Law on Archives, No. 33/2024/QH15

LAW ON ARCHIVES^[1]

Pursuant to the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;

The National Assembly promulgates the Law on Archives.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation

This Law provides the management of archival documents and archival document databases; archiving operations; archival documents of special value and promotion of the values of archival documents; private archives; archival services, and state management of archives.

Article 2. Interpretation of terms

In this Law, the terms below are construed as follows:

1. Archiving means the activity of keeping and maintaining documents to preserve, and promote the values ​​of, archival documents, serving the cause of national construction and defense and guaranteeing citizens’ right to access information.

2. Document means information attached to information carriers, of which the content and form of expression remain unchanged when the information carriers change. Documents include paper documents, documents on other types of information carriers and electronic documents.

3. Paper documents, documents on other types of information carriers means documents created on paper or other types of information carriers.

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

5. Archival document means a document created during the activities of agencies, organizations, individuals, families, clans and communities under various socio-political regimes, and archived in accordance with this Law and other relevant laws.

6. Copy of archival document means a photocopied, printed, digitized or verbatim extract of the whole or part of the information content from an archival document.

7. Archives means all archival documents created during the activities of an agency, organization, individual, family, clan or community that have systematic and historical relationships.

8. Current archives means a unit/division that archives the archival documents of an agency/organization.

9. Historical archives means an agency that archives eternal archival documents received from agencies and organizations, and other archival documents as prescribed by law.

10. Archiving operations means the valuation, receipt and submission, preservation, statistical compilation, digitization, creation of databases, and organization of the use of archival documents.

11. Master data of archival documents means data containing basic information that describes archival documents and characteristics thereof, serving as a basis for reference and synchronization between archival document databases or different archival document data files.

12. Archival document database means a collection of master data of archival documents arranged and organized to enable the access, utilization, sharing, management and updating via electronic means.

13. Specialized archives means physical facilities and technological and technical infrastructure for preserving, performing other archiving operations, and promoting the values of archival documents.

14. Private archives means archives of individuals, families, clans, communities, and organizations other than mass associations with tasks assigned by the Party and the State.

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

1. The archiving of documents belonging to the State Archives of Vietnam and private archival documents of special values must comply with this Law, except the cases specified in Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article.

2. For archival documents recognized as national treasures or otherwise recognized and registered under the Law on Cultural Heritage and other relevant laws, they must, in addition to complying with this Law, comply with the Law on Cultural Heritage and other relevant laws. The taking of archival documents recognized as national treasures abroad shall be decided by the Prime Minister.

3. In case another law has different provisions on archiving periods and responsibilities to manage archival documents in current archives, the provisions of such law shall prevail.

4. The archiving of documents belonging to the Archives of the Communist Party of Vietnam must comply with the regulations of the competent agency of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

5. Organizations, individuals, families, clans and communities may decide on the application of this Law to the archiving of private archival documents which do not fall into the cases specified in Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 4. Principles of archiving

1. Ensuring the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam; the centralized and unified management of the State; and the participation of society, agencies, organizations, individuals, families, clans and communities.

2. Ensuring the goal of effectively promoting the values of archival documents for the interests of the state and the nation, and the lawful rights and interests of agencies, organizations and individuals.

3. Ensuring citizens’ right to access information with regard to archival documents in accordance with the Constitution and law.

4. Ensuring publicity, transparency and proper competence as prescribed by Vietnam’s law, and in conformity with international standards and practices.

5. Managing archival documents according to archives, combined with territory-based management, ensuring the scientificity, systematicity, objectivity, comprehensiveness and historical continuity of archival documents.

6. Ensuring the safety, intactness, and long-term preservation of archival documents, and the backup storage of archival documents.

Article 5. The State’s policies on archives

1. Building modern Vietnamese archives, meeting the requirements of state management and modernization of the administrative system, and serving the people.

2. Ensuring the necessary conditions for archiving; prioritizing public investment capital and other resources for modernization of archives, ensuring the safety and intactness, and promoting the values of archival documents.

3. Building and developing professional human resources for the archives sector who have a sense of service; training and building a contingent of leading experts in the field of archives; attracting high-quality human resources to implement archiving activities.

4. Building an archives society, encouraging organizations, individuals, families, clans and communities to protect, preserve, and promote the values of private archival documents.

5. Mobilizing social resources for archiving activities; creating favorable conditions for domestic organizations and individuals to invest and trade in archival services; encouraging organizations and individuals to finance and participate in activities to protect and promote the values of archival documents.

6. Promoting comprehensive international integration and cooperation in the field of archives.

Article 6. Vietnam Archives Day

January 3 every year is the Vietnam Archives Day.

Article 7. Values of archival documents

1. Archival documents serve as evidence of activities of the Party, the State, society, and agencies, organizations, individuals, families, clans and communities through various historical periods of Vietnam.

2. Archival documents have historical, legal and practical values in different aspects of social life.

3. Digital archival documents have full legal validity as data messages as prescribed in the law on electronic transactions.

Article 8. Prohibited acts

1. Illegally transferring, providing or destroying or intentionally damaging, buying and selling, appropriating or losing archival documents managed by competent agencies of the Party and the State.

2. Falsifying, distorting the content, or breaching the intactness of archival documents and master data of archival documents; unauthorizedly accessing, copying or sharing archival documents and archival document databases.

3. Unauthorizedly destroying private archival documents of special values.

4. Using archival documents or taking advantage of archival services to infringe upon interests of the state or the nation or public interests, or lawful rights and interests of agencies, organizations, individuals, families, clans or communities; obstructing the rights of agencies, organizations and individuals to access and lawfully use archival documents.

5. Bringing archival documents abroad, or taking archival documents out of current archives or historical archives in contravention of law.

Chapter II

MANAGEMENT OF ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTS AND ARCHIVAL DOCUMENT DATABASES

Article 9. National Archives of Vietnam

1. The National Archives of Vietnam include all archival documents of Vietnam, regardless of the time of creation, place of storage, information recording techniques, and types of information carriers. The National Archives of Vietnam include the Archives of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the Archives of the State of Vietnam, and private archival documents.

2. The Archives of the Communist Party of Vietnam include all archival documents created during the activities of agencies and organizations of the Communist Party of Vietnam and its predecessor organizations, the Vietnam Fatherland Front, socio-political organizations, and historical and typical figures of the Communist Party of Vietnam. The competent agency of the Communist Party of Vietnam shall specify the composition of the Archives of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

3. The Archives of the State of Vietnam include all archival documents created during the activities of state agencies, public non-business units, state enterprises, and the people’s armed forces units; historical and typical figures, and other archival documents created throughout the historical periods of the country, including:

a/ Archival documents created during the activities of central agencies and organizations of the State of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam; ministerial-level, inter-zone, zone-level and special-zone agencies and organizations of the State of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam; central agencies and organizations of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, and other central organizations under the revolutionary government up to 1975; public non-service units under central agencies and organizations established under decisions of the Government or the Prime Minister; state enterprises established under decisions of the Prime Minister, ministers, or heads of ministerial-level agencies or government-attached agencies, and other economic organizations as prescribed by law; agencies and organizations of the feudal regime and other social regimes existing in the territory of Vietnam up to 1975; and historical and typical figures of the State;

b/ Archival documents created during the activities of agencies and organizations at provincial and district levels and in special administrative-economic units; public non-business units under provincial-level People’s Committees; state enterprises established under decisions of chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees, and agencies, organizations and individuals other than those specified at Points a, c and d of this Clause;

c/ Archival documents created during the activities of commune-level People’s Councils and People’s Committees;

d Archival documents created during the activities of mass organizations with tasks assigned by the Party and the State.

4. Private archival documents include:

a/ Archival documents created during the activities of individuals, families, clans and communities;

b/ Archival documents created during the activities of social organizations and socio-professional organizations other than those specified at Point d, Clause 3 of this Article;

c/ Archival documents created during the activities of non-governmental organizations and economic organizations other than state enterprises.

Article 10. Competence to manage archival documents and archival document databases

1. The competent agency of the Communist Party of Vietnam shall manage and archive the documents specified in Clause 2, Article 9 of this Law, and the archival document database of the Archives of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

2. The Ministry of Home Affairs shall manage the following archival documents and archival document databases:

a/ Archival documents at the central-level historical archives of the State;

b/ The archival document database of the Archives of the State of Vietnam, excluding the archival document database referred to in Clause 3 of this Article;

c/ Backup archival documents of the Archives of the State of Vietnam, excluding the backup archival documents referred to in Clause 3 of this Article.

3. The Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall manage and archive documents created during their activities, backup archival documents, archival documents of special values, and archival document databases of the national defense and public security sectors and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, respectively. The management and archiving of documents of party organizations within the national defense and public security sectors and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must comply with the regulations of the competent agency of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

4. Provincial-level People’s Committees shall manage archival documents in the provincial-level historical archives of the State; the archival document databases specified at Points b and c, Clause 3, Article 9 of this Law, and the archival document databases of local mass associations with tasks assigned by the Party and the State.

5. Agencies, organizations, state enterprises, and mass organizations with tasks assigned by the Party and the State shall manage and archive archival documents, archival document databases in current archives, and other archival documents in accordance with relevant laws.

6. Organizations, individuals, families, clans and communities shall manage and archive private archival documents and private archival document databases (if any).

Article 11. Establishment and updating of archival document databases

1. The Minister of Home Affairs shall direct the establishment, management and operation of the archival document database of the Archives of the State of Vietnam.

For the archival document databases of the national defense and public security sectors and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of National Defense, the Minister of Public Security and the Minister of Foreign Affairs shall respectively direct the establishment, management and operation of such databases.

2. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies and government-attached agencies, the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuracy, the State Audit Office of Vietnam, the Office of the President, the Office of the National Assembly, other central agencies, and chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees shall direct the establishment and updating of the archival document databases of ministries, sectors and localities; and update the archival document databases of the Archives of the State of Vietnam.

3. Heads of agencies and organizations shall direct the establishment and updating of the archival document databases of their agencies and organizations; and update the archival document databases of ministries, sectors or localities.

4. The archival document databases of the National Archives of Vietnam shall be connected for sharing and use in accordance with law.

5. The Government shall detail this Article.

Article 12. Management of archival documents in current archives and historical archives

1. Current archives shall directly manage archival documents with a definite term of archiving, eternal archival documents not yet reaching the deadline for submission into historical archives, and eternal archival documents not subject to submission into historical archives.

Current archives shall carry out activities of valuating, receiving and submitting, preserving, statistically compiling, digitizing, creating databases, organizing the use and promoting the values of archival documents; and submit eternal archival records and documents into historical archives according to regulations.

2. Central and provincial-level historical archives of the State shall directly manage eternal archival documents and other archival documents in accordance with law.

Historical archives shall carry out activities of receiving and submitting, valuating, preserving, statistically compiling, digitizing, creating databases, organizing the use and promoting the values of archival documents according to regulations.

Article 13. Management of archival documents in case of dissolution, bankruptcy or reorganization of agencies/organizations

1. Archival documents of a dissolved or bankrupt agency/organization shall be transferred to its immediate superior agency/organization or a competent agency/ organization for management.

2. The Minister of Home Affairs shall detail Clause 1 of this Article, and provide the management of archival documents and the responsibility to submit documents into historical archives in case of reorganization of agencies/organizations.

Chapter III

ARCHIVING OPERATIONS

Section 1

GENERAL PROVISIONS ON ARCHIVING OPERATIONS

Article 14. Valuation of documents

1. Valuation of documents means the evaluation of documents to identify those with archival values and their archiving periods, those with expired archival values, and those with no archival value.

2. Principles and standards for valuating documents:

a/ Ensuring adherence to the political, historical, comprehensive and synthetic principles;

b/ Documents shall be valuated according to the following standards: content of documents; position of agency/organization/individual with the documents created during their activities; significance of events, time and place of creation of documents; intactness of archives; form of documents; and physical condition of documents;

c/ The document archiving period must not be shorter than the document archiving period specified by competent agencies.

Article 15. Record and document archiving period

1. The record and document archiving periods include eternal archiving and definite archiving periods.

2. Records and documents to be eternally archived include: archival documents of special values; records and documents on the line, guidelines, policies, platforms and strategies; national target programs, important and key national schemes and projects; and other records and documents to be eternally archived as prescribed by relevant laws and competent agencies.

3. Records and documents to be archived for definite periods are those not specified in Clause 2 of this Article.

The record and document archiving period mentioned in this Clause shall be calculated in year, which is between 2 years and 70 years, counting from the year of completion of the certain job.

4. In case a record consists of documents with different archiving periods, its archiving period is that of the document with the longest archiving period.

5. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuracy, and the State Audit Office of Vietnam shall determine specific archiving periods for records and documents of the sectors or fields under their respective state management after consulting the Ministry of Home Affairs.

6. Based on the provisions of Clauses 2, 3 and 5 of this Article, the head of an agency/organization shall issue the lists and provide specific archiving periods for records and documents created during the activities of his/her agency/organization.

7. Based on the provisions of Clauses 5 and 6 of this Article, persons assigned to handle relevant jobs shall determine specific archiving periods for the jobs’ records and documents.

Article 16. Destruction of archival documents

1. Destruction shall apply to the following archival documents:

a/ Archival documents of which the archiving period has expired;

b/ Duplicate archival documents.

2. When destroying archival documents, it is necessary to ensure that all documents are destroyed and cannot be restored.

3. Competence to decide on the destruction of archival documents in current archives:

a/ The head of an agency/organization that is subject to submission of documents into the central historical archives of the State may decide to destroy archival documents after obtaining the appraisal opinions from the advisory body assisting the Minister of Home Affairs in performing the state management of archives; the head of an agency/organization that is subject to submission of documents into the provincial-level historical archives of the State may decide to destroy archival documents after obtaining the appraisal opinions from the advisory body assisting the provincial-level People’s Committee in performing the state management of archives;

b/ The head of an agency/organization that is not subject to submission of documents into historical archives may decide to destroy archived documents according to regulations.

4. Competence to decide to destroy archival documents in historical archives:

a/ The Minister of Home Affairs may decide to destroy archival documents in the central historical archives of the State;

b/ Chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees may decide to destroy archival documents in provincial-level historical archives of the State.

5. The destruction of state secret-containing archival documents in current archives must comply with the law on protection of state secrets.

6. The Minister of Home Affairs shall provide the order and procedures for destruction of archival documents.

Article 17. Time limit, requirements, and records and documents for submission into archives

1. The person assigned to handle a job shall compile the job’s records in accordance with the law on clerical work; and submit records and documents into current archives according to the requirements and time limit prescribed by this Law.

2. The time limit for submitting records and documents into current archives is 1 year, counted from the year the certain job is completed.

3. The time limit for submitting records and documents into historical archives is 5 years, counting from the year of submission into current archives, except the case specified in Clause 6 of this Article.

In case another law provides a specific time limit for submitting records and documents into historical archives, the time limit for submitting records and documents into historical archives is 30 years, counted from the year of submission into current archives.

4. Requirements on records and documents submitted into archives:

a/ Documents submitted must be the primary-source documents or the originals; in case the primary-source documents or the originals are no longer available, they may be replaced by lawful copies;

b/ The records and documents must correctly reflect the functions and tasks of the agency/organization/unit concerned;

c/ Ensuring that the documents are complete, closely related and correctly reflect the sequence of events or the sequence of settling the job;

d/ For paper records, they must meet the requirements specified in Clause 2, Article 28 of this Law; for electronic records and documents, they must meet the requirements specified in Clause 1, Article 36 of this Law.

5. Records and documents bearing a confidentiality stamp shall be submitted into current archives within the time limit and preserved in accordance with the law on protection of state secrets.

6. Records containing documents that bear a confidentiality stamp or documents bearing a confidentiality stamp may only be submitted into historical archives after the documents are declassified in accordance with the law on protection of state secrets.

7. For records containing paper documents, documents on other types of information carriers, and electronic documents, all of these documents shall be submitted in current archives or historical archives.

8. In case a document is simultaneously created on paper and on another type of information carrier or in the form of data message, all types of the document shall be submitted.

Article 18. Agencies and organizations submitting records and documents into the State’s historical archives

1. Agencies and organizations submitting records and documents into central historical archives of the State:

a/ The National Assembly, the National Election Council, the National Assembly Standing Committee, the Ethnic Council, the National Assembly’s Committees, agencies under the National Assembly Standing Committee, the National Assembly Secretary-General, and the National Assembly Office.

The National Assembly Office shall act as the focal point for submitting archival records and documents of the agencies specified at this Point;

b/ The President and the President’s Office.

The President’s Office shall act as the focal point for submitting archival records and documents of the agencies specified at this Point;

c/ The Government, the Prime Minister, and the Government Office.

The Government Office shall act as the focal point for submitting archival records and documents of the agencies specified at this Point;

d/ The Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuracy, the Superior People’s Courts, the Superior People’s Procuracies, and the State Audit Office of Vietnam; ministries, ministerial-level agencies and government-attached agencies, except the cases specified in Clause 3, Article 10 of this Law; agencies and organizations under and attached to ministries and ministerial-level agencies performing the function of state management of specialized sectors or fields;

dd/ State enterprises established under decisions of the Prime Minister, ministers, or heads of ministerial-level agencies or government-attached agencies; public non-business units established under decisions of the Government or the Prime Minister, except public non-business units under provincial-level People’s Committees;

e/ Central mass organizations with tasks assigned by the Party and the State.

2. Agencies and organizations submitting records and documents into the local historical archives of the State:

a/ Provincial-level People’s Councils, National Assembly Deputies’ Delegations, Offices of National Assembly Deputies’ Delegations, and provincial-level People’s Councils.

The Offices of National Assembly Deputies’ Delegations and provincial-level People’s Councils shall act as focal points for submitting archival records and documents of the agencies specified at this Point;

b/ Provincial-level People’s Committees and Offices of provincial-level People’s Committees.

The Offices of provincial-level People’s Committees shall act as focal points for submitting archival records and documents of the agencies specified at this Point;

c/ District-level People’s Councils and People’s Committees, and Offices of district-level People’s Councils and People’s Committees.

The Offices of district-level People’s Councils and People’s Committees shall act as focal points for submitting archival records and documents of the agencies specified at this Point;

d/ Other specialized agencies under provincial- and district-level People’s Committees; provincial- and district-level People’s Courts and People’s Procuracies; organizations of specialized agencies under provincial-level People’s Committees performing state management functions; public non-business units under provincial-level People’s Committees; central agencies, organizations and enterprises organized and operating hierarchically at provincial and district levels; and state enterprises established under decisions of chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees;

dd/ Commune-level People’s Councils and People’s Committees.

Commune-level People’s Committees shall act as focal points for submitting archival records and documents of the agencies specified at this Point;

e/ Local mass organizations with tasks assigned by the Party and the State.

3. In case of necessity, the Prime Minister may decide on other state agencies and organizations not falling into the cases specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article to submit records and documents into the State’s historical archives.

4. In case the agencies and organizations specified in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article change their names, they shall still submit records and documents into the historical archives according to this Article.

Article 19. Rights and responsibilities of agencies and organizations in receiving and submitting records and documents into historical archives

1. Agencies and organizations submitting records and documents into the historical archives have the following rights and responsibilities:

a/ To register for submitting records and documents into the historical archives;

b/ To submit a dossier of request to the competent historical archives, which must comprise a request for submission of records and documents, and a list of records and documents, clearly identifying those subject to conditional access (if any);

c/ To submit records and documents according to the completed records and documents index after receiving comments from the historical archives;

d To complain about the historical archives’ refusal to receive records and documents in accordance with law.

2. The historical archives have the following rights and responsibilities:

a/ To guide agencies and organizations to submit records and documents into the historical archives;

b/ To give written comments on the records and documents index to be submitted into the historical archives;

c/ To receive records and documents or refuse to receive records and documents;

d/ To collect archival documents;

dd/ To report to the state management agency in charge of archives on the receipt and submission of documents into the historical archives.

3. The Minister of Home Affairs shall specify the order, procedures, submission and receipt of records and documents, and collection of documents into the historical archives.

Article 20. Requirements on preservation and statistical compilation of archival documents

1. Archival documents shall be safely preserved with the necessary technological and technical conditions for long-term preservation and meeting the requirements for using archival documents. Archival documents in the historical archives shall be preserved in specialized archives.

2. Archival documents shall be statistically compiled in accordance with the statistics law.

3. The preservation and statistical compilation of archival documents containing state secrets must comply with the law on protection of state secrets.

Article 21. Specialized archives

1. Specialized archives include archives of paper archival documents and archival documents on other types of information carriers, and digital archives.

2. Specialized archives shall be built to meet modernization requirements and must have advanced technology, and be furnished with sufficient facilities and technical equipment necessary for carrying out archiving operations and promoting the values of archival documents.

3. Specialized archives must meet preservation technology requirements and suit the characteristics of each type of archival documents.

4. Specialized archives areas shall be strictly and safely protected in accordance with law; be furnished with sufficient facilities and technical equipment necessary for monitoring, supervision, disaster preparedness, damage and loss, fire prevention and fighting, and other factors that are likely to cause damage to archival documents.

5. The Government shall detail this Article.

Article 22. Backup storage

1. Backup storage means the establishment and preservation of archival documents according to special methods and standards for use in case the original archival documents are lost or become unusable. Information in backup archives can replace information in original archival documents in case the latter are lost or become unusable.

2. Backup storage shall apply to archival documents of special values, and eternal archival documents at risk of damage.

3. Backup storage must meet the following requirements:

a/ Backup archival documents must ensure the intactness and accuracy of information compared to the original archival documents;

b/ Backup archival documents can be used in case the original archival documents are lost or become unusable;

c/ The information carriers of backup archival documents have physical properties that are hardly affected by environmental conditions;

d/ Backup archival documents shall be preserved safely and separately at a location different from the location where the original archival documents are preserved;

dd/ Advanced and modern technology and equipment shall be used to meet the requirements for creating and storing backup archival documents suitable to the types of archival documents.

4. The agency managing backup archival documents shall create, preserve, and decide on the use of, backup archival documents according to its competence.

5. The Government shall detail this Article.

Article 23. Forms and competence to permit the use of archival documents

1. Forms of using archival documents:

a/ Serving readers who wish to use archival documents;

b/ Issuing copies of archival documents.

2. Copies of archival documents include copies authenticated by the head of the agency/organization or the head of the historical archives, and unauthenticated copies.

The head of an agency/organization or the head of the historical archives shall take responsibility before law for issuing authenticated copies of archival documents.

A copy of an archival document authenticated by an agency/organization or the historical archives is as valid as the original archival document currently preserved in the current archives or historical archives.

3. Competence to permit the use of archival documents:

a/ The head of an agency/organization may decide on the use of archival documents currently preserved in the current archives;

b/ The head of the historical archives may decide on the use of archival documents currently preserved in the historical archives. For archival documents subject to conditional access as referred to in Clause 3, Article 25 of this Law, the head of the historical archives may decide on the use thereof after reaching agreement with the advisory body assisting the Minister of Home Affairs or the provincial-level People’s Committee in performing the state management of archives, or with the owner of private archival documents.

4. The use of archival documents containing state secrets must comply with the law on the protection of state secrets.

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

Article 24. Taking of archival documents out of current archives and historical archives

1. Archival documents may be taken out of the current archives or historical archives as decided by the competent persons specified in Clauses 2, 3 and 4 of this Article, and shall be returned in full and intact.

2. The taking of documents belonging to the Archives of the Communist Party of Vietnam out of current archives or historical archives of the Party shall be prescribed by the competent agency of the Party.

3. Except the case of taking archival documents recognized as national treasures abroad as specified in Clause 2, Article 3 of this Law, the competence to take archival documents out of current archives or historical archives is as follows:

a/ The Minister of Home Affairs may decide on taking of archival documents in the central historical archives of the State abroad;

b/ Chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees may decide on taking of archival documents in the provincial-level historical archives of the State abroad;

c/ The head of the historical archives may decide on taking of archival documents out of the historical archives for use within the country;

d/ The head of an agency/organization may decide on taking of archival documents out of the current archives for use within the country and abroad.

4. The Minister of National Defense, the Minister of Public Security and the Minister of Foreign Affairs shall provide the taking of documents of the national defense and public security sectors and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs out of the archives for use at home and abroad.

5. The taking of archival documents containing state secrets out of the current archives or historical archives must comply with the law on protection of state secrets.

Article 25. Access to information in archival documents

1. Access to information in archival documents in the current archives must comply with the law on access to information.

2. Agencies, organizations and individuals are entitled to access information in archival documents in the historical archives in accordance with this Law, and are entitled to access information in archival documents subject to conditional access under Clause 3 of this Article.

3. Conditional access to archival documents in the historical archives is provided as follows:

a/ Archival documents containing information that, if used, is likely to adversely affect national defense, national security, interests of the state or the nation, or international relations; social order and safety; social ethics and community well-being, may be accessed after obtaining the opinions from the advisory body assisting the Minister of Home Affairs or the provincial-level People’s Committee in performing the state management of archives;

b/ Private archival documents currently stored in the historical archives may be accessed with the consent of their owners.

4. The Government shall detail Point a, Clause 3 of this Article.

5. The Minister of Home Affairs shall approve the list of archival documents subject to conditional access in the central historical archives of the State; chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees shall approve the lists of archival documents subject to conditional access in the provincial-level historical archives of the State.

6. The Minister of National Defense, the Minister of Public Security and the Minister of Foreign Affairs shall approve the lists of archival documents subject to conditional access of the national defense and public security sectors and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, respectively.

Article 26. Rights and obligations of agencies, organizations and individuals in accessing and using information in archival documents

1. Agencies, organizations and individuals have the following rights:

a/ To access information in archival documents accurately, completely, promptly, and lawfully;

b/ To use information in archival documents to serve work, scientific and historical research, and other lawful needs;

c/ To lodge complaints and denunciations in accordance with the law on complaints and denunciations.

2. Agencies, organizations and individuals, when using information in archival documents, have the following obligations:

a/ To indicate the archive number, the origin of the archival documents, and the agency/organization managing the archival documents; to respect the originality of information in the archival documents when introducing and citing the archival documents;

b/ To pay fees for using archival documents in accordance with law;

c/ To comply with the provisions of this Law, the regulations of the archival document-managing agency/organization, and other relevant regulations.

Section 2

ARCHIVING OPERATIONS FOR PAPER DOCUMENTS AND DOCUMENTS ON OTHER TYPES OF INFORMATION CARRIERS

Article 27. Scope of application of archiving operations for paper documents and documents on other types of information carriers

Archiving operations for paper documents and documents on other types of information carriers must comply with the general provisions on archiving operations in Section 1 of this Chapter and specific provisions in this Section.

Article 28. Receipt and submission of paper documents

1. Paper documents submitted into archives shall be recorded in a dossier specified in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. A dossier must meet the following requirements:

a/ The general requirements for records and documents submitted into archives as specified in Clause 4, Article 17 of this Law;

b/ Having a title, number and symbol, and specifying the archiving period, the dossier maker, start time, and end time; having its sheets numbered; and a list of documents, for eternal archival records.

Article 29. Paper archival documents converted from digital archival documents

1. Paper archival documents converted from digital archival documents have the same legal validity as digital archival documents when meeting the following requirements:

a/ Information in paper archival documents is as intact as information in digital archival documents;

b/ There is information for identifying the information system storing digital archival documents and the system owner;

c/ There are signs of recognition that they have been converted from digital archival documents, and the signature and seal of the agency/organization/individual having performed the conversion.

2. The Minister of Home Affairs shall provide the format and presentation techniques for paper archival documents converted from digital archival documents.

Article 30. Archiving operations for documents on other types of information carriers

1. Archiving operations for documents on other types of information carriers must be suitable with the characteristics of the information and the information carrier of archival documents.

2. Archival documents on other types of information carriers may be converted into digital archival documents to facilitate their management, use and value promotion.

Section 3

ARCHIVING OPERATIONS FOR ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS

Article 31. Scope of application of archiving operations for electronic documents

Archiving operations for electronic documents must comply with the general provisions on archiving operations in Section 1 of this Chapter and the specific provisions in this Section.

Article 32. Electronic archival documents

1. Electronic archival documents include digital archival documents and other types of electronic archival documents.

2. Digital archival documents are documents created using digital signals, including:

a/ Digitally created archival documents;

b/ Digitized copies of archival documents.

3. Other types of electronic archival documents are documents created, sent, received and stored using devices that operate based on information technology, electrical, electronic, magnetic, wireless transmission, optical, electromagnetic or other similar technologies, excluding documents created using digital signals as specified in Clause 2 of this Article.

Article 33. Digitally created archival documents

1. Digitally created archival document is a document created, sent, received, stored and used in digital format.

2. Digitally created archival documents must meet the following requirements:

a/ Being digitally authenticated by the agency/organization/individual that created the document or containing factors for identifying the origin of the document;

b/ Ensuring intactness from the time it is completely created until before being put into use. A document’s intactness is guaranteed when the information therein has not been altered, except changes in form arising during the process of sending, receipt, storage or display;

c/ Being stored simultaneously with the master data of the digital archival document;

d/ Being accessible and usable in complete form.

Article 34. Digitized copies of archival documents

1. Digitized copies of archival documents have the same legal validity as the archival documents when meeting the following requirements:

a/ Information in the digitized copies is as intact as information in archival documents;

b/ Being accessible and usable;

c/ There are signs for identifying their digitization and the copy is authenticated by a competent agency/organization/individual.

2. Competence to authenticate digitized copies of archival documents:

a/ Agencies, organizations and individuals that create the archival documents;

b/ Agencies, organizations and individuals receiving the archival documents from agencies, organizations and individuals creating the documents;

c/ Historical archives, which may authenticate digitized copies of archival documents which are under their management.

3. The Minister of Home Affairs shall provide the format, presentation techniques and digitization process of archival documents.

Article 35. Digital archives

1. Digital archives include the technical infrastructure system, software system, archival document database and digital archival documents. Digital archives must meet the following conditions:

a/ Supporting the implementation of archiving operations for digital archival documents; and management of archival document databases;

b/ Ensuring information security, intactness, authenticity, accessibility, use and promotion of the values of archival documents;

c/ Being connected for sharing and use in accordance with law.

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

3. The software system shall be established to carry out activities of receiving and submitting, classifying, statistically compiling, valuating, preserving, exploiting and using digital archival documents, and creating and managing archival document databases.

4. The information system security level of digital archives shall be determined and implemented according to the regulations on the levels of information system security assurance.

5. The state digital archives shall be established to manage and operate the archival document databases belonging to the State Archives of Vietnam and digital archival documents managed by the Ministry of Home Affairs as specified in Clause 2, Article 10 of this Law. The state digital archives shall be managed by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

6. The digital archives of ministries, sectors and localities shall be established to manage and operate the archival document databases and digital archival documents managed by ministries, sectors and localities.

Article 36. Receipt and submission, preservation and use of digital archival documents and destruction of expired digital archival documents

1. Digital archival records and documents shall be received and submitted according to the law-specified process as well as the standards and data structure of these records and documents, and be verified, authenticated and transmitted in a secure electronic environment.

In case a record consists of paper documents, the paper documents shall be digitized; the receipt and submission thereof must comply with Articles 17, 18 and 19 of this Law.

2. Preservation of digital archival documents:

a/ Digital archival documents must meet the standards and data structures of digital archival records and documents; ensure their intactness, consistency, authenticity, safety and accessibility; and be preserved and used according to different professional and technical methods;

b/ Digital archival documents shall be preserved safely, kept intact in both content and format, ensuring long-term authentication, accessibility and conversion suitable with technological changes, and comply with the law on cyberinformation security;

c/ The archiving period for master data of digital archival documents is the same as that of digital archival documents;

d/ Digital archival documents shall be preserved in digital archives in units of records or documents.

3. Use of digital archival documents:

a/ Digital archival documents may be used through the following forms: reading, issuing copies, and providing information from digital archival documents and archival document databases;

b/ Digital archival documents shall be used through their user copies. The user copy is a copy that is modified in format, structure and display to meet the management requirements and access needs of the user, ensuring the same content as the original.

4. Destruction of expired digital archival documents:

a/ Digital archival documents expire when they have no link to other digital archival documents that have a longer archiving period in the same system;

b/ When destroying expired digital archival documents, all master data of those documents and their digitalized paper documents (if any) shall also be destroyed.

5. Pursuant to this Law, the Minister of National Defense, the Minister of Public Security and the Minister of Foreign Affairs shall provide the principles for receiving and submitting, preserving, using and destroying digital archival documents of the national defense and public security sectors and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, respectively.

6. The Minister of National Defense shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries in, developing and promulgating standards and technical regulations, and deploying solutions on security and authentication in the archiving operations of Party and State agencies within the fields of state management of cryptography and digital signatures dedicated for public service.

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

Article 37. Archiving of other types of electronic archival documents

1. Archiving operations for other types of electronic archival documents shall be performed in conformity with the characteristics of the type of information carrier of these electronic archival documents.

2. Other types of electronic archival documents shall be converted into digital archival documents to facilitate their management, use and value promotion.

Chapter IV

ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTS OF SPECIAL VALUES AND PROMOTION OF THE VALUES OF ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTS

Section 1

ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTS OF SPECIAL VALUES

Article 38. Archival documents of special values

1. Archival documents of special values must satisfy one of the content criteria specified in Clause 2 of this Article, and one of the form and origin criteria specified in Clause 3 of this Article.

2. Content criteria include:

a/ Reflecting the history of formation and development of the state and the nation, a sector or a field;

b/ The process of formation, establishment and exercise of Vietnam’s territorial sovereignty, and national borders;

c/ Scientific works and typical products of a sector or field;

d/ The background, career and contributions of a typical individual, family or clan;

dd/ Other archival documents of special importance to the state and the nation or the world.

3. Form and origin criteria include:

a/ Unique methods and techniques of presentation, with aesthetic and artistic values;

b/ Characteristics and typicality of the historical period;

c/ Formation in a special historical circumstance in terms of time, location or author.

4. Archival documents of special values shall be stored with backup; statistically compiled and prioritized for use and value promotion.

Article 39. Order and procedures for recognition of archival documents of special values

1. Heads of agencies and organizations; heads of historical archives, and individuals, families, clans or communities shall prepare dossiers of request for recognition of archival documents of special values for archival documents under their respective management or ownership.

2. A dossier of request for recognition of an archival document of special values must comprise:

a/ A request for recognition;

b/ The commentary paper of the archival document;

c/ A copy or photo of the archival document showing the basic information of the document;

d Other documents and materials proving the special values of the archival document (if any).

3. A dossier of request for recognition of archival documents of special values shall not be considered in case the ownership or management rights over such documents are under dispute.

4. Competence to recognize archival documents of special values:

a/ The Minister of Home Affairs may recognize archival documents of special values for archival documents currently stored in historical archives and archival documents of ministries, sectors, central agencies, and state enterprises established under decisions of the Prime Minister, ministers, or heads of ministerial-level agencies; and public non-business units under central agencies or organizations established under decisions of the Government or the Prime Minister;

b/ Chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees may recognize archival documents of special values for private archival documents and archival documents of agencies and organizations in the localities under their management, except the case specified at Point a of this Clause.

5. The person competent to recognize archival documents of special values may decide to cancel the recognition of archival documents of special values in the following cases:

a/ The dossier of request for recognition of archival documents of special values is found to be not objective and/or truthful;

b/ The archival documents of special values no longer meet the criteria for archival documents of special values specified in Clause 1, Article 38 of this Law.

6. The Minister of Home Affairs shall provide the order and procedures for recognition and cancellation of recognition of archival documents of special values.

Section 2

PROMOTION OF THE VALUES OF ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTS

Article 40. Archival documents with values to be promoted

1. Archival documents with the following contents will have their values promoted in the forms specified in Article 41 of this Law:

a/ History of national construction and defense, establishment and exercise of sovereignty; process of establishment and development of the state and the nation and traditional values ​​of the country and people of Vietnam;

b/ Typical events and important milestones in the process of formation and development of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the State of Vietnam; sectors, fields and localities; agencies and organizations under various socio-political regimes; and individuals, families, clans and communities through different historical periods;

c/ Typical achievements in the cause of building and defending the Fatherland of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

2. For archival documents other than those specified in Clause 1 of this Article, the heads of state management agencies in charge of archives, agencies, organizations, and historical archives shall proactively promote the values of these documents in appropriate forms.

Article 41. Forms of promoting the values of archival documents

1. Forms of promoting the values of archival documents include:

a/ Publicizing the lists of archival records and documents;

b/ Announcing archival documents;

c/ Exhibiting and introducing archival documents;

d/ Compiling, publishing, printing, and distributing archival publications;

dd/ Integrating the content on promotion of the values of archival documents into activities of education institutions;

e/ Other forms.

2. The values of archival documents shall be promoted in accordance with this Law and other relevant laws.

Article 42. Publicization of the list of archival records and documents

1. The lists of archival records and documents falling into the cases specified in Clause 1, Article 40 of this Law shall be publicized on portals or websites of the historical archives and the agencies or organizations managing archival documents.

2. Head of agencies, organizations or historical archives shall publicize the lists of archival records and documents.

Article 43. Announcement of archival documents

1. Announcement of archival documents refers to the act by which the competent agency managing the archival documents officially announces the full text or part of archival documents to the public.

2. The head of an agency/organization may decide to announce the archival documents under his/her management.

3. The historical archives shall announce archival documents according to decisions of competent agencies managing the documents.

Article 44. Exhibition and introduction of archival documents and compilation, publication, printing and distribution of archival publications

1. Exhibition of archival documents must comply with the law on exhibition.

2. Formulation of radio and television programs, features, documentaries, articles, special topics and periodic sections to introduce archival documents in the mass media and other media.

3. Publishing, printing and distribution of archival publications must comply with the law on publishing.

Article 45. Integration of the content on promotion of the values of archival documents in activities of education institutions

Education institutions within the national education system are encouraged to integrate the content on promotion of the values of archival documents through organizing extracurricular events, educational activities outside class hours, and experiential activities at historical archives; and use archival documents with the contents specified in Clause 1, Article 40 of this Law in educational and training activities to educate students about traditions.

Article 46. Other forms of promoting the values of archival documents

1. Organizing exchange activities, talks, conferences, workshops, and educational and tourism events related to archives.

2. Organizing competitions to learn about and develop creative ideas applying information technology and digital transformation in promoting the values of archival documents.

3. Connecting and sharing archival document information between domestic and foreign archives agencies.

4. Designing and producing items, gifts and souvenirs.

Chapter V

PRIVATE ARCHIVES

Article 47. Management of private archives

1. Private archives shall be organized and implemented in accordance with this Law, other relevant laws and international practices, as well as the specific conditions of organizations, individuals, families, clans and communities, and on the principle of self-financing operating costs.

2. Private archives shall serve practical activities, scientific and historical research, preservation and promotion of traditional values ​​of families, clans and communities, and other values ​​of archival documents, contributing to the conservation and promotion of the cultural identity of the Vietnamese nation.

Article 48. The State’s policies for the development of private archives

1. To disseminate and raise public awareness about the significance and importance of archival documents.

2. To protect ownership rights to private archival documents; to take measures to promptly prevent and handle acts of damaging, appropriating, and illegally using private archival documents.

3. To encourage organizations, individuals, families, clans and communities to provide information on private archival documents to build a database of private archives, and to deposit, donate and sell private archives to the State.

4. To provide guidance on archiving operations for private archival documents serving the community; to provide support in terms of facilities and equipment for organizations, individuals, families, clans and communities to conduct private archives serving the community and promote the values of private archival documents.

5. To create favorable conditions for organizations, individuals, families, clans, and communities to invest resources and develop private archives serving the community.

6. To provide services for appraising the values of private archival documents and recognizing private archival documents of special values; to accept deposits of private archival documents.

7. To honor and reward organizations, individuals, families, clans and communities with achievements and contributions to archives.

Article 49. Rights and obligations of owners of private archival documents

1. To lawfully own private archival documents.

2. To manage, safely preserve, and effectively use and promote the values of private archival documents.

3. To deposit, donate and sell private archival documents.

4. To organize private archives serving the community.

5. To allow agencies, organizations and individuals to use private archival documents as agreed upon.

6. To receive, mobilize and use lawful resources in private archives.

7. To be honored and rewarded by the State in accordance with the law on emulation and commendation.

Article 50. Depositing of private archival documents in historical archives

1. Organizations, individuals, families, clans and communities may deposit private archival documents in historical archives.

2. Historical archives are entitled to refuse to receive private archival documents for deposit in one of the following cases:

a/ There is a dispute over lawful ownership or management rights;

b/ It is impossible to preserve the documents for a long term;

c/ The preservation conditions of the historical archives are not suitable for the documents;

d/ There is a violation of the provisions on prohibited acts in Article 8 of this Law.

Article 51. Donation of private archival documents to the State

1. Private archival documents may be donated to the State if they do not fall into the cases specified in Clause 2, Article 50 of this Law.

2. Historical archives shall receive private archival documents donated to the State according to their competence and scope of management of archival documents.

3. Historical archives shall manage and preserve donated private archival documents in accordance with this Law and other relevant laws.

4. Organizations, individuals, families, clans and communities that have donated archival documents to the State shall be given priority in using these archival documents free of charge; and shall be honored and rewarded in accordance with the law on emulation and commendation.

Article 52. Private archival documents of special values

1. The criteria for determining and the order and procedures for recognizing private archival documents of special values must comply with Articles 38 and 39 of this Law.

2. Private archival documents of special values shall be backed up by the State in accordance with Article 22 of this Law.

3. For private archival documents of special values which are self-preserved by organizations, individuals, families, clans and communities, the State shall support their preservation and value promotion if it is so requested by these organizations, individuals, families, clans and communities. The support includes:

a/ Facilities and equipment to ensure the safety and intactness of archival documents;

b/ Guidance and assistance in performing archiving operations;

c/ Coordination in implementing forms of promoting the values of archival documents.

4. The depositing, donation, purchase and sale of private archival documents of special values are as follows:

a/ It is encouraged to donate and sell private archival documents of special values to the State. The State shall purchase private archival documents of special values as agreed upon;

b/ Organizations, individuals, families, clans and communities may deposit free of charge their private archival documents of special values into historical archives as agreed upon.

5. Owners of private archival documents of special values shall send notices to the Ministry of Home Affairs immediately after performing civil transactions or the occurrence of the following events:

a/ Exchange, donation, sale, or bequeathal of private archival documents of special values as inheritances not falling into the case specified at Point a, Clause 4 of this Article;

b/ When the archival documents are lost or damaged.

6. The taking of private archives of special values abroad must satisfy the following conditions:

a/ Not adversely affecting national defense, national security, and the interests of the state and the nation;

b/ Obtaining the written consent of the Minister of Home Affairs, except the cases specified in Clause 2, Article 3 of this Law.

Chapter VI

ARCHIVAL SERVICES

Article 53. Archival services

1. Archival services include:

a/ Commercially operating technical infrastructure to preserve paper archival records and documents, and archival documents on other types of information carriers;

b/ Commercially operating technical infrastructure to store digital archival records and documents and archival document databases;

c/ Digitizing, creating and standardizing archival document databases;

d/ Restoring, disinfecting, de-acidifying and cleaning archival documents and document repositories;

dd/ Providing consultancy on archiving operations.

2. Archival service business specified in Clause 1 of this Article is a conditional investment and business line.

3. An organization investing in archival service business specified at Points a and b, Clause 1 of this Article must satisfy the following conditions:

a/ Being an enterprise defined in accordance with the law on enterprises;

b/ Having appropriate physical facilities and human resources to provide archival services; individuals in charge of archival techniques and operations possess an archival practice certificate.

4. Organizations that meet the conditions specified in Clause 3 of this Article shall be granted a certificate of eligibility to conduct archival service business by the advisory agency assisting the provincial-level People’s Committee in performing the state management of archives in the locality where their headquarters are located.

5. Individuals in charge of archival techniques and operations at archival service business organizations specified at Points c, d and dd, Clause 1 of this Article, and individuals independently engaged in archival service business must possess an archival practice certificate.

6. The Government shall detail Clause 3 of this Article and provide the order and procedures for granting certificates of eligibility to conduct archival service business.

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

1. Archival service business organizations and individuals include:

a/ Organizations registering to conduct archival service business may provide the archival services specified in Clause 1, Article 53 of this Law;

b/ Individuals independently engaged in archival service business may provide the archival services specified at Points c, d and dd, Clause 1, Article 53 of this Law.

2. Public non-business units shall provide archival services according to their assigned competence.

Article 55. Responsibilities of agencies, organizations and individuals

1. Responsibilities of state management agencies in charge of archives for archival services:

a/ The Ministry of Home Affairs shall guide, inspect and examine archival services nationwide; grant, re-grant and revoke archival practice certificates; and settle complaints and denunciations about archival services in accordance with law;

b/ Provincial- and district-level People’s Committees shall guide, inspect and examine archival services according to their management competence; and settle complaints and denunciations about archival services in accordance with law.

2. Organizations and individuals providing archival services have the following responsibilities:

a/ To comply with the law on archives and other relevant laws;

b/ To be held responsible for the quality of archival services and compensate for damage (if any) during service provision in accordance with law;

c/ To keep confidential information about records and documents of archival service users; to fully archive dossiers and documents on the provision of archival services;

d/ To provide documents and information relating to the results of performance of archival services when requested by competent agencies.

3. Agencies and organizations using archival services have the following responsibilities:

a/ To select organizations and individuals that provide archival services of assured quality and take responsibility for the quality of archival service products;

b/ To manage and supervise the process and results of the performance of archival service contracts of organizations and individuals providing archival services;

c/ Agencies and organizations submitting records and documents into the State’s historical archives shall notify the use of archival services to the agency performing the function of state management of archives. The deadline for sending these notifications is December 31 of the reporting year.

Article 56. Archival practice certificates

1. Archival practice certificates will be granted to individuals who possess sufficient professional qualifications and fully meet the law-specified conditions in order to conduct archival service business.

2. Individuals granted an archival practice certificate have the following rights and obligations:

a/ To practice archival operations nationwide in accordance with law;

b/ To comply with the law on archives and other relevant laws; to comply with the professional ethics;

c/ Not to rent, lend to or allow others to use the granted archival practice certificate to practice archival operations;

d/ To present the archival practice certificate and comply with the inspection and examination requirements of competent agencies.

3. Conditions for an individual to be granted an archival practice certificate:

a/ Being a Vietnamese citizen;

b/ Possessing full civil act capacity;

c/ Possessing an intermediate degree or higher degree suitable for providing archival services and passing the professional test organized by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

For individuals possessing a college or higher degree in archives, they only need to meet the conditions specified at Points a and b of this Clause.

4. Individuals falling into one of the following cases will not be eligible for being granted an archival practice certificate:

a/ Being examined for penal liability;

b/ Currently serving an imprisonment sentence; currently serving an administrative measure of being consigned to a compulsory education facility or compulsory rehabilitation facility;

c/ Having been convicted of one of the crimes related to national security; the crime of intentionally disclosing state secrets; or the crime of appropriating, trading or destroying documents classified as state secrets.

5. An archival practice certificate shall be re-granted in the following cases:

a/ It is damaged or lost;

b/ Its holder’s personal information is changed.

6. An archival practice certificate shall be revoked in the following cases:

a/ Its holder no longer satisfies the conditions specified in Clause 3 of this Article;

b/ Its holder falls into one of the cases specified in Clause 4 of this Article.

7. The Minister of Home Affairs shall provide the examination of archiving operations; and issue detailed regulations on the grant, re-grant and revocation of archival practice certificates.

Chapter VII

STATE MANAGEMENT OF ARCHIVES

Article 57. Contents of state management of archives

1. Formulating, promulgating, guiding, and organizing the implementation of, strategies, plans and policies for archives development; legal documents on archives; standards, technical regulations, technical requirements, techno-economic norms, and product and service quality in archival activities.

2. Disseminating the law on archives.

3. Managing reporting and statistics on archives.

4. Managing archival services.

5. Training, further training and developing archival human resources; setting orientations for professional training programs on archives.

6. Performing emulation and reward work on archives.

7. Carrying out inspection and examination, settling complaints and denunciations, and handling violations of the law on archives.

8. Implementing international cooperation on archives.

Article 58. Responsibility for state management of archives

1. The Government shall perform the unified state management of archives.

2. The Ministry of Home Affairs shall act as the focal agency assisting the Government in performing the unified state management of archives; and assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinating with ministries and ministerial-level agencies in, performing the state management of archives.

3. The Ministry of Public Security shall, within the ambit of its tasks and powers, ensure cyberspace information security in the field of archives.

4. The Ministry of Information and Communications shall formulate and promulgate standards and technical regulations on cyberinformation security in electronic document archiving, except the contents specified in Clause 6, Article 36 of this Law; and coordinate with the Ministry of Home Affairs in applying information technology, digital transformation, cyberinformation security and electronic transactions in the field of archives.

5. Ministries and ministerial-level agencies shall, within the ambit of their respective tasks and powers, perform the state management of archives.

6. People’s Committees at all levels shall, within the ambit of their tasks and powers, perform the state management of archives in their localities.

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

1. Heads of agencies and organizations, within the ambit of their tasks and powers, have the following responsibilities:

a/ To organize public communication to raise public awareness about protection and value promotion of archival documents;

b/ To direct the digitization and building of archival document databases; to manage archival documents and archival document databases, and organize archives in accordance with law;

c/ To direct current archives to submit records and documents into historical archives with sufficient components within the law-specified time limit;

d/ To select organizations and individuals to provide archival services for archival documents under their management.

2. The head of historical archives shall ensure the necessary conditions for agencies, organizations and individuals to promptly and fully access information in archival documents when needed.

3. The Minister of National Defense, the Minister of Public Security and the Minister of Foreign Affairs shall perform the responsibilities specified at Points a, b and d, Clause 1 of this Article, and the following responsibilities:

a/ To issue regulations on archives within the scope of their management which match their respective organizational structures, functions and tasks, after reaching agreement with the Minister of Home Affairs;

b/ To establish specialized archives to manage archival documents within the scope of their management;

c/ To establish a list of eternal archival records and documents within the scope of their management, except documents containing state secrets, and send annual updates to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

4. Officials, civil servants, public employees and workers shall submit records and documents to current archives according to the requirements and deadlines prescribed by law.

Article 60. Funds for archives assurance

Funds for ensuring archives of state agencies, political organizations, Vietnam Fatherland Front Committees, socio-political organizations, the people’s armed forces units, and historical archives shall be allocated from the state budget and used for the following activities:

1. Receiving and submitting archival records and documents; collecting archival documents;

2. Editing, valuating and cataloging archival records and documents;

3. Preserving, storing backups of, ensuring information security for, and statistically compiling archival documents;

4. Digitizing, building and standardizing archival document databases;

5. Promoting the values of archival documents;

6. Researching and applying sciences and transferring technologies in the field of archives;

7. Developing human resources for the archives sector;

8. Implementing international cooperation on archives;

9. Building and arranging archives facilities; and technical infrastructure and information technology infrastructure for archives;

10. Purchasing archival equipment and facilities;

11. Performing other activities serving archives.

Article 61. Archivists

Archivists in state agencies, political organizations, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committees, socio-political organizations, state enterprises, public non-business units, and the people’s armed forces units are entitled to preferential treatment based on their sectors and specific jobs, and other regimes and policies in accordance with law.

Article 62. International cooperation on archives

1. International cooperation on archives shall be implemented on the basis of respect for independence, sovereignty, equality, and mutual benefit in accordance with Vietnam’s law and treaties to which the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party.

2. Contents of international cooperation on archives include:

a/ Signing, and organizing the implementation of, treaties and international agreements on archives;

b/ Acceding to international organizations on archives;

c/ Formulating and implementing international cooperation programs and projects on archives;

d/ Exchanging and cooperating on archives management and archiving operations;

dd/ Coordinating with foreign agencies and organizations to organize exhibitions and displays of archival documents on Vietnam;

e/ Researching, applying and transferring science and technology on archives;

g/ Cooperating in protecting Vietnamese archival documents abroad;

h/ Cooperating in developing human resources and exchanging experts in the archives sector;

i/ Exchanging and sharing archival documents to promote the values of archival documents.

Chapter VIII

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 63. Amendments and supplements to a number of articles of relevant laws

1. To add business line No. 229 after No. 228 in Appendix IV on the List of conditional business lines to Investment Law No. 61/2020/QH14, which has a number of articles amended and supplemented under 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:

2. To add serial number 10 after serial number 09, Section V, Part B of Appendix No. 01 on the List of charges and fees to Law No. 97/2015/QH13 on Charges and Fees, which has a number of articles amended and supplemented under 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:

Article 64. Effect

1. This Law takes effect on July 1, 2025.

2. Law No. 01/2011/QH13 on Archives ceases to be effective on the date this Law takes effect, except the cases specified at Points a, b, c and d, Clause 1, and Clauses 5 and 6, Article 65 of this Law.

Article 65. Transitional provisions

1. From the effective date of this Law:

a/ Within 10 years, provincial-level People’s Committee shall organize the editing and valuation of documents in accordance with Law No. 01/2011/QH13 on Archives, and submission to the provincial-level historical archives of the State the documents of eternal values that are created during the activities of commune-level People’s Councils and People’s Committees before the effective date of this Law;

b/ Within 5 years, the agencies and organizations subject to submission of archival documents as specified in Law No. 01/2011/QH13 on Archives shall complete the editing and valuation of documents according to Law No. 01/2011/QH13 on Archives for documents created before the effective date of this Law but not yet edited according to Law No. 01/2011/QH13 on Archives, and submit them to the historical archives according to this Law;

c/ Within 10 years, historical archives shall complete the editing and valuation of documents according to Law No. 01/2011/QH13 on Archives for documents currently preserved in the historical archives but not yet edited according to Law No. 01/2011/QH13 on Archives;

d/ Organizations and individuals that are qualified to provide document editing services under Law No. 01/2011/QH13 on Archives and organizations and individuals that provide consultancy services on archiving operations according to this Law may edit and valuate the documents specified at Points a, b and c of this Clause;

dd/ Within 5 years, agencies and organizations that have classified state secrets shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the historical archives in, declassifying the documents already submitted into the historical archives in accordance with the law on protection of state secrets. The declassification of archival documents already submitted into the historical archives in case the agency classifying state secrets is no longer in operation must comply with the law on protection of state secrets and Clause 2 of this Article.

2. The declassification of archival documents in case the agency classifying state secrets is no longer in operation as specified at Point dd, Clause 1 of this Article is as follows:

a/ The head of the advisory agency assisting the Minister of Home Affairs or the provincial-level People’s Committee in performing the state management of archives shall decide to declassify archival documents in case it is necessary to meet practical requirements for protection of interests of the state and the nation; socio-economic development; and international integration and cooperation;

b/ The head of historical archives shall carry out forms of declassifying archival documents in case the documents are no longer on the list of state secrets;

c/ Archival documents shall not be declassified in case their declassification is likely to be detrimental to the interests of the state and the nation.

3. The destruction of state secret-containing archival documents already submitted into the historical archives before the effective date of this Law is as follows:

a/ The Minister of Home Affairs may decide to destroy documents in the central historical archives of the State; chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees may decide to destroy documents in provincial-level historical archives of the State;

b/ State secret-containing archival documents shall be destroyed in the following cases: It is no longer necessary to archive them and the destruction of the documents is not detrimental to the interests of the state and the nation; and the non-destruction of the documents will be detrimental to the interests of the state and the nation;

c/ The destruction of state secret-containing archival documents must meet the requirements prescribed by the law on protection of state secrets.

4. Archival documents with a definite archiving period that are stored in the historical archives before the effective date of this Law will continue to be archived in the historical archives until the end of their archiving period.

5. The archival practice certificates granted in accordance with Law No. 01/2011/QH13 on Archives remain valid until their expiry dates.

6. For records and documents of eternal values of agencies and organizations that are subject to submission into the historical archives, that are created before the effective date of this Law, the deadline for their submission to the historical archives must comply with Law No. 01/2011/QH13 on Archives but must not be later than July 1, 2030.-

This Law was passed on June 21, 2024, by the 15^th National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at its 7^th session.

Chairman of the National Assembly
TRAN THANH MAN