Archives Regulations - Scope

1. This Regulation governs

a) the archiving of documents

1. of the canton

2. of natural and legal persons of public and private law, insofar as they fulfill cantonal duties. The Urner Kantonalbank is not subject to this regulation

3. of municipalities, corporations, and private individuals, insofar as they hand over documents to the state archive for archiving according to legal provisions or private agreements

b) the use of the state archive by cantonal bodies and third parties

1. Archiving serves the purpose of securely storing and documenting the transfer of legal, political, economic, historical, social, or cultural records for the organs of the canton and the public.

2. Documents within the meaning of these regulations are all recorded information, regardless of the medium, as well as all aids necessary for their understanding and use.

3. Archival materials are considered to be documents that have been accepted for storage by the State Archive as worthy of archiving. Worthy of archiving are data that are expected to be of permanent value in order to

a) document the activities of public administration

b) support the tasks of legislation, administration, and the judiciary

c) secure the legitimate interests of affected individuals and third parties

d) serve science and research

e) promote the understanding of the present and history

1. The State Archive is responsible for the archival storage of documents and the implementation of this regulation, insofar as the legislation does not expressly provide otherwise.

2. The State Archive has particular duties to

a) secure and evaluate the documents according to scientific and archival criteria

b) safely store the archival materials

c) ensure the accessibility and usability of the archival materials

d) ensure the preservation (conservation and restoration) of the archival materials

e) advise and supervise offices that are required to offer assistance in the organization and management of active files and intermediate archives

f) advise municipalities, corporations, and, to the extent that primary tasks allow, private entities in the organization and management of archives

3. The State Archive may also take over documents for which there is no obligation to offer and for which the archival value has not yet been determined.

4. The ordinary financial competencies according to the cantonal constitution (RB 1.1101) are reserved.

1. Obligated to Offer

a) The bodies and administrative offices of the canton

b) The bodies and administrative offices of natural and legal persons under public and private law, to the extent that they perform cantonal tasks or tasks on behalf of the canton

c) The bodies and administrative offices of municipalities and corporations, insofar as the legislation requires them

d) Other persons, insofar as they have entered into a corresponding agreement with the state archive

2. Those who are obligated to offer must record their documents with filing plans and periodically offer them to the state archive for transfer as soon as the documents are no longer needed to fulfill the corresponding tasks. The state archive, together with the obligated entities, determines which documents are worthy of archiving and are to be transferred to the archive.

3. Until this point, the obligated entities are to store the documents in organized registries and interim archives.

4. The state archive regulates the details of the obligation to offer and the delivery in guidelines. The guidelines must be approved by the competent directorate[1].

1. Documents subject to the offering obligation may not be destroyed without the consent of the State Archives.

2. The State Archives shall not destroy any documents before the expiration of the protection periods without the consent of the transferring entities.

3. After the expiration of the protection periods, the State Archives shall decide on the destruction of documents. For files containing particularly sensitive personal data, it must first obtain the consent of the entity obliged to offer.

4. The destruction of archivally transferred materials under contract is governed by the provisions of the transfer agreements. In the absence of such agreements, the provisions of this regulation are applicable.

1. Documents that were already accessible to the public before being archived shall remain publicly accessible.

2. Otherwise, the archive material may be used, provided that the legislation does not stipulate otherwise and a protection period of 30 years, calculated from the date of the most recent document in a business or dossier, has expired.

3. The submitting agencies may use the documents they have submitted at any time. The state archive advises them and makes the documents available.

4. The use of contractually transferred archive material is governed by the provisions of the transfer agreements. In the absence of such agreements, the provisions of these regulations shall apply.

1. The use of judicial archives and archives that contain particularly sensitive personal data or personality profiles is subject to an extended protection period of ten years after the death of the person concerned, or, if the date of death is unknown or can only be determined with disproportionate effort, of 100 years since the date of birth. If neither the date of death nor the date of birth can be determined, the extended protection period is 80 years, calculated from the date of the most recent document in a transaction or file. The consent of the person concerned permits earlier use of the archival material.

1. Exceptionally, archival material may be used before the expiration of the protection periods for scientific, non-personal purposes. In doing so, the data must be anonymized, and the results may only be published in such a way that the affected individuals cannot be identified.

2. Anyone seeking an exemption permit must submit a written, justified application that specifically states the research purpose and the records involved.

3. Such exemption permits are granted by the government council or, if it concerns judicial archives, by the respective court. In minor cases and provided that no particularly sensitive personal data or personality profiles are involved, the state archive grants the exemption permit.

4. Exemption permits may be subject to conditions and requirements.

1. If there exists, in certain categories of archival materials or in individual cases, a prevailing public or private interest worthy of protection against use by third parties, the Executive Council may restrict or completely prohibit use after the expiration of the protection periods.

1. The provisions of the Data Protection Act (RB 2.2511) and those of the Swiss Civil Code (SR 210) regarding the protection of personality are reserved.

1. The State Archive shall issue a usage regulation, which must be approved by the competent directorate.

1. The use of the state archive is free of charge.

2. Special services are subject to fees. The fees are governed by the Fee Ordinance (RB 3.2512) and the Fee Regulations (RB 3.2521).

1. The use of archived materials for commercial purposes requires approval from the Governing Council. In minor cases, the State Archive shall decide.

2. The approval may be contingent upon a contractual arrangement regarding the scope of use and any potential profit-sharing with the canton.

3. The commercial use of archived materials transferred through contracts shall be governed by the provisions of the transfer agreements. In the absence of such agreements, the provisions of these regulations shall apply.

1. A complimentary copy of all works and publications, which are based entirely or partially on the use of archival materials from the State Archives, must be submitted to the State Archives.

1. This regulation shall enter into force on July 1, 2002.