On the supervision of the National Archives

Obligations of the National Archives of Iceland

The National Archives of Iceland has a statutory obligation to supervise the submission of documents by the parties under Article 13 of Act No. 77/2014 on Public Archives. It states that the National Archives shall “supervise the implementation of this law by the submission parties, regulations set by the Minister on the basis of this law and rules established under Article 8; submission parties shall grant access to their premises for examinations in the interests of supervision of public archives”.

On the basis of this provision and the rules that apply to the archiving and document management of the parties that are required to deliver documents, the National Archives of Iceland has developed its organized controls, which consist of regular inspections and on the other hand, organized inspection visits to the facilities of the parties that are required to deliver documents.

The National Archives of Iceland conducted its first comprehensive surveillance survey of the State's delegated entities in 2004. The next survey was however not conducted until 2012. Since then, surveillance surveys have been conducted every four years. In 2017, a survey was also conducted on the records of municipal offices that are delegated to the National Archives. The National Archives of Iceland plans to conduct such comprehensive surveillance surveys every four years to get an overview of the status of the country's records and records management and to monitor its development. To promote effective and transparent surveillance, the National Archives of Iceland has developed a development model where the status of the delegated entity in the records and records management is assessed based on the results of the surveillance survey. The results of the surveillance survey are also used each time to develop a plan for organized surveillance and follow-up that is valid for the next four years or until the next surveillance survey is on the agenda.

Laws, regulations and rules relating to the custody and records management of the persons subject to the obligation of delivery

Law

• Law no. 77/2014 on public archives

• Information Act no. 140/2012

• Administrative Law no. 37/1993

• Local Government Act no. 138/2011

• Law no. 90/2018 on personal protection and processing of personal information

• Law no. 145/1994 on accounting

• Law no. 55/2009 on medical records

• Law no. 21/1991 on bankruptcy etc.

• Law no. 88/2008 on handling criminal cases

• Law no. 91/1991 on the handling of civil cases

• Law no. 68/2011 on investigative committees

Regulations

• Regulation no. 283/1994 on regional archives

Rules

• Rules no. 877/2020 on the notification, approval and submission of electronic databases of parties liable for delivery

• Rules no. 331/2020 on the handling, storage and deletion of e-mails of parties liable for delivery

• Rules no. 85/2018 on the registration of cases and legal documents of parties subject to delivery

• Rules no. 573/2015 on the completion, registration and delivery of paper archives of parties liable for delivery

• Rules no. 572/2015 on the case keys of parties liable for delivery

• Rules no. 571/2015 on document storage plans of parties liable for delivery

• Rules no. 100/2014 on the delivery of the custody of data from the electronic data systems of parties liable for delivery

• Rules no. 627/2010 on storage in the archives of municipalities and their institutions

• Rules no. 320/2016 on the registration of communications in the Government Council of Iceland

• Advertisement no. 22/2013 on guidelines for writing the minutes of local council meetings

• Rules no. 189/2009 on the registration of cases at district courts, registers, record keeping, etc. In criminal cases

Disclaimer

Please note that the information provided on this website has been translated using machine translation tools. While we strive for accuracy, the translated content may not fully reflect the original intent or meaning. The original content in Icelandic is considered the authoritative source and should be referenced for complete accuracy. Additionally, please be aware that this website is currently under construction and not all content has been translated yet. We appreciate your patience as we work to improve the website and its content. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to us at upplysingar@skjalasafn.is.