LAW

ARCHIVES

Pursuant to the Constitution of Socialist Republic of Vietnam;

The National Assembly hereby promulgates the Law on Archives.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope

This Law provides for management of archived documents and database on archived documents; archiving works; archived documents having special value and upholding of the value of archived documents; private archives; archiving services and state management of archiving.

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For the purposes of this Law, the terms below shall be construed as follows:

1. ”Archiving” means an act of archiving documents in order to preserve and uphold values of archived documents, thereby serving development and protection of the Fatherland and safeguarding right to access to information of each citizen.

2. ”Document” means information attached to a carrier where contents and appearance are not changed when the carrier is changed. Documents include physical documents, documents on other information carriers and electronic documents.

3. ”Physical document” or “document on another information carrier” means a document produced on a paper or another information carrier.

4. ”Electronic document” means a document produced in the form of data message.

5. ”Archived documents” mean documents produced by operations conducted by agencies, organizations, individuals, families, clans and community under socio-political regimes and archived according to regulations of this Law and other relevant laws.

6. ”Copy of an archived document” means information photocopied, printed, digitized, or extracted in part or in full from the archived document.

7. ”Fonds” means all archived documents produced throughout operation by an agency/organization/individual/family/clan/community and having systematic and historical relationships.

8. ”Archiving unit” means a unit or department that archives archived documents of an agency/organization.

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10. ”Archiving works” mean determination of value, collection, submission, preservation, production of statistics, digitalization, creation of database and use of archived documents.

11. “Master data of archived documents” mean data containing the core information that is used to describe archived documents and their attributes, thereby serving as a basis for reference and synchronization among different databases on archived documents or datasets of archived documents.

12. “Archived document database” means a collection of master data of archived documents arranged and organized for access, sharing, management and updating by electronic means.

13. “Specialized archive” means a facility or technical and technological infrastructure used to preserve and carry out other archiving works, and uphold the value of archived documents.

14. “Private archive” means an archive of an individual/family/clan/community/organization that is not a social organization assigned tasks by the Communist Party or the State.

Article 3. Application of the Law on Archives and relevant laws

1. Documents included in a National Fonds of Vietnam and private archives having special value shall be archived according to regulations of this Law, except for the cases specified in Clause 2 and Clause 3 of this Article.

2. If archived documents are recognized as national treasures or recognized or registered in other forms according to regulations of the Law on Cultural Heritage and other relevant laws, in addition to regulations of this Law, regulations of the Law on Cultural Heritage and other relevant laws shall apply. Archived documents recognized as national treasures shall be carried abroad under the Prime Minister's decision.

3. In case another law provides for period of archiving documents and responsibilities for management of documents archived at archiving units, such law shall prevail.

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5. Organizations, individuals, families, clans and community shall decide to apply regulations of this Law to archive private archives other than those specified in Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 4. Rules for archiving documents

1. Ensure the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam; focused and uniform management by the State; and participation of the public, agencies, organizations, individuals, families, clans and community.

2. Fullfil objectives of increasing the importance and upholding the value of archived documents for national and public benefits and legitimate rights and interests of agencies/organizations/individuals.

3. Protect citizens' rights to access documents archived according to regulations of the Vietnamese Constitution and laws.

4. Be public and transparent, archive documents intra vires according to regulations of Vietnamese laws, and conform to international standards and practices.

5. Manage archived documents by fonds and territory. Make sure that they are managed in a scientific, systematical, objective, comprehensive and historically continuous manner.

6. Ensure safety and integrity of, and preserve archived documents for a long term and back up archived documents.

Article 5. State’s policies on archives

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2. Meeting necessary conditions for archiving documents. Giving priority to public investment capital and other resources so as to modernize archiving, ensure safety and integrity of, and uphold the value of archived documents.

3. Building and developing professional human resources in charge of archiving documents; training and develop a qualified staff of the archiving sector; attracting high-quality human resources to archive documents.

4. Developing archiving society and encouraging organizations/individuals/families/clans/community to protect, preserve and uphold the value of private archives.

5. Promoting private sector involvement in archiving; enabling domestic and individuals to invest and trade in archiving services. Encouraging organizations and individuals to give donation and participate in protection and upholding of the value of archived documents.

6. Promoting comprehensive international cooperation and integration of archiving.

Article 6. Vietnam Archiving Day

Vietnam Archiving Day is celebrated on January 03 every year.

Article 7. Value of archived documents

1. Archived documents are evidences for operations conducted by the Communist Party, the State, the society and agencies, organizations, individuals, families, clans and community in historical periods of Vietnam.

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3. A digitally archived document shall have legal value as a data message according to regulations of the law on electronic transactions.

Article 8. Prohibited acts

1. Illegally transferring, providing, destroying or intentionally damaging, purchasing, selling, appropriating or losing archived documents managed by competent authorities of the Communist Party and the State.

2. Counterfeiting, falsifying contents of, losing the integrity of archived documents and master data of archived documents; illegally accessing, copying and sharing archived documents and archived document database.

3. Illegally destroying private archives having special value.

4. Using archived documents or taking advantage of archiving services to infringe national and public benefits, public interests, legitimate rights and interests of agencies, organizations, individuals, families, clans and community; obstructing exercise of rights to legally access and use archived documents of agencies, organizations and individuals.

5. Illegally carrying archived documents abroad and out of archiving units and historical document-archiving units

Chapter II

MANAGEMENT OF ARCHIVED DOCUMENTS AND ARCHIVED DOCUMENT DATABASE

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1. A national fonds of Vietnam includes all archived documents of Vietnam, regardless of the time on which these archived documents are produced, preservation locations, information-recording techniques and information carriers. National fonds of Vietnam include fonds of the Communist Party, fonds of the State and private archives.

2. A fonds of the Communist Party of Vietnam includes all archived documents produced during operation by agencies and organizations of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the forerunner of the Communist Party, Vietnam Fatherland Front, socio-political organizations, historical and typical figures of the Communist Party. The competent authority affiliated to the Communist Party of Vietnam shall elaborate components of the fonds of the Communist Party.

3. A fonds of the State includes all archived documents produced during operation by regulatory bodies, public service providers, state-owned enterprises, units affiliated to the people's armed forces; historical and typical figures and other archived documents produced in historical periods of Vietnam, including:

a) Archived documents produced during operation by central authorities and organizations of the State of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and Socialist Republic of Vietnam; ministerial agencies and organizations, inter-zones, zones and special zones of the State of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam; central authorities and organizations of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam and other central organizations of the revolutionary administration in 1975 and earlier; public service providers affiliated to central authorities and organizations established under decisions of the Government and the Prime Minister; state-owned enterprises established under decisions of the Prime Minister, Ministers, Heads of ministerial agencies and Governmental agencies and other economic organizations according to regulations of law; authorities and organizations of the feudalism and other regimes in the territory of Vietnam in 1975 and earlier; historical and typical figures of the State;

b) Archieved documents produced during operation by agencies and organizations of provinces and districts and special administrative – economic zones; public service providers affiliated to Provincial People’s Committees; state-owned enterprises established under decisions of Chairpersons of Provincial People’s Committees and agencies/organizations/individuals other than those specified in points a, c and d of this Clause;

c) Archived documents produced during operation by People's Councils and People’s Committees of communes;

d) Archived documents produced during operation by social organizations assigned tasks by the Communist Party and the State;

4. Private archives include:

a) Archived documents produced during operation by individuals, families, clans and community;

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c) Archieved documents produced during operation by non-governmental organizations and economic organizations that are not state-owned enterprises.

Article 10. Power to manage archived documents and archived document database

1. The competent authority of the Communist Party of Vietnam has power to manage and archive documents specified in Clause 2 Article 9 of this Law and the archived document database included in the fonds of the Communist Party.

2. The Ministry of Home Affairs has power to manage the following archived documents and archived document database:

a) Documents archived at the historical document-archiving unit of the State at central level;

b) Archived document database of the fonds of the State, excluding the archived document databases specified in Clause 3 of this Article;

c) Backup documents of the fonds of the State, excluding backup documents specified in Clause 3 of this Article.

3. The Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have power to manage and archive documents produced during operation, backup documents, archived documents having special value and archived document databases in national defense, public security and foreign affair sectors. Documents of Communist Party organizations in national defense, public security and foreign affair sectors shall be managed and archived according to regulations issued by the competent authority of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

4. Provincial People’s Committees have power to manage archived documents at historical document-archiving units of the State in their provinces; archived document databases specified in point b and point c Clause 3 Article 9 of this Law and archived document databases of social organizations assigned tasks by the Communist Party and the State in such provinces.

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6. Organizations/individuals/families/clans/community have power to manage and archive private archives and their databases (if any).

Article 11. Establishing and updating archived document database

1. The Minister of Home Affairs shall direct establishment, management and operation of an archived document database of the fond of the State.

The Minister of National Defense, the Minister of Public Security, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs shall direct establishment, management and operation of archived document databases of national defense, public security and foreign affair sectors.

2. Ministers, Heads of ministerial agencies, Governmental agencies, Supreme People's Court, Supreme People's Procuracy, State Audit, Office of the President, Office of the National Assembly, other central authorities, Chairpersons of Provincial People’s Committees shall direct establishment and updating of archived document databases of Ministries, central and local authorities; and updating of the archived document database of the fonds of the State.

3. Heads of agencies and organizations shall direct establishment and updating of their archived document databases; and updating of archived document databases of Ministries, central and local authorities.

4. Archived document databases included in the national fonds of Vietnam shall be connected for the purposes of sharing and access according to regulations of law.

5. The Government shall elaborate this Article.

Article 12. Managing archived documents at archiving units and historical-document archiving units

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The archiving unit shall determine value, collect, submit, preserve, produce statistics, digitalize, establish a database, and use archived documents and uphold the value of these archived documents;

2. Historical document-archiving units of the State at central and provincal levels shall directly manage permanently archived documents and other archived documents according to regulations of law.

Historical document-archiving units shall determine value, collect, submit, preserve, produce statistics, digitalize, establish a database, and use archived documents and uphold the value of these archived documents according to regulations of law.

Article 13. Managing archived documents in case agencies and organizations are dissolved, declared bankrupt or re-organized

1. Archived documents of agencies and organizations that are dissolved or declared bankrupt shall be transferred to superior agencies and organizations or agencies and organizations having power to manage such archived documents.

2. The Minister of Home Affairs shall elaborates Clause 1 of this Article, management of archived documents, and responsibilities for submission of documents to historical document-archiving units in case agencies and organizations are re-organized.

Chapter III

ARCHIVING WORKS

Section 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS ON ARCHIVING WORKS

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1. Determination of value of documents means assessment of such documents with a view to determining documents to be archived, the period of archiving documents, documents whose archiving period has elapsed and documents that do not have to be archived.

2. The value of documents shall be determined according to the following rules and principles:

a) The value of documents shall be determined in a manner that ensures political, historical, comprehensive and general principles.

b) The value of documents shall be determined according to standards, including contents, locations of agenciens/organizations/individuals whose documents are produced during their operation; meanings of events, time and places for production of documents; integrity of fonds; forms and physical conditions of documents;

c) The period of archiving documents shall not be shorter than the period regulated by the competent authority.

Article 15. Period of archiving dossiers and documents

1. Dossiers and documents may be archived permanently or for a certain period.

2. Dossiers and documents permanently archived include archived documents having special value; dossiers and documents on polices, guidelines, platforms and strategies; national target programs, key works and projects of national importance; and other documents permanently archived according to regulations of relevant laws and competent authorities.

3. Dossiers and documents other than those specified in Clause 2 of this Article are archived for a fixed period.

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4. If a dossier contains archived documents whose archiving periods are different, the period of archiving such dossier is the longest period of archiving the document

5. Ministries, ministerial agencies, Supreme People's Court, Supreme People’s Procuracy and State Audit shall issue specific regulations on periods for archiving dossiers and documents used for sectors and fields under their state management after seeking opinions from the Ministry of Home Affairs.

6. Pursuant to regulations in Clauses 2, 3 and 5 of this Article, heads of agencies and organizations shall promulgate specific regulations on lists of and periods of archiving dossiers and documents produced during their operation.

7. Pursuant to regulations in Clauses 5 and 6 of this Article, a person assigned to perform tasks shall be responsible for determining a fixed period of archiving dossiers and documents.

Article 16. Destruction of archived documents

1. Archived documents shall be destroyed in the following cases:

a) The period of archiving such archived documents ends;

b) Archived documents are identical.

2. Upon destruction, archived documents must be completely destroyed, thereby making them unrecoverable.

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a) Heads of agencies and organizations required to submit documents to historical document-archiving units of the State at central level have power to decide to destroy documents after seeking assessment opinions from agencies advising and assisting the Minister of Home Affairs in state management of archiving; heads of agencies and organizations required to submit documents to historical document-archiving units of the State at provincial level have power to decide to destroy documents after seeking assessment opinions from agencies advising and assisting Provincial People’s Committees in state management of archiving;

b) Heads of agencies and organizations not required to submit documents to historical document-archiving units have power to decide to destroy archived documents according to regulations of law.

4. Power to decide destruction of documents archived at historical document-archiving units is regulated as follows:

a) The Minister of Home Affairs has power to decide to destroy documents archived at historical document-archiving units of the State at central level;

b) Chairpersons of Provincial People’s Committees have power to decide to destroy documents archived at historical document-archiving units of the State at provincial level;

5. Documents containing state secrets archived at archiving units shall be destroyed according to regulations of law on protection of state secrets.

6. The Minister of Home Affairs shall issue regulations on procedures for destroying archived documents.

Article 17. Time limit, requirements and dossiers and documents submitted to archiving units

1. A person assigned to perform tasks shall be responsible for compiling official dossiers according to regulations of the law on management of records; submitting dossiers and documents to an archiving unit according to requirements and within the time limit according to regulations of this Law.

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3. The time limit for submission of dossiers and documents to a historical document-archiving unit shall not exceed 05 years from the year in which such dossiers and documents are submitted to the archiving unit, except for the case specified in Clause 6 of this Article.

In case another law contains regulations on time limit for submission of dossiers and documents to the historical document-archiving unit, the time limit for submission of dossiers and documents to the historical document-archiving unit shall not exceed 30 years from the year in which such dossiers and documents are submitted to the archiving unit.

4. Requirements to be satisfied by dossiers and documents submitted to an archiving unit are regulated as follows:

a) Each dossier or document submitted shall be an original or authentic copy; if the original or authentic copy is not available, a legal copy of the dossider or document is required;

b) Dossiers and documents shall properly explain functions and tasks of the agency/organization/unit;

c) Dossiers and documents shall be adequate, closely related to each other and properly reflect sequences of events or business functions to be performed;

d) Physical dossiers shall meet requirements specified in Clause 2 Article 28 of this Law; electronic dossiers and documents shall meet requirements specified in Clause 1 Article 36 of this Law.

5. Dossiers and documents marked with classification levels shall be submitted to the archiving unit within the prescribed time limit and preserved according to regulations of the law on protection of state secrets.

6. Dossiers containing documents marked with classification levels or documents marked with classification levels may only be submitted to historical document-archiving units after they are declassified according to regulations of the law on protection of state secrets.

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8. If a document is currently produced on a paper and another information carrier or produced in the form of data message, all types of document shall be collected and submitted.

Article 18. Agencies and organizations submitting dossiers and documents to historical document-archiving units of the State

1. Central agencies and organizations submitting dossiers and documents to historical document-archiving units of the State:

a) National Assembly, National Election Council, Standing Committee of the National Assembly, Ethnic Council, Committees of the National Assembly, agencies affiliated to the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, Secretary General of the National Assembly, Office of the National Assembly.

The Office of the National Assembly shall act as a focal point to submit archived documents and dossiers of agencies specified in this point;

b) The President, Office of the President.

The Office of the President shall act as a focal point to submit archived documents and dossiers of agencies specified in this point;

c) The Government, the Prime Minister, the Government’s Office.

The Office of the Government shall act as a focal point to submit archived documents and dossiers of agencies specified in this point;

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dd) State-owned enterprises established under decisions of the Prime Minister, Ministers, Heads of ministerial agencies and Governmental agencies; public service providers established under decisions of the Government or the Prime Minister, except for public service providers affiliated to Provincial People’s Committees;

e) Central social organizations assigned tasks by the Communist Party and the State;

2. Local agencies and organizations submitting dossiers and documents to historical document-archiving units of the State:

a) Provincial People's Council, Delegation of the National Assembly Deputies, Office of Delegation of the National Assembly Deputies and People’s Council of province.

The Office of Delegation of the National Assembly Deputies and Provincial People’s Council shall act as focal points to submit archived documents and dossiers of agencies specified in this point;

b) Provincial People's Committee, Office of Provincial People's Committee.

The Office of the Provincial People's Committee shall act as a focal point to submit archived documents and dossiers of agencies specified in this point;

c) People's Council, People's Committee, Office of People's Council and People’s Committee of district.

The Office of People’s Council and the People’s Committee of district shall act as focal points to submit archived documents and dossiers of agencies specified in this point;

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dd) The People’s Council and People’s Committee of commune;

The People’s Committee of commune shall act as a focal point to submit archived documents and dossiers of agencies specified in this point;

e) Local social organizations assigned tasks by the Communist Party and the State;

3. If necessary, the Prime Minister shall decide state agencies and organizations which submit dossiers and documents to historical document-archiving units of the State other than those specified in Clause 1 and Clause 2 of this Article.

4. If any agency or organization specified in Clause 1 and Clause 2 of this Article changes its name, they are still be responsible for submitting dossiers and documents to historical document-archiving units according to regulations in this Article.

Article 19. Rights and responsibilities of agencies and organizations for submission of dossiers and documents to historical document-archiving units

1. An agency/organization submitting dossiers and documents to a historical document-archiving unit has the following rights and responsibilities:

a) Apply for submission of documents and dossiers to the historical document-archiving unit;

b) Send an application to the competent historical document-archiving unit. The application shall include an application form for submission of dossiers and documents and a list of dossiers and documents, specifying dossiers and documents with conditional access (if any);

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d) Complain about refusal to collect dossiers and documents by the historical document-archiving unit according to regulations of law.

2. The historical document-archiving unit has the following rights and responsibilities:

a) Instruct the agency/organization to submit documents and dossiers to the historical document-archiving unit;

b) Give written opinions about the list of documents and dossiers submitted;

c) Collect or refuse to collect dossiers and documents;

d) Collect archived documents;

dd) Report collection and submission of documents to the historical document-archiving unit to the archiving authority.

3. The Minister of Home Affairs shall issue specific regulations on procedures for collecting and submitting documents to historical document-archiving units.

Article 20. Requirements for preservation and production of statistics of archived documents

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2. The production of statistics of archived documents shall conform to the law on statistics.

3. The preservation and production of statistics of archived documents containing state secrets shall comply with the law on protection of state secrets.

Article 21. Specialized archives

1. Specialized archives include physical document archives, archives of documents on other information carriers and digital archives.

2. A specialized archive shall be built in a manner that meets modernization requirements and applies advanced technologies, and shall be fully equiped with necessary technical equipment and devices in order to serve archiving works and uphold the value of archived documents.

3. A specialized achive shall meet preservation technology requirements and be consistent with characteristics of each type of archived documents.

4. Specialized achives shall be carefully and safely protected according to regulations of law; and fully equipped with necessary technical equipment and devices for supervision, fire safety, prevention of natural disasters, destruction, loss and other factors that may cause damage to archived documents.

5. The Government shall elaborate this Article.

Article 22. Backups

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2. Archived documents having special value and permanently archived documents that may be damaged shall be backed up.

3. Backups shall meet the following requirements:

a) Backups shall ensure the accuracy and integrity of information included in original documents;

b) Backups shall be available for use in case original documents are lost or unusable.

c) Information carriers of backups shall be resistant to environmental effects;

d) Backups shall be safely and separately preserved at locations different from those of original documents;

dd) Modern and advanced technologies and equipment shall be applied and used to create and archive backups. These technologies and equipment shall meet requiprements for creating and archiving backups and be consistent with types of archived documents.

4. Agencies managing backups shall create, preserve and decide to grant permission for use of backups within their juridiction.

5. The Government shall elaborate this Article.

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1. Uses of archived documents include:

a) Serving readers;

b) Issuing copies of archived documents.

2. Copies of archived documents include copies of archived documents certified by heads of agencies/organizations/historical document-archiving units and copies of archived documents without certification.

Heads of agencies/organizations/historical document-archiving units shall be responsible to the law for issuing certified copies of archived documents.

Copies of archived documents certified by agencies/organizations/historical document-archiving units shall have the same value as original documents preserved at archiving units and historical document-archiving units.

3. Power to grant permission for use of archived documents is regulated as follows:

a) A head of an agency/organization has power to decide the use of archived documents that are being preserved at an archiving unit;

b) A head of a historical document-archiving unit has power to decide the use of archived documents that are being preserved at such historical document-archiving unit. The head of the historical document-archiving unit has power to decide the use of archived documents with conditional access specified in Clause 3 Article 25 of this Law after obtaining permission of the agency advising and assisting the Minister of Home Affairs, the Provincial People’s Committee in state management of archiving or the owner of private archives.

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5. The Minister of Home Affairs shall elaborate Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article.

Article 24. Carrying archived documents out of archiving units and historical-document archiving units

1. Archived documents may be carried out of archiving units and historical-document archiving units according to decisions issued by competent persons specified in Clauses 2,3 and 4 of this Article and must be returned in a full and intact manner.

2. Documents included in fonds of the Communist Party of Vietnam may be carried out of archiving units and historical-document archiving units of the Communist Party according to regulations issued by competent authorities of the Communist Party.

3. Except for cases where archived documents recognized as national treasures are carried abroad according to regulations in Clause 2 Article 3 of this Law, power to carry archived documents out of an archiving unit or historical-document archiving unit is regulated as follows:

a) The Minister of Home Affairs has power to decide to carry documents archived at the historical document-archiving unit of the State at central level abroad;

b) Chairpersons of Provincial People’s Committees have power to decide to carry documents archived at the historical document-archiving unit of the State at provincial level abroad;

c) A head of a historical document-archiving unit has power to decide to carry archived documents out of such historical document-archiving unit for domestic use;

d) A head of an agency/organization has power to decide to carry archived documents out of the archiving unit for use in Vietnam and foreign countries.

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5. Archived documents containing state secrets shall be carried out of archiving units and historical document-archiving units according to regulations of the law on protection of state secrets.

Article 25. Access to information included in archived documents

1. The access to information on documents archived at archiving units shall comply with regulations of law on access to information.

2. Agencies/organizations/individuals may access information on documents archived at historical document-archiving units according to regulations of this Law, and archived documents with conditional access according to regulations in Clause 3 of this Article.

3. Documents archived at historical document-archiving units with conditional access shall be accessed as follows:

a) Archived documents containing information that may produce adverse effects on national defense, national security, national and public interests, and international relations; social order and safety; social ethics and community health may be accessed after seeking opinions from agencies advising and assisting the Minister of Home Affairs, Provincial People’s Committees in state management of archiving;

b) Private archives archived at historical document-archiving units may be accessed when obtaining permission of their owners.

4. The Government shall elaborate point a Clause 3 of this Article.

5. The Minister of Home Affairs shall approve lists of documents with conditional access archived at historical document-archiving units of the State at central level; Chairpersons of Provincial People’s Committees shall approve lists of documents with conditional access archived at historical document-archiving units of the State at provincal level.

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Article 26. Rights and obligations of agencies/organizations/individuals to access to and use of information on archived documents

1. An agency/organization/individual has the following rights:

a) Be entitled to access information on archived documents in an accurate, full and prompt manner according to regulations of law;

b) Use information on archived documents to perform tasks, conduct scientific and historical research and meet other demands in accordance with regulations of law;

c) Make complaints and denunciations according to the law on complaints and denunciations.

2. When using information on archived documents, the agency/organization/individual has the following obligations:

a) Give guidance on archival numbers, originality of archived documents and agencies and organizations managing archived documents; ensure authenticity of information on archived documents when introducing or quoting such archived documents;

b) Pay fee for use of these archived documents according to regulations of law;

c) Comply with regulations of this Law, rules of agencies/organizations managing archived documents and other relevant laws.

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Article 27. Scope of archiving physical documents and documents on other information carriers

Physical documents and documents on other information carriers shall be archived according to general provisions on archiving works in Section 1 of this Chapter and specific regulations in this Section.

Article 28. Collection and submission of physical documents

1. Physical documents collected and submitted to an archiving unit shall be complied into a dossier according to regulations in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. The dossier shall meet the following requirements:

a) The dossier shall satisfy general requirements applicable to dossiers and documents submitted to archiving units according to Clause 4 Article 17 of this Law;

b) The dossier shall have title, number and code, and contain information, including archiving period, dossier compiler, start date and end date; the dossier shall be paginated; if the dossier is permanently archived, a list of documents shall be made.

Article 29. Conversion from physical archived documents into digital archived documents

1. A physical archived document converted from a digital archived document shall have the same legal value as the digital archived document when the following requirements are met:

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b) There is information to identify the information system for archiving digital archived documents and its governing body;

c) There is a sign to certify that the physical archived document has been converted from the digital archived document and the physical archived document shall bear signature and seal of the convertor.

2. The Minister of Home Affairs shall issue regulations on structure and format techniques when ditigal archived documents are converted into physical archived documents.

Article 30. Archiving documents on other information carriers

1. Documents on other information carriers shall be archived in a manner that is consistent with characteristics of the information and these information carriers.

2. Archived documents on other information carriers shall be converted into digital archived documents in order to facilitate management, use and upholding of value.

Section 3. ARCHIVING ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS (E-DOCUMENTS)

Article 31. Scope of archiving e-documents

E-documents shall be archived according to general provisions on archiving works in Section 1 of this Chapter and specific regulations in this Section.

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1. Electronic archived documents include digital archived documents and other electronic archived documents.

2. Digital archived documents are documents produced by way of using digital signals, including:

a) Digitally produced documents;

b) Digitized copies of archived documents.

3. Other electronic archived documents are documents produced, transmitted, received and archived by means operated applying information technology, electrical, electronic and magnetic technologies, wireless transmission, optics, electromagnetic technology or other similar technologies, excluding documents produced by way of using digital signal according to Clause 2 of this Article.

Article 33. Digitally produced documents

1. Digitally produced document means a document produced, transmitted, received, archived and used in digital format.

2. The digitally produced document shall meet the following requirements:

a) It shall be digitally certified by a document producer or its origin can be determined;

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c) The digitally produced document and its master data shall be archived at the same time;

d) The digitally produced document may be accessed and used in final format.

Article 34. Digitized copies of archived documents.

1. A digitized copy of archived document shall have the same legal value as a digitally produced document when the following requirements are met:

a) The integrity of information is maintained.

b) The digitized copy of archived document is accessible and usable;

c) The digitized copy of archived document has indication of digitization and it shall be certified by a competent agency/organization/individual.

2. Power to certify a digitized copy of archived document is regulated as follows:

a) An agency/organization/individual producing the digitized copy of archived document has power to certify it;

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c) A historical-document archiving unit has power to certify any digitized copy of archived document under its management.

3. The Minister of Home Affairs shall issue regulations on structure, format techniques and procedures for digitalizing archived documents.

Article 35. Digital archives

1. A digital archive includes technical infrastructure, software system, archived document database and digital archived documents. The digital archive shall meet the following requirements:

a) Give assistance in archiving digital archived documents; manage archived document database;

b) Ensure information safety, maintain integrity and authenticity, be accessible and usable and uphold the value of archived documents;

c) Make connection to share and access documents according to regulations of law.

2. Technical infrastructure includes infrastructure for equipment installation and information technology infrastructure.

3. The software system is built to collect, submit, classify, produce statistics of, determine value of, preserve, access and use digital archived documents and establish and manage the archived document database.

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5. The digital archive of the State is created to manage and operate the archived document database of the fonds of the State and digital archived documents under the management of the Ministry of Home Affairs according to regulations in Clause 2 Article 10 of this Law. The digital archive of the State is managed by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

6. Digital archives of Ministries, central and local authorities are created to manage and operate archived document databases and digital archived documents under their management.

Article 36. Collection, submission, preservation and use of digital archived documents and destruction of digital archived documents whose archiving period has elapsed

1. Digital archived documents and dossiers shall be collected and submitted in a manner that follows standard procedures and complies with regulations on data structure, and inspected, certified, transmitted and received in a safe electronic environment.

If a dossier contains physical documents, such physical documents shall be digitalized; the collection and submission of digital archived documents shall comply with regulations in Articles 17, 18 and 19 of this Law.

2. A digital archived document shall be preserved as follows:

a) The digital archived document shall satisfy standards and regulations on data structure of digital archived dossiers and documents; the integrity, unity, authenticity, security and accessibility shall be ensured; the digital archived document shall be preserved and used by a specialized and separate method.

b) The digital archived document shall have its integrity ensured in terms of content and format, be preserved safely, authenticated for a long term, accessed and converted in a manner that is consistent to technological change and complies with regulations of law on cyberinformation security;

c) The period of archiving master data of the digital archived document shall be same as the period of archiving the digital archived document;

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3. A digital archived document shall be used as follows:

a) The digital archived document shall be used to read, issue copies and provide information on the digital archived document and the archived document database;

b) The digital archived document shall have separate copies for users. Each separate copy’s format shall be converted and the structure and display manner of the copy shall also be adjusted in order to meet demands for management and access of users. Contents of the original copy shall be kept unchanged.

4. A digital archived document whose archiving period has elapsed shall be destroyed as follows:

a) The archiving period of the digital archived document has elapsed when it is not associated with other digital archived documents with longer archiving period in the same system;

b) Digital archived documents whose archiving period has elapsed and their master data and physical documents digitalized (if any) shall be destroyed at the same time.

5. Pursuant to regulations of this Law, the Minister of National Defense, the Minister of Public Security, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs shall issue regulations on principles of collection, submission, preservation, use and destruction of digital archived documents of national defense, public security and foreign affair sectors.

6. The Minister of National Defense shall preside over and cooperate with relevant Minister in making and promulgating standards and regulations and adopting methods for security and authentication in archiving works carried out by authorities of the Communisty Party and the State in the field of state management of cipher and civil service digital signature.

7. The Minister of Home Affairs shall elaborate Clauses 1, 2, 3 and 4 of this Article.

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1. Other electronic archived documents shall be archived in a manner that is consistent with characteristics of information carriers of such documents.

2. Other electronic archived documents shall be converted into digital archived documents in order to facilitate management, use and upholding of value.

Chapter IV

ARCHIVED DOCUMENTS HAVING SPECIAL VALUE AND UPHOLDING VALUE OF ARCHIVED DOCUMENTS

Section 1. ARCHIVED DOCUMENTS HAVING SPECIAL VALUE

Article 38. Archived documents having special value

1. An archived document having special value shall meet one of the content criteria specified in Clause 2 of this Article and one of the format and origin criteria specified in Clause 3 of this Article

2. Content criteria includes:

a) Reflections on history of establishment and development of Vietnam, the public, fields and sectors;

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c) Scientific research and quality products of fields and sectors;

d) Backgrounds, careers and contributions of outstanding individuals, and typical families and clans;

dd) Other archived documents that are important to Vietnam, the public and the world.

3. Format and origin criteria includes:

a) Unique, aesthetic and artistic display methods and techniques;

b) Key features and characteristics of historical periods;

c) Historic origins in terms of time, locations or authors.

4. Archived documents having special value shall be backed up, compiled and prioritized for use and upholding of their value.

Article 39. Procedures for recognizing special value of archived documents

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2. An application for recognizing special value of archived documents includes:

a) An application form for recognition;

b) A written explanation about archived documents;

c) A copy or photocopy of each archived document, specifying basic information on the archived document;

d) Other materials proving special value of archived documents (if any).

3. The application for recognizing special value of archived documents will not be considered in case of disputes over the ownership of or the right to manage such documents.

4. Power to recognize special value of archived documents is regulated as follows:

a) The Minister of Home Affairs has power to recognize special value of documents that are being archived at historical document-archiving units and archived documents of Ministries, central authorities and state enterprises established under decisions of the Prime Minister, Ministers and Heads of ministerial agencies; public service providers affiliated to central authorities and organizations established under decisions of the Government and the Prime Minister;

b) Chairpersons of Provincial People's Committees have power to recognize special value of private archives and archived documents of agencies and organizations within their provinces, except for the cases specified in point a of this Clause.

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a) It is detected that the information on the application for recognizing special value of the archived document is not objective and correct;

b) The archived document having special value no longer meets the criteria specified in Clause 1 Article 38 of this Law.

6. The Minister of Home Affairs shall issue regulations on procedures for recognizing and withdrawing recognition of special value of archived documents.

Section 2. UPHOLDING VALUE OF ARCHIVED DOCUMENTS

Article 40. Archived documents having their special value upheld

1. Each archived document containing the following contents shall have its value upheld by one of the methods specified in Article 41 of this Law:

a) History of national construction and defense, establishment and exercise of sovereignty; processes of establishment and development of the nation and the public and traditional values ​​of the country and people of Vietnam;

b) Remarkable events and significant milestones in the establishment and development of the Communist Party and State of Vietnam; sectors, fields, and local areas; agencies and organizations under socio-political regimes; individuals, families, clans, and community throughout historical periods;

c) Outstanding achievements in building and defending the Fatherland of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

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Article 41. Methods for upholding value of archived documents

1. The value of archived documents shall be upheld by the following methods:

a) Publicizing a list of archived documents and dossiers;

b) Announcing archived documents;

c) Exhibiting and introducing archived documents;

d) Compiling, publishing, printing and distributing archived publications;

dd) Integrating contents of upholding of the value of archived documents into activities of educational institutions;

e) Other methods.

2. The value of archived documents shall be upheld according to regulations of this Law and relevant laws.

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1. The list of archived documents and dossiers specified in Clause 1 Article 40 of this Law shall be publicized on web portal, website of each historical document-archiving unit, agency/organization managing archived documents.

2. The head of the agency/organization/historical document-archiving unit shall be resposible for publicizing the list of archived documents and dossiers.

Article 43. Announcing archived documents

1. Announcement about an archived document means an act of officially and publicly announcing a part or the whole of the archived document to the public by an authority having power to manage such archived document.

2. A head of an agency/organization shall decide to announce archived documents under their management.

3. A historical document-archiving unit shall announce archived documents according to the decision issued by the authority having power to manage such archived documents.

Article 44. Exhibiting and introducing archived documents and compiling, publishing, printing and distributing archived publications;

1. Archived documents shall be exhibited according to the law on exhibition.

2. Radio and television programs, reports, documentaries, articles, special topics, and periodic columns shall be developed and written in order to introduce archived documents on mass media and other means.

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Article 45. Integrating contents of upholding of the value of archived documents into activities of educational institutions;

Educational institutions in the national education system are encouraged to intergrate contents of upholding of the value of archived documents into extracurricular events and activities and experiential activities at historical document-archiving units; use archived documents containing contents specified in Clause 1 Article 40 of this Law for education and training, thereby educating students about traditions.

Article 46. Other methods for upholding value of archived documents

1. Organize exchange activities, discussions, conferences, seminars, education and tourism events related to archives.

2. Hold competitions to learn and develop creative ideas, and apply information technology and digital transformation to upholding of the value of archived documents.

3. Connect and share information on archived documents among domestic and foreign archiving authorities.

4. Design and produce items, gifts and souvenirs.

Chapter V

PRIVATE ARCHIVES

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1. Private archives shall be developed in a manner that complies with regulations of this Law, relevant laws and international practices and is consistent with specific conditions of organizations/individuals/families/clans/community and shall cover their own expenses.

2. Private archives shall be used to serve practical activities and scientific and historical research, preserve and uphold traditional value ​​of families, clans and community and other values ​​of archived documents, thereby contributing to preservation and promotion of Vietnamese national cultural identity

Article 48. State’s policies on development of private archives

1. Disseminating information to raise society’s awareness of meanings and importance of archived documents.

2. Protecting the ownership of private archives; taking measures to prevent and promptly handle acts of destruction, appropriation and illegal use of private archives.

3. Encouraging organizations/individuals/families/clans/community to provide information about private archives so as to build a database on private archives, transfer, gift, and sell private archives to the State.

4. Giving guidelines for archiving private archives which serve the community. Offering facilities and supplying equipment to organizations/individuals/families/clans/community to develop private archives that serve the community and uphold the value of private archives.

5. Enabling organizations/individuals/families/clans/community to invest in resources in order to develop private archives serving the community.

6. Offering services of assessment the value of private archives and recognition of special value of private archives; receiving private archives that have been transferred.

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Article 49. Rights and obligations of owner of private archives

1. Legally own private archives.

2. Safely manage and preserve, and effectively use and uphold the value of private archives.

3. Transfer, gift and sell private archives.

4. Organize private archives to serve the community.

5. Allow agenices/organizations/individuals to use private archives as agreed.

6. Receive, mobilize and use legal resources in private archives.

7. Be commended and rewarded by the State according to regulations of the law on emulation and commendation

Article 50. Transferring private archives to historical document-archiving units

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2. The historical document-archiving unit has the right to reject private archives in one of the following cases:

a) There are disputes over the owneship of or the right to manage private archives;

b) Private archives cannot be preserved for a long term;

c) Private archives are not conformable with preservation conditions imposed by the historical document-archiving unit.

d) Private archives violate regulations on prohibited acts specified in Article 8 of this Law.

Article 51. Gifting private archives to the State

1. Private archives may be gifted to the State if they do not fall within the cases specified in Clause 2 Article 50 of this Law.

2. Historical document-archiving units may receive private archives gifted to the State within their jurisdiction and under their management.

3. Historical document-archiving units managing and archiving private archives may gift their private archives according to regulations of this Law and relevant laws.

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Article 52. Private archives having special value

1. Criteria for determination of and procedures for recognizing special value of private archives shall comply with regulations in Article 38 and Article 39 of this Law.

2. Private archives having special value shall be backed up by the State according to regulations in Article 22 of this Law.

3. Regarding private archives having special value self-preserved by organizations/individuals/families/clans/community, the State shall provide assistance in preserving and upholding the value of these private archives as requested by such organizations/individuals/families/clans/community. The State shall provide assistance in terms of:

a) Facilities and equipment for assurance of safety and integrity of private archives;

b) Guidelines for and assitance in archiving private archives;

c) Cooperation in use of methods for upholding the value of private archives.

4. Private archives having special value shall be transferred, gifted, purchased and sold as follows:

a) Private archives having special value are encouraged to be gifted and sold to the State. The State shall purchase private archives having special value as agreed;

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5. The owner of private archives having special value shall be responsible for giving a written notification to the Ministry of Home Affairs after civil transactions are conducted or:

a) Private archives having special value that do not fall within the case specified in point a Clause 4 of this Article are exchanged, gifted, sold or inherited;

b) Private archives are lost or damaged.

6. Private archives having special value may be carried abroad when the following requirements are met:

a) Not causing adverse effects on national defense and security, national or public interests;

b) Obtaining written permission from the Minister of Home Affairs, except for the case specified in Clause 2 Article 3 of this Law.

Chapter VI

ARCHIVING SERVICES

Article 53. Archiving services

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a) Trade in technical infrastructure for preservation of physical archived documents and dossiers and archived documents on other information carriers;

b) Trade in technical infrastructure for the purpose of archiving digital archived documents and dossiers and archived document databases;

c) Digitalization, creation and standardization of archived document databases;

d) Repair, disinfection, deacidification and clean of documents and document archives;

dd) Provision of advice on archiving works.

2. Archiving services specified in Clause 1 of this Article are involved in conditional business lines.

3. An organization investing on trade in archiving services specified in points a and b Clause 1 of this Article shall meet the following requirements:

a) Be an enterprise according to regulations of the law on enterprises;

b) Have appropriate facilities and human resources to operate archiving services; an individual in charge of archiving techniques and works shall have an archiving practice certificate.

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5. Each individual in charge of archiving techniques and works at an organization trading archiving services specified in points c, d and dd Clause 1 of this Article or an independent individual trading archiving services shall have an archiving practice certificate.

6. The Government shall elaborate Clause 3 of this Article and procedures for issuing certificates of eligibility for trade in archiving services.

Article 54. Scope of provision of archiving services by organizations and individuals

1. Organizations/individuals trading archiving services include:

a) Organizations that have registered trade in archiving services are entitled to trade archiving services specified in Clause 1 Article 53 of this Law;

b) Independent individuals trading archiving services are entitled to trade archiving services specified in points c, d and dd Clause 1 Article 53 of this Law;

2. Public service providers may provide archiving services within their juridiction.

Article 55. Responsibilities of agencies, organizations and individuals

1. Archiving authorities shall be responsible for archiving services. To be specific:

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b) People's Committees of provinces and districts shall provide guidance on, and conduct inspection of archiving services under their management; resolve complaints about and denunciations of archiving services according to regulations of law;

2. Organizations/individuals providing archiving services shall:

a) Comply with regulations of the law on archives and relevant laws;

b) Be responsible for quality of archiving services and compensation for damage (if any) during provision of archiving services according to regulations of law;

c) Secure information about dossiers and documents of agencies/organizations/individuals using archiving services; store all dossiers and documents on provision of archiving services;

d) Supply information and documents related to results of provision of archiving services as requested by competent authorities.

3. Agencies/organizations using archiving services shall:

a) Select organizations/individuals to provide quality archiving services and assume responsibilities for quality of archiving service products;

b) Manage and supervise processes and results of execution of contracts for archiving services by organizations/individuals providing such archiving services;

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Article 56. Archiving practice certificates

1. Archiving practive certificates shall be issued to persons who are qualified and meet conditions according to regulations of law for trade in archiving services.

2. Each person issued with an archiving practice certificate has the following rights and obligations:

a) Be entitled to practice archving works nationwide according to regulations of law;

b) Comply with regulations of the law on archives and relevant laws; and code of professional ethics;

c) Be prohibited from allowing other persons to rent, borrow or use his/her archiving practice certificate;

d) Present his/her archiving practice certificate and meet inspection requirements at the request of the compentent authority.

3. A person shall be issued with an archiving practice certificate if he/she satisfies the following conditions:

a) Be a Vietnamese citizen;

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c) Obtain at least a Diploma Level 4 of VQF suitable for archiving services and fullfil archiving requirements imposed by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

A holder of Advanced Diploma Level 5 of VQF or higher in the archiving major shall only meet conditions specified in points a and b of this Clause.

4. An archiving practice certificate must not be issued to a person who:

a) is facing criminal prosecution;

b) is serving an imprisonment sentence; is serving administrative sanction at a compulsory educational institution or a compulsory detoxification establishment;

c) has an unspent conviction for any of the offences against regulations on national security; deliberate disclosure of classified information; appropriation, trade, destruction of classified documents or items

5. An archiving practice certificate shall be re-issued in the following cases:

a) The archiving practice certificate is lost or damaged;

b) There is a change in personal information on the archiving practice certificate.

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a) Failing to meet conditions specified in Clause 3 of this Article;

b) Falling within one of the cases specified in Clause 4 of this Article.

7. The Minister of Home Affairs shall provide for inspection of archiving works; elaborate issuance, re-issuance and revocation of archiving practice certificates.

Chapter VII

STATE MANAGEMENT OF ARCHIVING

Article 57. State management of archiving

1. Formulating, promulgating, providing guidance on and implementing strategies, plans and policies on development of archiving; legislative documents on archiving; technical regulations, standards, technical requirements and economic-technical norms, thereby improving quality of archiving products and services.

2. Disseminating laws on archives.

3. Managing reports on and statistics of archives.

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5. Providing training and refresher training and developing human resouces for archiving; orientating programs for training in archiving works.

6. Conducting emulation and commendation affairs in relation to archiving.

7. Carrying out inspection and dealing with complaints and denunciations, and handling violations against law on archives.

8. Making international cooperation in archiving.

Article 58. Responsibilities for state management of archiving

1. The Government shall perform uniform state management of archiving.

2. The Ministry of Home Affairs shall act as a presiding agency which assists the Goverment in performing uniform state management of archiving; take charge of and cooperate with Ministries, and ministerial agencies in performing state management of archiving.

3. The Ministry of Public Security, within its tasks and powers, shall be responsible for ensuring information security on cyberspace in the archiving sector.

4. The Ministry of Information and Communications shall be responsible for establishing and issuing standards and technical regulations on cyberinformation security for archiving e-documents, except for the contents specified in Clause 6 Article 36 of this Law; cooperating with the Ministry of Home Affairs to apply information technology, digital transformation, cyberinformation security and electronic transactions to the archiving sector.

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6. People's Committees at all levels, within their tasks and powers, shall perform state management of archiving in their local areas.

Article 59. Responsibilities of heads of agencies/organizations and individuals

1. Heads of agencies/organizations, within their tasks and powers, shall be responsible for:

a) Disseminating information to raise awareness of protecting and upholding the value of archived documents;

b) Directing digitization and establishment of archived document databases; managing archived documents and archived document databases and organizing archiving operations according to regulations of law;

c) Directing archiving units to submit dossiers and documents to historical document-archiving units in a full and punctual manner;

d) Selecting organizations/individuals to provide archiving services with regard to archived documents under their management.

2. Heads of historical document archiving-units shall be responsible for meeting necessary conditions to enable agencies/organizations/individuals to promptly access all information on archived documents when they have demands.

3. The Minister of National Defense, the Minister of Public Security, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs shall assume their responsibilities specified in points a,b and d Clause 1 of this Article and be responsible for:

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b) Building up specialized archives to manage archived documents under their management;

c) Making lists of dossiers and documents permanently archived under their management, except for documents containing state secrets and annually updating and sending these lists to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

4. Officials, public employees and employees shall be responsible for submitting dossiers and documents to archiving units in a manner that meets requirements, is punctual and conforms to regulations of law.

Article 60. Funds for archiving

Funds for archiving of regulatory bodies, political organizations, Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee, socio-political organizations, people's armed forces, historical document archiving-units shall be covered by state budget and used for:

1. Collection and submission of archived documents and dossiers; collection of archived documents;

2. Correction, determination of value, and compilation of lists of archived dossiers and documents;

3. Preservation, creation of backups, assurance of information safety and security and production of statistics of archived documents;

4. Digitization, establishment and standardization of archived document databases;

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6. Research into, scientific application and transfer of technologies for archiving;

7. Development of human resouces for archiving;

8. International cooperation in archiving.

9. Establishment and arrangement of archives; technical infrastructure and IT infrastructure for archiving;

10. Procurement of equipment and devices for archiving;

11. Other activities;

Article 61. Archivists

Archivists working for regulatory bodies, political organizations, Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee, socio-political organizations, state-owned enterprises, public service providers, people's armed forces, historical document archiving-units shall be entitiled to incentives for special works and other benefits according to regulations of law.

Article 62. International cooperation in archiving

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2. Contents of international cooperation in archiving include:

a) Signing and organizing implementation of international agreements and treaties on archiving;

b) Acceding to international archiving organizations;

c) Developing and carrying out programs and projects on international cooperation in archiving;

d) Exchanging and cooperating in management of archiving and archiving works;

dd) Cooperating with foreign agencies and organizations in exhibiting and displaying archived documents on Vietnam;

e) Researching, applying and transferring archiving technologies;

g) Cooperating in protection of Vietnam’s archived documents in foreign countries;

h) Cooperating in development of human resource and exchanging experts in archiving;

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Chapter VIII

IMPLEMENTATION CLAUSE

Article 63. Amendments to some articles of relevant laws

1. Business Line No. 229 shall be added after the Bussiness Line No. 228 Appendix IV- List of conditional business lines issued together with the Law on Investment No. 61/2020/QH14 amended by Law No. 72/2020/QH14, Law No. 03/2022/QH15, Law No. 05/2022/QH15, Law No. 08/2022/QH15, Law No. 09/2022/QH15, Law No. 20/2023/QH15, Law No. 26/2023/QH15, Law No. 27/2023/QH15, Law No. 28/2023/QH15 and Law No. 31/2024/QH15 as follows:

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Trade in archiving services

2. No. 10 shall be added after No. 9 section V Part B Appendix 01- List of fees and charges issued together with the Law on Fees and Charges No. 97/2015/QH13 amended by Law No. 09/2017/QH14, Law No. 23/2018/QH14, Law No. 72/2020/QH14, Law No. 16/2023/QH15, Law No. 20/2023/QH15 and Law No. 24/2023/QH15 as follows:

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Article 64. Effect

1. This Law comes into force from July 01, 2025.

2. The Law on Archives No. 01/2011/QH13 shall cease to have effect from the effective date of this Law, except for the cases specified in points a, b, c and d Clause 1, Clause 5 and Clause 6 Article 65 of this Law.

Article 65. Transitional provisions

1. From the effective date of this Law:

a) Within 10 years, provincial People's Committees shall be responsible for correcting and determining the value of documents according to regulations of the Law on Archives No. 01/2011/QH13 and submitting documents eligible for permanent preservation and produced during operation by People's Councils, People's Committees of communes to provincial historical document-archiving units of the State before the effective date of this Law;

b) Within 05 years, agencies and organizations being sources of document providers according to the Law on Archives No. 01/2011/QH13 shall finish correcting and determining the value of documents that are produced before the effective date of this Law but have not yet been corrected according to regulations of the Law on Archives No. 01/2011/QH13 and submit these documents to historical document-archiving units according to regulations of this Law.

c) Within 10 years, historical document-archiving units shall finish correcting and determining the value of documents that are being preserved at such historical document-archiving units but have not yet been corrected according to regulations of the Law on Archives No. 01/2011/QH13;

d) Organizations and individuals eligible for correction of documents according to regulations of the Law on Archives No. 01/2011/QH13 and organizations and individuals providing advice on archiving works according to regulations of this Law may correct and determine the value of documents specified in points a, b and c of this Clause;

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2. In case agencies determining state secrets no longer operate, the declassification of archived documents specified in point dd Clause 1 of this Article is regulated as follows:

a) Heads of agencies advising and assisting the Minister of Home Affairs, Provincial People’s Committees in state management of archiving shall decide declassification of archived documents to meet practical requirements for protection of national and public interests; socio-economic development; international cooperation and integration;

b) If documents are no longer included in the list of state secrets; heads of historical document-archiving units shall take forms of determination of the declassification of archived documents;

c) If the declassification of archived documents may bring harm to national and public interests, it shall be prohibited.

3. Documents containing state secrets and submitted to historical document-archiving units before the effective date of this Law shall be destroyed as follows:

a) The Minister of Home Affairs shall decide the destruction of documents archived at the central historical document-archiving unit of the State; Chairpersons of provincial People's Committees shall decide the destruction of documents archived at provincial historical document-archiving units of the State;

b) Archived documents containing state secrets shall be destroyed in cases it is not necessary to archive these documents and the destruction causes no harm to national and public interests; the failure to immediately destroy such documents will bring harm to national and public interests.

c) The destruction of archived documents containing state secrets shall meet requirements according to regulations of the law on protection of state secrets.

4. Any document archived at a historical document-archiving unit for a certain period before the effective date of this Law shall continue to be archived until such period ends.

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6. Regarding any dossier or document that is eligible for permanent preservation and produced before the effective date of this Law, and must be submitted and archived at a historical document-archiving unit, the time limit for submitting and archiving such dossier or document at the historical document-archiving unit shall comply with regulations of the Law on Archives No. 01/2011/QH13 but the dossier or document shall be submitted and archived by July 01, 2030.

This Law is approved in the 7^th session of the 15^th National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in June 21, 2024.

CHAIRMAN OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLY




Tran Thanh Man