the permanent storage of documents of the state part of the National Archival Fonds will be carried out exclusively by state archives. Today, this function is also assigned to museums and libraries.

The Law establishes the exclusive right of state archival institutions to carry out scientific and technical processing of documents of the organizations which are sources of acquisition for state archives.

The Law specifies the terms of temporary storage of civil status records and the terms of storage of personnel records. The period of temporary storage of civil status records is extended to 100 years (today it is 75 years). The term of storage of personnel records reflecting labor relations of an employee with employer is reduced from 75 to 55 years.

Documents in electronic form, including electronic documents, of the state part of the National Archival Fonds upon expiration of the established period of temporary storage should be transferred from the information system of the archive of a state body or other organization for permanent storage in the state archive via the Information System of the Archive of Electronic Documents of the National Archival Fonds. The procedure for the functioning of such an information system is entrusted to be approved by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus.