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Vanuatu Sessional Legislation |
Commencement: 10 August 1992
REPUBLIC OF VANUATU
ARCHIVES
ACT
NO. 13 OF
1992
Arrangement of Sections
PART 1 - PRELIMINARY
1.
Interpretation.
2.
Application.
PART 2 - ADMINISTRATION
3.
Declaration of office for the purpose of this
Act.
4. National
Archives.
5.
Archivist.
6. Delegation of the
Archivist's powers.
PART 3 - CUSTODY AND PRESERVATION OF ARCHIVES
7.
Deposit of public archives in the National
Archives.
8. Deposit of public
archives of less than fifteen years of
age.
9. Public records and archives
not in the National Archives.
10.
Return of public archives to Government
office.
11. Public archives and
records to be surrendered on
demand.
12. Public archives not to be
destroyed or disposed of without authority of
Archivist.
13. Destruction of routine
public archives.
14. Access of public
to National Archives.
15. Publication
of public archives.
16.
Copyright.
PART 4 - MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
17.
National Archives seal.
18. Certified
copies.
19. Directions,
etc.
20. Offences and
penalties.
21.
Regulations.
22. Repeal and
savings.
23. Transfer of
powers.
24.
Commencement.
----------------------------------------------
REPUBLIC OF VANUATU
ARCHIVES
ACT
NO. 13 OF
1992
Assent:
23/6/92
Commencement:
10/8/92
An Act to provide for the
continuity of the National Archives, and to provide for the custody and
preservation of the public archives
of Vanuatu and for matters connected
therewith.
BE
IT ENACTED by the President and
Parliament as follows:-
PART
1
PRELIMINARY
INTERPRETATION
1.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-
"National Archives" means the National Archives of Vanuatu established under section 4 of this Act;
"Archivist" means the Archivist appointed under section 5 of this Act;
"Government office" means any ministry, department, office, agency, or instrument of any kind of the legislative or executive or judicial government of Vanuatu, and includes any office declared under section 3;
"public archives" means all public records that have ceased to be in current use in the Government office in which they were originally made or received or in the Government office in whose custody they have been placed, or that have been deposited in the National Archives;
"public records" means all papers, documents, or records of any kind whatsoever officially made or received by any Government office in the conduct of its affairs or by any employee of the Government in the course of his official duties; and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing provisions of this definition, includes registers, books, maps, plans, drawings, photographs, cinematography films, and sound recordings so made or received; and also includes copies of public records.
APPLICATION
2.
Nothing in this Act shall apply with respect to any public archives which has
been drawn up, received, acquired or used by any
Government office if such
archives discloses any information which is required to be kept secret under any
law in force in Vanuatu.
PART
2
ADMINISTRATION
DECLARATION
OF OFFICE FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS
ACT
3. The Minister, acting in
accordance with the advice of the Council of Ministers, may declare any office,
corporation or body to
be a "Government office" for the purpose of this
Act.
NATIONAL
ARCHIVES
4. (1)There shall
continue to be a national institution to be known as the National Archives,
which shall be the same national institution
as that established under the
Vanuatu National Cultural Council Act [CAP. 186] and existing under the same
name on the date of coming into force of this
Act.
(2) Public archives of
Vanuatu which are considered worth permanent preservation, shall in the manner
prescribed by this Act, be deposited
and preserved in the National
Archives.
(3) Subject to any
general or special directions which may be given to him by the Minister, the
Archivist may by contract or bequest
or in any like manner acquire for the
National Archives all such original records, manuscripts and other documentary
materials, or
copies or replicas thereof, other than public archives as he
thinks necessary or desirable to secure and all such materials shall
be deemed
to be public archives of Vanuatu for the purposes of this
Act.
(4) For the purposes of this
Act the National Archives shall be deemed to have been established under this
section with effect from
the date of coming into force of the
Act.
ARCHIVIST
5.
There shall be appointed a public servant to be known as the Archivist who
shall, subject to any directions given to him by the
Minister, in respect of the
public archives of Vanuatu be charged with the care, custody, control and
administration of the public
archives in the National Archives and the pubic
access to the National Archives and with the performance of any other duties
prescribed
by this
Act.
DELEGATION
OF THE ARCHIVIST'S POWERS
6. (1)
The Archivist may from time to time delegate in writing any of his powers under
this Act except the power of authorizing the
destruction or disposal of public
archives, to any public
servant.
(2) Subject to any
general or special directions given or conditions attached by the Archivist, the
public servant to whom any powers
are delegated under this section may exercise
those powers in the same manner and with the same effect as if they had been
conferred
on him directly by this section and not by a
delegation:
Provided that no such
delegation shall prevent the exercise of any power so delegated by the
Archivist.
(3) Every public
servant purporting to act pursuant to any delegation under this section shall,
in absence of proof to the contrary,
be presumed to be acting in accordance with
the terms of the delegation:
(4)
Every delegation under this section shall, until it is revoked, continue in
force according to its tenor, notwithstanding the
fact that the Archivist by
whom it was made may have ceased to hold office, and shall continue to have
effect as if made by his successor
in office.
PART
3
CUSTODY AND
PRESERVATION OF ARCHIVES
DEPOSIT
OF PUBLIC ARCHIVES IN THE NATIONAL
ARCHIVES
7. (1) All public
archives of the age of fifteen years or over (other than those which under any
Act are required to beheld in the
custody of a specified person or Government
office) which in the opinion of the Archivist are of sufficient value to warrant
their
preservation as -
(a) evidence of the organization, functions and transactions of the Government office in which they were originally made or received; or
(b) evidence of public or private personal or property rights or civic rights; or
(c) containing historical or general information,
shall
be transferred to the custody of the Archivist and be deposited in the National
Archives.
(2) Notwithstanding
subsection (1) -
(a) where the Archivist is satisfied that the deposit in the National Archives of any particular public archives of the age of fifteen years or over would unduly prejudice the effective administration of any Government office, he shall defer the deposit of that public archives for such period as may be agreed upon between the Archivist and the head of the Government office affected;
(b) where the head of the Government office having the possession or control of any public archives satisfies the Archivist that by reason of its secret or confidential nature it would not be in the public interest immediately to deposit that archives in the National Archives, the Archivist shall from tine to time defer the deposit of that public archives for such period as may be agreed upon between that head of the Government office and the Archivist;
(c) where the Minister in charge of any Government office certifies that in his opinion any specified archives or specified class of public archives in the custody or control of the Government office contains information the release of which may adversely affect the security of Vanuatu or relations between the Government of Vanuatu and the government of any other country, the deposit in the National Archives of that public archives or of public archives of that class shall be deferred for such period or shall be made subject to such conditions as to access or otherwise as that Minister from tine to time directs;
(d) where the deposit of any public archives in the National Archives is deferred under paragraphs (a), (b) or (c), the Archivist may impose any conditions he thinks fit to ensure the safe preservation of any such archives during the time they are kept in a Government office.
(3)
Any public archives deposited under subsection (2) may be deposited
unconditionally or, if the head of the Government office making
the deposit so
requires, shall be deposited subject to such conditions as to access and
otherwise as may be agreed upon from time
to time by the Archivist and the head
of that Government office.
(4)
Where the head of any Government office and the Archivist are unable to agree as
to whether or not the deposit of any public archives
in the National Archives
should be deferred or as to the period for which that deposit should be deferred
or as to the conditions
as to access and otherwise on which any public archives
should be so deposited, that question shall be determined by the Minister
acting
in accordance with the advice of the Council of Ministers, and his decision
shall be
final.
DEPOSIT
OF PUBLIC ARCHIVES OF LESS THAN FIFTEEN YEARS OF
AGE
8. (1) The Archivist may allow
the deposit in the National Archives of public archives of less than fifteen
years of age if he considers
that they are of sufficient value for
deposit.
(2) Any deposit of public
archives under subsection (1) may be subject to any special conditions imposed
by the head of the Government
office making the
deposit.
PUBLIC
RECORDS AND ARCHIVES NOT IN THE NATIONAL
ARCHIVES
9. (1) The Archivist may
from time to time inspect, any public records or public archives that are for
the time being in the possession
or under the control of any Government office
and give such instructions as to their safe preservation and such advice as to
their
efficient and economical administration and management as he considers
necessary.
(2) Nothing in this
section shall be deemed to authorize the Archivist to inspect the contents of
any public records or public archives
-
(a) which by any written law are forbidden to be communicated to him; or
(b) which are secret or confidential, except with the consent of the head of the Government office having the custody of any such public records or public archives.
RETURN
OF PUBLIC ARCHIVES TO GOVERNMENT
OFFICE
10. Where the head of the
Government office by which any public archives was deposited in the National
Archives or the head of the
successor of that Government office, satisfies the
Archivist that the public archives is required for use in that Government
office,
the Archivist shall return the public archives to the custody of that
Government office for such period as may be agreed upon between
the Archivist
and the head of that Government office, and subject to such conditions as the
Archivist may impose to ensure the safe
custody and preservation of that public
archives during the time it is kept in that Government
office.
PUBLIC
ARCHIVES AND RECORDS TO BE SURRENDERED ON
DEMAND
11. Where any public
archives or public record (being an archives or a record that is the property of
the Government) is in the custody
or possession of any person, other than a
Government Office, a public officer or other person authorized to have such
custody or
possession in his official capacity (whether it came into his
possession before or after the commencement of this Act), and the original
of
that public archives or public record is not in the possession of any Government
office or deposited in the National Archives,
that person shall, on demand in
writing by the Archivist, deposit that public archives or public record in the
National
Archives.
PUBLIC
ARCHIVES NOT TO BE DESTROYED OR DISPOSED OF WITHOUT AUTHORITY OF
ARCHIVIST
12. (1) No person shall
destroy or otherwise dispose of, or authorize the destruction or other disposal
of, any public archives of
any kind whatsoever that are in his possession or
under his control, except with the consent of the Archivist given in accordance
with the provisions of this
Act.
(2) Before authorizing the
destruction of any public archives or any class of public archives, the
Archivist may, if he thinks fit,
consult with any person whom the Archivist
considers qualified to advise him as to the value of any such public archives
for permanent
preservation.
DESTRUCTION
OF ROUTINE PUBLIC ARCHIVES
13. The
Archivist may authorize the immediate destruction, or the destruction after the
expiration of such specified time as may be
agreed upon between the Archivist
and the head of the Government office concerned, of any specified classes of
public archives that
-
(a) by reason of their number, kind or routine nature do not in his opinion possess any enduring value for preservation in the National Archives as public archives; and
(b) are not required for reference purposes in any Government office after action on them is completed, or after the expiration of such period of years from the date on which action on them is completed as may be agreed upon between the Archivist and the head of the Government office concerned.
ACCESS
OF PUBLIC TO NATIONAL ARCHIVES
14.
(1) Subject to -
(a) any written law providing for any information or records to be kept secret;
(b) any conditions under which any archives are deposited;
(c) any orders or regulations made under this Act,
all
archives deposited in the National Archives shall be available for public
reference:
Provided that
-
(a) the Archivist may, for any good cause, withhold access to any specified class of public archives in his custody subject to the right of the person so denied access to appeal to the Minister, whose decision thereon shall be final;
(b) any public archives deposited in the Nat tonal Archives by any court and containing any information relating to the trial or punishment of any particular person may be inspected only by a person authorized in writing by the Chief Justice or by any other person authorized by the Chief Justice in that behalf.
(2)
Nothing in this section shall limit the powers of any competent court to order
the production of any public archives of
Vanuatu.
(3) Notwithstanding the
other provisions of this section and subject to the provisions of paragraph (b)
of subsection (1), the Minister
may at any time, by order in writing addressed
to the Archivist, withhold access either generally or by any person or class of
persons
to any specified public archives or to any specified class of public
archives in the custody of the
Archivist.
(4) Any person may,
with the consent of the Archivist, make or cause to be made at his own expense
copies of or extracts from any
public archives which are available for public
reference under this
section.
PUBLICATION
OF PUBLIC ARCHIVES
15. On the
recommendation of the Archivist, the Minister may authorize the publication of
any public archives deposited in the National
Archives and available for public
reference which he considers to be of sufficient interest to warrant their
publication.
COPY
RIGHT
16. (1) Nothing in this Act
shall derogate from any provision of the law relating to copyright in relation
to anything contained n
any public archives deposited in the National Archives
under the provisions of this
Act.
(2) Where any person
publishes any work containing any passage from any public archives deposited in
the National Archives, he shall
in that publication acknowledge the source from
which that passage is taken.
PART
4
MISCELLANEOUS
PROVISION
NATIONAL
ARCHIVES SEAL
17. The Archivist
shall cause to be made a seal for the National Archives, with which all
certified copies issuing out of the National
Archives shall be
sealed.
CERTIFIED
COPIES
18. Any copy of any public
archives of Vanuatu in the custody of the Archivist which is certified by the
Archivist to be a true copy
of such public archives shall be received as
evidence of the contents of such record in all courts of law within
Vanuatu.
DIRECTIONS,
ETC.
19. Any arrangements,
directions, consent or conditions made, given or imposed under this Act shall be
in
writing.
OFFENCES
AND PENALTIES
20. (1) Any person
who-
(a) wilfully or negligently damages any public archives; or
(b) wilfully or negligently disposes of or destroys any public archives otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of this Act; or
(c) contravenes or fails to comply with any provisions of this Act,
commits
an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding
VT.100,000.
(2)Where any person is
convicted of an offence under subsection (1), the court convicting such person
may, in addition to any penalty
imposed for the offence, order that that person
shall not be entitled to have access to the National Archives for such period as
the court thinks
fit.
REGULATIONS
21.
(1) The Minister may make regulations not inconsistent with this Act for the
better carrying into effect the provisions of this
Act and may prescribe in such
regulations all matters which are necessary or required to be prescribed under
this Act.
(2) Without prejudice to
the generality of subsection (1) the Minister may in such regulations provide
for all or any of the following
matters -
(a) to regulate the transfer of public archives from any Government office to the National Archives or any record centre or other repository which may be established for the purposes of this Act;
(b) to regulate the manner of destruction or other disposal of valueless public archives;
(c) to regulate the admission of the public to the National Archives, and the use by the public of public archives of Vanuatu deposited in the National Archives;
(d) to provide for the custody and preservation of public archives deposited in the National Archives under section 4(2) of this Act, and prescribing the fees (if any) to be charged for their custody and preservation.
REPEAL
AND SAVINGS
22. (1) The provisions
relating -
(a) to the preservation of public records and archives in the long title;
(b) to archives in subsection (1)(a)(iii) of section 3, in paragraph (g) of section 5 and in subsection (2)(b) of section 6;
(c) to the support, encouragement and provision for the maintenance, protection and preservation of public records and archives in paragraph (b) of section 5,
of
the Vanuatu National Cultural Council Act [CAP. 186] are
repealed.
(2) Any public records
acquired, maintained, protected and preserved in the National Archives under the
Vanuatu National Cultural Council Act [CAP. 186], for the purposes of this Act,
shall be deemed to have been acquired, maintained, protected and preserved in
accordance
with this Act.
(3) Any
arrangements, directions or conditions made, given or imposed under the Vanuatu
National Cultural Council Act [CAP. 186] as is in force on the date of operation
of this Act shall remain in force until the expiry of the period of validity of
that arrangement, direction or
condition.
(4) Any regulation made
under the Vanuatu National Cultural Council Act [CAP. 186] as is enforce on the
date of operation of this Act relating to the acquisition, maintenance, custody,
protection or preservation
of public records in so far as such regulation is not
inconsistent with this Act, shall be deemed to be a regulation made under this
Act and may be amended by regulations made under this
Act.
TRANSFER
OF POWERS
23. The powers, duties
and functions of the Vanuatu National Cultural Council in respect of the
preservation, protection, custody,
acquisition, maintenance and use by the
public of public archives in the National Archives shall, on the commencement of
this Act
vest in the
Archivist.
COMMENCEMENT
24.
This Act shall come into force on the date of its publication in the
Gazette.
----------------------------------------------
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