Archive law (Switzerland)

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In Switzerland , archive law is federally regulated: each canton has its own archive law or archive ordinance. Only the canton of Ticino does not have any archiving regulations. Archive regulations are also in place in some cities and municipalities. In 1998 the federal government enacted the "Federal Act on Archiving". However, this has no direct impact on the cantons and the communes, although the cantons that drafted a law after 1998 were at least partially based on the federal regulations. Naturally, the provisions are very different in a federal state, for example with regard to the protection periods, although the cantons sometimes have the same file categories. Each archive has its own historical and legal tradition. To name just one example, a state archive from a university canton is active in a different environment than an archive from a canton without a university.

History of archive law

Until the 1980s, archive law consisted largely of executive ordinances, which regulated the activities of the archives. The exception was the canton of Geneva, which issued a "Loi sur les archives publiques" in 1925. In 1984 and 1989, the cantons of Jura and Neuchâtel also received archive laws. The triggers for these two laws, however, were very different: the newly founded canton of Jura needed an organizational basis for the state archive; In the canton of Neuchâtel, the availability of new data carriers posed additional challenges, and the problem of protection periods had to be regulated.

A new development in archive law began in the 1990s with the enactment of data protection laws . The main issues to be regulated were the obligation to offer, the right to use and the protection of privacy ( data protection ). As a result, "new type" archive laws emerged. To date, in addition to the federal government, a large number of the cantons have passed an archive law.

In addition to the actual archive laws and ordinances, there are other special legal norms that are essential for archiving. The federal government and the canton of Basel-Stadt, for example, have restrictions with regard to the obligation to provide personnel files. In addition, professional secrets can be important for the accessibility of archived material, as their publication can be punished with a fine or imprisonment on request according to Art. 321 of the Criminal Code. Gaining an overview of such special legal enactments should only be possible with a great deal of effort.

Access regulations and publicity laws

Some cantons have regulated the provisions on access to archived documents in decrees other than archive laws or ordinances, the canton of Valais, for example, in the Culture Promotion Act and its implementation ordinance. In the cantons of Bern, Solothurn and Vaud, access is essentially not regulated in an archive law or an archive ordinance, but in a public information law and an associated implementation ordinance. In these three cantons, the principle of public disclosure applies : in principle, every person has the right to inspect official files, provided there are no overriding public or private interests to the contrary - regardless of protection or blocking periods and regardless of whether these are in public archives or at other offices . Consequently, the archiving laws and ordinances of these cantons contain only very marginal (Vaud) or no (Solothurn) provisions on access to archived documents. The federal government and the cantons of Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Geneva are also familiar with the principle of public disclosure. However, access to archived documents is mainly regulated there in the archiving laws and ordinances.

Archive laws and ordinances at federal and cantonal level

confederation

  • Federal Act on Archiving of June 26, 1998 (Archiving Act, BGA) (SR 152.1)
  • Ordinance on the Federal Act on Archiving of 8 September 1999 (SR 152.11)
  • Ordinance of the Federal Supreme Court on the Archiving Act of September 27, 1999 (SR 152.21)
  • Regulations of January 17, 2006 on archiving at the Federal Criminal Court (SR 152.12)

Kanton Aargau

  • Public Information, Data Protection and Archives Act of October 24, 2006 (SAR 150.700)
  • Ordinance on the Law on Public Information, Data Protection and Archives (VIDAG) of September 26, 2007 (SAR 150.711)

Canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden

  • Archives Act of January 1, 2011 (bGS 421.10)
  • Law on information and inspection of files (Information Law) of April 28, 1996 (bGS 133.1)
  • Data Protection Act (Data Protection Act)

Canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden

  • Decision of the professional committee on the state archive of October 27, 1992 (BGS 432.101) (PDF; 37 kB)

Canton of Basel-Country

  • Archiving Act of May 11, 2006 (SGS 163) (PDF; 60 kB)
  • Ordinance on the Data Protection Act of March 7, 1991 (SGS 162) (PDF; 109 kB)
  • Ordinance on the Personnel Act (Personnel Ordinance) of December 19, 2000 (SGS 150.11) (PDF; 124 kB)
  • Ordinance on File Management of December 17, 2002

Canton of Basel-Stadt

  • Law on Archives (Archives Law) of September 11, 1996 (SG 153.600) (PDF; 87 kB)
  • Ordinance on Registrations and Archiving (Registration and Archiving Ordinance) of October 13, 1998 (SG 153.610) (PDF; 99 kB)
  • Law on the protection of personal data (Data Protection Act) of March 18, 1992 (SG 153.260) (PDF; 105 kB)

Canton Bern

Canton of Friborg

  • Act on Archiving and the State Archives (in consultation)
  • Regulations of the State Archives of March 2, 1993 (SGF 481.1.11)

Canton of Geneva

  • Loi sur l'information du public et l'accès aux documents (LIPAD) du 5 octobre 2001 (RSG A 2 08)
  • Loi sur les archives publiques du 1 December 2000 (RSG B 2 15)
  • Règlement d'application de la loi sur les archives publiques du 21 août 2001 (RSG B 2 15.01)

Canton of Glarus

canton of Grisons

Canton of Jura

  • Loi sur l'information et l'accès aux documents officiels du 4 décembre 2002 (RSJU 170.801) ( Memento of March 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  • Loi sur les archives publiques de la République et Canton du Jura du 11 octobre 1984 (RSJU 441.21)
  • Ordonnance sur les archives publiques de la République et Canton du Jura du 7 avril 1988 (RSJU 441.221)

Canton lucerne

  • Law on Archives (Archives Law) of June 16, 2003 (SRL 585)
  • Ordinance on the Archives Act (Archives Ordinance) of December 9, 2003 (SRL 586)

Canton of Neuchâtel

  • Loi sur les archives de l'Etat du 9 octobre 1989 (RSN 442.20)
  • Arrêté d'exécution de la loi sur les archives de l'Êtat du 2 may 1990 (RSN 442.21)
  • Arrêté versant définitivement le double du fichier du ministère public au service des archives de l'Etat du 19 février 1992 (RSN 442.22)

Canton of Nidwalden

  • Ordinance on the State Archives of June 12, 1975 (NG 323.1)
  • Law on data protection (cantonal data protection law, kDSG) of June 1, 2008 (GDB 232.1)

Canton of Obwalden

  • Ordinance on the State Archives of October 18, 1996 (GDB 131.21) (PDF; 36 kB)
  • Law on data protection (Data Protection Act) of November 1st, 2008 (GDB 137.1) (PDF; 42 kB)

Canton of St. Gallen

  • Law on file management and archiving (GAA) of April 19, 2011 (sGS 147.1)
  • Ordinance on file management and archiving (VAA) of March 19, 2019 (sGS 147.11)

Canton of Schaffhausen

  • Ordinance on the State Archives and Archiving of Administrative Files (Archives Ordinance) of February 8, 1994 (SHR 172.301)

Canton of Schwyz

  • Archives Act (in consultation)
  • Ordinance on archiving in the canton of Schwyz of July 1, 1994 (SRSZ 140.611) ( Memento of September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  • Law on public administration and data protection of 23 May 2007 (SRSZ 140.410) (PDF; 89 kB)

Canton of Solothurn

Canton of Ticino

  • Legge sull'archiviazione e sugli archivi pubblici (LArch) del 15 March 2011

Canton of Thurgau

  • Regulations of the Government Council on the State Archives of December 6, 1988 (RB 432.111)
  • Ordinance of the government council on the municipal archives of February 9, 1948 (RB 432.161)

Canton of Uri

  • Archive regulations of June 4, 2002

Canton of Vaud

  • Loi sur l'information du 24 septembre 2002 (LInfo) (RSV 170.21) (RSV 170.21)
  • Règlement d'application de la loi du 24 septembre sur l'information (RLInfo) (RSV 170.21.1)
  • Règlement pour les archives cantonales vaudoises du 6 octobre 1989 (RSV 432.11.1)
  • Règlement de l'ordre judiciaire sur l'information (ROJI) from 13 June 2006 (RSV 170.21.2)
  • Règlement interdisant la destruction de documents (RED) du 13 août 2001 (RSV 432.15.1)

Canton of Valais

  • Law on Public Information, Data Protection and Archiving (170.2)
  • Culture Promotion Act (KFG) of November 15, 1996 (SGS 440.1)
  • Regulations for the promotion of culture of July 7, 1999 (SGS 440.100)
  • Regulations on the Archives of the State Administration of November 17, 1982 (SGS 440.102) (PDF; 20 kB)
  • Règlement sur l'archivage des dossiers judiciaires du 5 septembre 2005 (RDV 173.102)

Canton of Zug

Canton Zurich

literature

  • François Burgy, Barbara Roth-Lochner: Les Archives en Suisse ou la fureur du particularisme. In: Archives. 34th vol., No. 1-2 / 2002-2003, especially pp. 42-43.
  • Josef Zwicker: Archive law in Switzerland - status and tasks. In: Swiss History Journal . Vol. 47, 1997. pp. 286-312 ( full text )
  • Josef Zwicker: Archive Law 2006 - andante ma non troppo. In: Archives practice in Switzerland. Ed. Gilbert Coutaz et al., Baden 2007, pp. 164-194 (pp. 192-194 bibliographical note).

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