Guidance on bringing archival materials out of current and historical archival unit in Vietnam from July 1, 2025

Guidance on bringing archival materials out of current and historical archival unit in Vietnam from July 1, 2025 (Internet image)

Law on Archives 2024 was approved by the 15th National Assembly, 7th session on June 21, 2024.

1. Guidance on bringing archival materials out of current and historical archival unit in Vietnam from July 1, 2025

According to Article 24 of the Law on Archives 2024, the specific regulations on bringing archival materials out of current and historical archival unit in Vietnam are as follows:

- archival materials are allowed to be taken out of current and historical archival unit by the decision of the competent authority as stipulated in Clauses 2, 3, and 4 of Article 24 of the Law on Archives 2024 and must be fully and intactly returned.

- The transfer of documents belonging to the Communist Party of Vietnam Archive out of the Party's current and historical archives is regulated by the competent Party agency.

- Except for cases where archival documents recognized as national treasures are taken abroad as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 3 of the Law on Archives 2024, the authority to bring archival materials out of current and historical archival unit is regulated as follows:

- The Minister of Home Affairs decides on the transfer of archival materials from the central State historical archive abroad;

- The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee decides on the transfer of archival materials from the provincial State historical archive abroad;

- The head of a historical archive decides on the transfer of archival materials out of the historical archive for domestic use;

- The head of an agency or organization decides on the transfer of archival materials out of current archives for use in both domestic and foreign contexts.

- The Minister of Defense, the Minister of Public Security, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs regulate the transfer of documents of the defense, public security, and foreign affairs sectors out of archives for use in both domestic and foreign contexts.

2. Forms and authority for permitting the use of archival materials in Vietnam from July 1, 2024

The forms and authority for permitting the use of archival materials in Vietnam are stipulated in Article 23 of the Law on Archives 2024 as follows:

- Forms of using archival materials include:

+ Serving readers to use archival materials;

+ Issuing copies of archival materials.

- Copies of archival materials include authenticated copies from the head of the agency, organization, or historical archive, and unauthenticated copies.

The head of the agency, organization, or historical archive is legally responsible for issuing authenticated copies of archival materials.

Authenticated copies of archival materials from the agency, organization, or historical archive have the same value as the original archival materials currently preserved in current archives and historical archives.

- The authority for permitting the use of archival materials is regulated as follows:

+ The head of the agency or organization decides on the use of archival materials preserved in the current archive;

+ The head of the historical archive decides on the use of archival materials preserved in the historical archive. For archival documents with conditional access as stipulated in Clause 3, Article 25 of the Law on Archives 2024, the head of the historical archive decides on their use after obtaining consent from the advisory body assisting the Minister of Home Affairs, the Provincial People's Committee, or the private archival document owner.

- The use of archival materials containing state secrets is carried out in accordance with the law on the protection of state secrets.

More details can be found in Law on Archives 2024, effective from July 1, 2025.

Law on Archives 2011 ceases to be effective in Vietnam from the day the Law on Archives 2024 comes into effect, except for cases stipulated in points a, b, c, and d of Clause 1, Clause 5, and Clause 6 of Article 65 of the Law on Archives 2024.

Vo Tan Dai

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