Procedure for Accreditation of Private Archives

Issued pursuant to
Section 25, Paragraph three of the Archives Law

1. This Regulation prescribes the procedure for the accreditation of private archives.

2. Private archives shall submit an accreditation application (Annex) and the documents referred to in Paragraph 3 of this Regulation to the National Archives of Latvia.

3. The following documents shall be appended to an accreditation application:

3.1. a copy of the constitutive decision for the archives;

3.2. a copy of the by-law or statutes of the archives approved by the founder of the archives;

3.3. information regarding the archives in which the following information shall be included:

3.3.1. organisation of the work of the archives;

3.3.2. management of the resources of the archives;

3.3.2.1. qualifications (education and length of service in the archives) of the employees of the archives;

3.3.2.2. environment, premises and security systems for preservation and protection of the private documents accepted for storage and the public documents to be stored temporarily;

3.3.3. management of the processes of the archives;

3.3.3.1. publicly available finding aids for provision of access to and use of documents;

3.3.3.2. control and description of the accessioned documents; and

3.3.3.3. archival services.

4. For ensuring the course of accreditation the National Archives of Latvia shall establish a Private Archives Accreditation Commission (hereinafter - Accreditation Commission). The By-law of the Accreditation Commission shall be approved by the Director of the National Archives of Latvia.

5. The following persons shall be included in the composition of the Accreditation Commission:

5.1. a representative of the Ministry of Culture;

5.2. a representative of the Employer's Confederation of Latvia;

5.3. three representatives of the National Archives of Latvia; and

5.4. a representative of the Archivists Association of Latvia.

6. The accreditation of private archives shall be commenced following the receipt of an accreditation application and all the documents referred to in Paragraph 3 of this Regulation.

7. The Accreditation Commission shall examine the accreditation application and the documents appended thereto, shall become acquainted with the activity of the private archives and prepare an opinion regarding the compliance of the private archives to the accreditation conditions prescribed by the Archives Law for the Director of the National Archives of Latvia.

8. The Director of the National Archives of Latvia in accordance with the opinion of the Accreditation Commission regarding the compliance of the private archives to the accreditation conditions prescribed by the Archives Law shall, within a period of one month following the receipt of the accreditation application, take a decision regarding accrediting the private archives or refusal to accredit the private archives and shall notify the private archives regarding the results of the accreditation.

9. If a private archives wishes to acquire repeatedly the status of an accredited private archives, it shall, not later than one month prior to the end of the validity of the accreditation term. submit the accreditation application referred to in Paragraph 2 of this Regulation to the National Archives of Latvia. The documents referred to in Paragraph 3 of this Regulation where the information included has changed since the accreditation of the private archives shall be appended to the application.

10. The Director of the National Archives of Latvia shall take a decision to revoke the accreditation of a private archives if:

10.1. the private archives is being terminated;

10.2. the private archives does not comply with the accreditation conditions prescribed by the Archives Law.

11. The National Archives of Latvia shall establish and maintain the Accredited Private Archives Register which shall be publicly available on the website of the National Archives of Latvia (http://www.archivi.lv).

12. Decisions by the Director of the National Archives of Latvia may be contested by an applicant in the Ministry of Culture in accordance with the procedure specified in the Administrative Procedure Law.

13. This Regulation shall come into force on 1 January 2012.

Prime Minister V. Dombrovskis

Minister for Culture S.Ēlerte

Annex
Cabinet Regulation No. 337
3 May 2011

Accreditation Application of Private Archives

* Details of the document "date", "signature" and "place for seal" shall not be completed if the electronic document has been drawn up in conformity with the regulatory enactments regarding the drawing up of electronic documents.

Minister for Culture S.Ēlerte

Translation © 2011 Valsts valodas centrs (State Language Centre)