Addressing shortcomings in archiving practices.
Continuing the agenda of the 6th Session, on the afternoon of November 10th, Minister of Home Affairs Pham Thi Thanh Tra, authorized by the Prime Minister, presented the draft Law on Archives (amended).
According to the Minister, after more than 10 years of implementation, in addition to the achievements, the 2011 Archives Law has revealed shortcomings and limitations such as: It has not promptly institutionalized the new policies and guidelines of the Party and State in the field of archives; many practical issues are not regulated by the 2011 Archives Law or are regulated but not specifically enough, causing difficulties in implementation, such as the authority to manage archival documents, the management of electronic archival documents, private archival activities, and the management of archival services.
The need to amend the Archives Law is affirmed as necessary to institutionalize the Party and State's guidelines and policies on archives, innovate management and operational activities related to archives, overcome shortcomings and limitations in current archival work, and promote the application and development of information technology to meet the requirements of sustainable, comprehensive development and international integration.
The draft Law comprises 9 chapters and 68 articles (an increase of 2 chapters and 26 articles compared to the 2011 Archives Law), with amendments and additions focusing on four policies approved by the Government in Resolution No. 152, including: Regulations on the authority to manage archival documents; regulations on the archiving of electronic and digital documents; regulations on private archival activities; and regulations on archival service activities.
Minister Pham Thi Thanh Tra presented the report.
Regarding regulations on the authority to manage archival documents, Ms. Tra stated that the draft Law adds provisions on the authority to manage documents in the Vietnam National Archives, clearly defining the authority to manage the archival document database;
Archival documents of the Communist Party of Vietnam Archives and the State Archives of Vietnam are managed between competent Party agencies and State archival management agencies; the management of archival documents is decentralized between State archival agencies at the central and local levels;
The authority to manage documents in the defense, public security, and diplomatic sectors, as well as the authority to manage archival documents at the commune level, will be clarified. "This will create a unified legal framework for managing archival documents and databases, ensuring the effectiveness and efficiency of state management," Ms. Tra stated.
Regarding regulations on the storage of electronic and digital documents, the draft Law clearly stipulates the types of electronic archival documents; digitized archival documents; conversion of digital archival documents to paper archival documents; building and updating the archival document database; the digital archival document management system; the collection, preservation, use of digital archival documents and destruction of digital archival documents that have lost their value; digital archives; and the storage of other electronic archival documents.
Regarding regulations on private archiving activities, the draft Law clearly stipulates the requirements of private archiving activities; State support for private archiving activities; rights of organizations and individuals in private archiving activities; responsibilities of organizations and individuals in private archiving activities; private archiving activities; private archiving professional activities; archiving activities serving the community; buying, selling, exchanging, and donating private archival documents of special value; and promoting the value of private archival documents.
Regarding regulations on archival services, Ms. Tra stated that the draft Law clearly defines archival service activities; principles of archival service operations; organizations and individuals engaged in and providing archival services; responsibilities of agencies, organizations, and individuals; and archival professional certificates.
Maximizing the value of private archival documents.
Reviewing the draft Law on Archives (amended), Chairman of the Legal Committee Hoang Thanh Tung stated that the Legal Committee agrees on the necessity of comprehensively amending the 2011 Law on Archives.
Regarding the scope of regulation, the Legal Committee generally agrees with the provisions of the draft Law, which aim to expand the scope of regulation to include private archiving activities in order to create a legal framework for organizations and individuals to participate in archiving activities, contributing to ensuring the preservation and promotion of the value of private archival documents for the benefit of the community and the nation.
At the same time, we will implement the orientation of promoting the socialization of archival activities, building an archival society and an archival nation.
The Legal Committee proposed reviewing the provisions of the draft Law in relation to the Law on Cultural Heritage and the proposed amendments to this Law concerning the management of archival documents recognized as "documentary heritage," and private archival documents of special value recognized as national treasures, in order to establish appropriate regulations and avoid overlaps and inconsistencies between the two laws.
Regarding the composition of the Vietnamese National Archives, the Legal Committee generally agrees with the provisions of the draft Law on the Vietnamese National Archives, which stipulate that it includes all archival documents of Vietnam, regardless of the time of creation, storage location, recording technique, and information carrier.
Chairman of the Legal Committee Hoang Thanh Tung.
The Legal Committee proposes reviewing and clarifying several provisions in Clause 3, Article 7 of the draft Law, specifically: The provision in point b, Clause 3, regarding the Vietnamese State Archives, which includes archival documents formed during the operation of "agencies, organizations, and individuals not specified in point a of this Clause," has already encompassed all agencies and organizations mentioned in points b, c, and d of Clause 3, thus causing duplication and inaccuracy; and adding a provision for archival documents formed during the operation of social organizations and socio-professional organizations at the commune level in point c, Clause 3, to fully cover archival documents at the commune level.
Regarding the authority to manage archival documents and archival document databases, Mr. Tung stated that the majority of opinions within the Legal Committee agreed with the delineation of authority to manage archival documents and archival document databases as stipulated in Article 9 of the draft Law;
Some opinions suggested that the agency in charge of drafting the report should clarify the specifics of submitting, managing, and using archival documents generated during the operation of the diplomatic sector, as well as the advantages and disadvantages (if any), so that the National Assembly has a basis to consider assigning the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to directly manage and archive diplomatic documents, instead of submitting them to the State Historical Archives.
Regarding the archiving of electronic and digital documents, the Committee on Basic Laws generally agrees with the provisions of the draft Law on the archiving of electronic and digital documents.
At the same time, it is requested that the drafting agency conduct a thorough assessment, clearly define the implementation roadmap, resources, and other necessary conditions for implementing regulations related to the archiving of electronic and digital documents to ensure feasibility ...
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