ACT No. IV of 1990 AN ACTIo ngulate Ihe Narional A,chivu.

[ assent.

CENSU T AHONE

(L.S.)

Preside nt

30th J anuary. 1990

ACT No. IV of 1990

AN ACTIo ngulate Ihe Narional A,chivu.

BE IT ENACTED by the Preside nt . by and wit h the advice and

oonse m of the House of Re presentatives. in this p resent Parliamen t as·

se mbled , and by the authori ty o f the same, as follows:-

[ . This Act may be cited as the National Archives Act , 1900. and

shall come into force on such date as the Minister responsible for Educa·

tion may by notice in the Gazelle establish .

It shall be the dutyofthe Minister responsible for Education to

ensure that all documents of a public nature which are no longe r in use

for the purpose of administ ration . shall be properly preserved and

reasonably accessible 10 the public for the purpose o f st udy.

J. The Minister responsi ble for Education shall dete rmine Ihe

pLace o r places whi ch are 10 serve as National Archives whe re all docu·

me nts a nd objects mentioned in seclions4 and 5 o( this Act shall be pre·

served . and where th e publ ic sha ll have aocess the re to. The Librarian

appoimcd under the Pub lic Libraries Ordinance shall be U o/fido COv·92.

Curator of the Nati onal Archi ves. The Minister TC$ponsible for educa·

tion may appoint an Advisory Com mi llee 10 advise him on the best

methods of run ning the National Archives.

Il -Ministru responsabbli ghall -Ed ukazzjoni ghandu jislabiliui

post Jew postijiet hiex iservu bhala Arkivj u NaujonaJi fejn }d-

dokument i u l-oggeni kollha msemmijin fl-anikol i4 u 5 ta' dan I-AlIjigu

konse rvali u fejn il-pubbliku jista' jattedi ghalihom. I1-Bibljotekarju

mahtur sko nd l-Ordinanza tal- Libreriji PubbliCj ghandu jkun ex-ufftcio 1tap. 92.

Kuratur ta' I-Arkivji Naujonali. II-Ministru responsabbl i g.hall-

Edukazzjoni jista ' jahtar Kumital Konsu ltalliv mex jaglltih parir

rigward I-ahjar tmexxija la' I-Ark ivju Naujon ali.

(I ) Documents o f a public nmuTt: which are , in accordance

with so:dio n 2 of this Act, to be preserved in the National Archives in·

clude

(a) The authen lic texl ofalJ the Constit ut ions tha l at any time

were in force in these Isl ands

(b) All documents relative \0 the debates, minutes. paptl1

laid , declarations and reports of the Councils of Government. the

Legislative Asse mbly. the Senate. the Executive Council , Ihe

House of Represe rllalives, Royal Commissions, Select Commit·

tees as weU as the National Assembly and all othe r bodies which in

any manner according 10 law we re in volved in tne government of

these Islands;

(e) the authen tic leX\ a flaws , proclamations, Ordinances, or

OIher legislative instrumellts;

(d ) the authentic tut of treaties. conve ntion s and any other

public agreement ente red by the Government of Maim with foreign

Governments or with international inst itutions or bodies;

(c) admin istrative and departmental documents arlhe Goy-

emmcnl of Malta , including all documents o f Ministries. Govern-

men t Commissions, Authorities or Boards, afler the lapseo! Ihin y

years from their being put away ;

(t) the documents of the Un iversity. aswell asor other Publi c

Corpora tions or Bodies;

(g) alt official publications, of the G overnment, the Univer·

sity , and of other Public Authorities, Corporatioru; or Bodies;

(b) maps . designs, photographs. negatives of photographs

and plates thereof. dnematographk: films . registration of whatever

type or material whether audio as well as visual. as well as all types

of documentation kept by Government;

(i) whatsoeve r is acquired from outside the administration,

being of t he same nature as that listed above ,

(2) 1bc documents refe rred to in subsection (1) of this $«'

lion , mber than tbosoe listed in paragraphs (a), (e). (d) and (g) thercor.

sball be ke pt in accordance with this Act , when the a.ame arc no longer in

U5C for tbe purpose of administration , and notwi thstanding any period

of tim e mentioned in subsection (1) of this section , a document shall not

be kept in accordance with this Act, if it is sliIl in use for the purpose of

administration as may be cenified by th e authoriiy in possession of that

document.

S. Existing Arehive~ which arc regul ated by a panicular law , shall

continue 10 be kept and regulated in accordance with existing legisla·

tiolU

Provided Ihat the Minister respon sible fO!' Education may in

coneulTCnee with the Minister responsible for a panicular archive,

order t he transfer o f documents kept in such archives to the National

Archives, when the same are no longer of use to the public except for

t heir study. and this unde r such conditions that may be imposed by the

Ministe r responsible tor Education in concurrence with the Minister re·

spCInsible for t he Archives whe re in the document was previously kepI;

and where any such document is transferred 10 the National Archives,

for the purpose of any law reglll ati ng the deposit of that document in the

eJl iSling arch ives, such docu ment ShaH be dee med to be properly depo-

sited in accordance with such law , and all responsihiliy re lative to such

document, including the issue of copies and extracts therefrom. as well

as the authentication thereof, shall upon the transfer of such documents

vest in t he Cu rator of Ihe Na tional Archives.

No document or object preserved in the Nadonal Archives Oo<:utn< ...... y

may wi thou l lhe wriuen pcnnission of the Minister responsible for Edu- no!

calioo be physically laken 0111 from the prcmisesappoin led forthepurpose Nati"" ..

by the Ministe r. A ropy of every pcnnission granted by t he Mi nister Archive<.

Shall be preserved in the National Archives, and publ icly shown and

anoth er copy shall be kept at the o ffi ce of t he Min ister

Provided t hat whe re a docume nt is transferred to the National

Archives in acrordanoe with the provisions of section S of this Act. and

in accordance with any law . such document is to be e llhibited in CoIIn.

or o therwise used in the original. the Curator of the National Archives

shall Cllhibil or otherwise use the ori ginal after making a copy the reof

fo r preservation in the archives.

The Curator of the National Archivcs shall preserve. and

where necessa ry restore. catalogue and indel( all the documents and ob-

jects ent rustcd to hi m in the National Archives. as weH as establish the

manner in which the public may direct ly study those documen ts and ob-

jects. and take copies and reproductions thereof.

The Minist er rcsponsi ble fo r Education may li mit access by the

Public to documents and obieci5 where in his diseretion:-

(a ) they contain information which has been obtained by a

public authority unde r an obligation of set:recy o r confidentiality;

"

(b)

t hei r content is obscenc or pornographic; or

(c) the security o f the State o r the personal safety o f any

individual so require .

Without prejudice to the provisions o f section 6 of this Act. Autlled'"

eve ry oopyof adocumenl . issued asa true copy duly sealed with the seal c:op;a.

of the National Archives and sign ed by the Curator of the Na tio nal

ArchivC$. shall for the purposes of any law. be deemed an authen tic

copy and for the purpose of evidence be deemed eq uivalent to the orig-

inal.

.

Thc Ministcr responsiblc for Education may from time 10 _oo _ k.

lime .n:'a ke regu~a tions in general for the bener pU ll ing into e ffect the n:pIMioM.

p~lslons of th iS Act. and may in panicular by such regulatiotU pre-

scnbe

(a) lhe manne r in which the public may have access 10 the

documents and objects in thc National Archives;

(b) the manner in which copies and other re productions of

document s and objects in the National Archives. may be made; and

(c) the fees that arc to be paid for any SCrvK:e that may be

given in the Nat ional Archives.

Passed by the Housc of Representatives at Silting No. 336 of th e 23 rd January.

\"".

L AW RENCE GONZt

Speuku

P . M USCAT TER Rt BILE

Cfuk fO Ihe Uouse Qf R t P UUnlDfi"6