National Archives of Iceland
Amendments to the Public Archives Act
4th September 2024
In early July, amendments to the Law No. 77/2014 on Public Archives, which were approved June 22nd by the Icelandic parliament, Althingi, took effect.
Two legislative proposals were then passed that had an effect on the laws on public archives, on one hand laws nr. 88/2024 on the Human Rights Institution of Iceland and on the other an amendment to laws nr. 108/2024 on public archives (tariff, electronic returns). The Human Rights Agency of Iceland legislation included a provision in the laws on public archives that the institution would be exempt from the obligation to deliver documents to the National Archives as the Parliament and its institutions have been.
The amendment to the Laws on Public Archives resulted in more extensive changes. The cause of these changes were decisions of the Cities of Reykjavík and Kópavogur to close their district archives. When these decisions were tested it became apparent that the laws on public archives were not sufficiently clear, especially regarding the charging authority of public archives.
Work on the draft legislation also provided the opportunity to amend other provisions of the Act as necessary. The main changes to the Act on Public Archives that resulted from the adoption of the Act are:
The wording of the Act on how the administration should behave when deciding to discontinue the operation of the district archives, whether it is operated by a municipality or a regional association, was clarified so that preparations for the transfer of the collection and the transfer of the district archives’ tasks can be successfully executed.
The National Archives of Iceland's authority to charge municipalities that do not operate a district archives and are required to deliver documents to the National Archives was clarified. According to the laws on public archives, all municipalities are required to bear the cost of long-term possession of their documents, either by operating a district archives themselves, being a member of such a museum, or by delivering documents to the National Archives and paying for the possession. So far, the National Archives have only been allowed to charge a fee for the possession of municipal documents, but not for other services that the museum is supposed to provide under the law, such as advising on the archiving of documents, supervision of it and the sharing of data. With clearer authority to charge fees for the National Archives, municipalities' equality on the cost of long-term possession of their own documents is better secured than before the amendment of the law.
A transitional provision was made that the National Archives can offer employees of regional archives who have ceased operations work in the National Archives without prior notice.
A new provision was made that public archives can charge for increased research work when accessing data.
The fees charged by public archives are clarified. Instead of either requiring the minister to regulate such fees or requiring public archives to set tariffs, a single tariff provision clarifies what fees public archives may charge and what cost factors must be included in the fee.
The principle is that the documents of the parties that are required to submit them be submitted to the public archives in electronic form for long-term preservation. This is a very important change that supports the digital journey of the public sector, both at the state and local level, and will ensure better preservation of public information, which is almost entirely in electronic form.