The Law of Ukraine
On the National Archive Fund and Archives
Date of Entry into Force:
January 29, 1994
The Law of Ukraine “On the National Archive Fund and Archives” is stated in a new wording by the Law of Ukraine N 2888-III of December 13, 2001.
The Law of Ukraine “On the National Archive Fund and Archives”, hereinafter the Law, regulates relations connected with forming, recording, keeping and use of the National Archive Fund, as well as the other basic questions of archive activity.
Archives may be of any ownership form. The archive may be founded by bodies of state power and local self-government, by legal entities and natural persons. The Central state archives of Ukraine are created by the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine for keeping those documents of the National Archive Fund according to its profile that have national significance.
The National Archive Fund is formed of the archive documents of bodies of state power, bodies of local self-government, enterprises, institutions and organizations of all ownership forms, as well as of archive documents of the citizens and their associations. Enterprises, institutions and organizations, which give documents for keeping to the National Archive Fund, do not lose ownership right to them. The documents of the National Archive Fund are cultural values which are permanently preserved on the territory of Ukraine or are subject to return to Ukraine. Bringing out the documents of the National Archive Fund is prohibited except for the cases of their temporary exhibit, scientific examination or restoration abroad.
The documents shall be brought to the National Archive Fund or taken out of it on the basis of their value examination by the commission of archive and paper work experts, of the representatives of scientific and creative community, of other experts.
The state registration of the documents of the National Archive Fund shall be performed by the central body of executive power in the sphere of archive activity and paper work and authorized by it archive establishments.
The Ukrainian citizens and foreigners have right to use the documents of the National Archive Fund or their copies on the basis of personal application and the document which certifies personality. Access to those documents of the National Archive Fund which belong to the state or territorial communities may be limited for the term of one year. The grounds for it may be scientific and technical processing of the documents or their restoration. Besides, limits on publication and acknowledgement with the available in them information may be put on the documents containing state secret or other information which is protected by law.
The provisions of this Law determine the list of rights and obligations of users of documents of the National Archive Fund.
The state archives shall be financed at the expense of the State Budget of Ukraine. Other archive establishments shall be financed at the expense of funds of their founders or owners.
