Ordinance on Record-Keeping in the Cantonal Administration (AktenV) - Subject Matter (AktenV)

1. This regulation governs the proper and systematic record-keeping within the cantonal administration.

1. This regulation applies to the following administrative units

a) Offices and departments according to Annex 1 of the Ordinance on Outcome-oriented Management of Tasks and Finances (VAF) dated December 5, 2012[3],

b) Dependent public law institutions of the canton,

c) The appointed person responsible for public information and data protection,

d) The financial oversight,

e) Commissions and working groups that are assigned to the government council or one of the aforementioned administrative units.

2. It applies to record-keeping regardless of the methods, systems, processes, and information carriers used, particularly when using management systems, specialized applications, and databases, as well as for corresponding paper-based files.

3. The following public bodies regulate their record-keeping independently according to § 43 IDAG and § 23 of the Ordinance to the Law on Public Information, Data Protection, and Archiving (VIDAG) dated September 26, 2007[4]

a) Independent public law institutions of the canton,

b) Organs of the Grand Council,

c) Courts,

d) Private entities fulfilling public tasks.

1. The management of files has the following objectives

a) to utilize and manage information systematically, as uniformly as possible, and with consistent quality,

b) to support efficient administration management and collaboration within the administration,

c) to provide accountability for the activities of administrative authorities,

d) to facilitate access to files in administrative procedures as well as to support the provision of information concerning one's own personal data and access to official documents,

e) to form the basis for archiving and ensure meaningful documentation.

1. In this regulation, the following mean

a) Record Management: Systematic processing and storage of business information,

b) Information: Records concerning a business, regardless of form and medium of information,

c) Business: Processing unit for the fulfillment of state duties,

d) Dossier: The entirety of business-relevant documents created, received, and processed during the handling of a business,

e) Documents: Physical or digital units of recorded information,

f) Business-Relevant Documents: Documents necessary for the execution and traceability of a business,

g) Metadata: Structured data for the description and management of dossiers and information.

1. Record Keeping encompasses the systematic and organized planning, execution, and control of affairs.

2. Dossiers and information are processed and stored in digital form, unless the legislation governing the affairs requires physical form.

1. The record keeping shall, irrespective of procedures, systems, processes, and information carriers, meet the following requirements

a) Information must be authentic in terms of authorship and time of creation (Authenticity),

b) Information must be complete and securely protected against unauthorized alterations, and changes must be traceable (Integrity),

c) Information must be reliable, accurate, and complete with respect to the recorded activities or events (content) (Reliability),

d) Information must be identifiable, findable, permanently usable, presentable, and comprehensible in the business context (Usability).

2. Systems supporting record keeping shall additionally meet the following criteria

a) Ensure the transfer of dossiers and information from obsolete systems (Migration),

b) Enable the offering of dossiers and information to the state archives.

3. The technical standards of the Conference of General Secretaries (CGS) specify the requirements for record keeping, particularly concerning systems supporting record keeping.

1. The administrative units regulate the fulfillment of tasks, internal responsibilities, access and processing rights, as well as the methods and instruments of record management in organizational regulations, which must be regularly updated.

2. The technical standards of the GSK specify the requirements for the design of organizational regulations, particularly regarding the management and retention of dossiers and information.

1. The administrative units possess an organizational system for managing all dossiers and information.

2. The organizational system reflects all tasks of an administrative unit, is hierarchically structured, features a uniform system, and is scalable.

3. It must be furnished with metadata and particularly includes the retention periods as well as the prospective archival appraisal conducted by the State Archive in accordance with § 18 para. 1 lit. b in collaboration with the administrative units.

4. The technical standards of the GSK specify the requirements for organizational systems, particularly their structure, as well as the prescribed organizational system positions and metadata.

1. The competent administrative unit digitizes physically submitted documents and information.

2. Exempt are documents and information that cannot be digitized for technical reasons and must be kept in their original form.

3. The competent administrative unit converts digital documents and information into permanently usable formats in a timely manner, considering the requirements pursuant to § 6 para. 1.

4. The technical standards of the GSK establish the qualitative requirements for the digitization and conversion of documents and information.

1. The competent administrative unit destroys the physical documents and information after a period of 90 days following digitization.

2. Physical documents and information are not destroyed,

a) as long as they are required to be retained under statutory provisions,

b) as long as they are expected to be needed to prove legally significant facts,

c) if they are to be preserved due to their historical or cultural significance.

1. The protection of dossiers and information from unauthorized access or alteration, as well as from theft and damage, is governed by the legislation on information security and data protection.

2. Upon discovery of any damage, the responsible administrative unit shall promptly inform the state archive and undertake the complete restoration of the dossiers and information.

1. For each transaction, the competent administrative unit opens a single file.

2. Excluded from file creation are information that, due to their intended use, are not suitable for this and are processed with appropriate IT tools.

3. Files and information must be clearly assigned to a position in the organizational system.

4. If multiple administrative units are involved in a transaction, a leading administrative unit must be designated to manage the main file.

5. The technical standards of the GSK set forth the detailed requirements for file creation, particularly for individual types of transactions.

1. The competent administrative unit maintains the dossiers in such a manner that significant steps and outcomes can be traced at any time.

2. Dossiers are generally maintained in written form. The format is determined according to § 5(2).

3. The technical standards of the GSK specify how dossiers of administrative procedures are to be maintained in accordance with § 1 of the Act on Administrative Procedure (Administrative Procedure Act, VRPG) of December 4, 2007.

1. The competent administrative unit closes a dossier after the completion of the corresponding matter.

2. It carries out the following tasks

a) Verification of the completeness of the dossier,

b) Removal of documents no longer relevant to the matter,

c) Supplementation of necessary metadata to the dossier.

3. Generally, no changes may be made to dossiers after they have been closed.

1. Upon the closing of the dossier, the retention phase of dossiers under the responsibility of the competent administrative unit begins.

2. The retention phase lasts at least until the expiration of the retention period and the delivery to the State Archives.

1. The Offering and Delivery of Files to the State Archive is Governed by Sections 23b-26b VIDAG.

1. The following persons in leadership positions are responsible for introducing and ensuring proper record-keeping within the administrative units

a) Secretaries General for the General Secretariat of the State Chancellery or the respective department,

b) Heads of offices or departments,

c) Heads of dependent public-law institutions,

d) The appointed person for public access and data protection,

e) The head of financial control.

2. The persons in leadership positions are also responsible for the commissions and working groups supported by their administrative unit.

3. The employees of the administrative units ensure proper record-keeping in the matters assigned to them.

1. The State Archives is responsible for

a) advising administrative units on the introduction and adaptation of filing systems and organizational regulations,

b) reviewing and approving filing systems and organizational regulations, including conducting prospective archival evaluations in collaboration with the administrative units.

2. Decisions of the Records Management Conference (AFK) and the Committee for Basic Organizational Regulations (GSK) that affect the fulfillment of the statutory mandate of the State Archives pursuant to § 44 IDAG require its prior approval.

1. The AFK is an interdepartmental working group. It coordinates all matters related to record management and develops technical standards and tools for implementation within administrative units.

2. It comprises the following permanent members

a) A delegated person from the GSK (Chair),

b) One appointed person for record management from the State Chancellery and the departments,

c) A representative of the State Archives.

3. The following non-permanent members can be represented in the AFK's consultations either by invitation or upon their own request

a) The Financial Control,

b) The appointed person for Public Access and Data Protection,

c) The responsible entity for Information Security,

d) The Courts.

4. In all other respects, the AFK constitutes itself.

1. The GSK advises and decides upon the proposal of the AFK on

a) technical standards pursuant to §§ 6 para. 3, 7 para. 2, 8 para. 4, 9 para. 4, 12 para. 5 and 13 para. 3,

b) issues and matters related to record-keeping where no consensus could be reached in the AFK.

2. It makes the technical standards accessible on the intranet of the cantonal administration and informs the administrative units about the updates.

1. Until the entry into force of technical standards of the GSK pursuant to § 20, the following documents shall be considered as technical standards

a) Information Sheet State Archives No. 1 "Organizational Regulations for Record Keeping" dated April 4, 2024,

b) Information Sheet State Archives No. 2 "Organizational System for Record Keeping" dated May 2, 2024,

c) Information Sheet State Archives No. 3 "Dossier Creation for Record Keeping and Archiving" dated July 20, 2018,

d) Information Sheet State Archives No. 4 "Metadata" dated April 27, 2021,

e) Information Sheet State Archives No. 5 "Migration to Archive-Suitable Formats" dated January 21, 2019,

f) Directives of the Government Council on the Management and Dispatch of Procedural Files dated January 3, 1989.

2. The State Chancellery is authorized to repeal, upon request of the GSK, subsections a-f of paragraph 1 or the entire paragraph 1 if the GSK has adopted corresponding technical standards pursuant to § 20. The repeal shall take effect at the time of entry into force of the technical standards.

1. This Regulation shall enter into force on January 1, 2026.