Law on the safeguarding and use of archival material of the federal government (Federal Archives Act-BArchG)

Unofficial table of contents

BArchG

Date of completion: 06.01.1988

Full quote:

" Federal Archives Act of 6 January 1988 (BGBl. 62), as last amended by Article 4 (38) of the Law of 7 August 2013 (BGBl). I p. 3154).

Status:

Last amended by Art. 4 Abs. 38 G v. 7.8.2013 I 3154

For more details, please refer to the menu under Notes

Footnote

(+ + + Text evidence from: 15.1.1988 + + +) 
(+ + + Changes due to EinigVtr cf.  § 2 + + +) 

  

Unofficial table of contents

§ 1

The Federal Archives are to be protected by the Federal Archives in the long term, to make use of the archives and to exploit them scientifically. Unofficial table of contents

§ 2

(1) The constitutional bodies, authorities and courts of the Federal Government, the federal bodies, institutions and foundations of public law and the other bodies of the Federation shall have all the documents which they provide for the performance of their public No longer need tasks, including the maintenance of the security of the Federal Republic of Germany or any of its countries, to offer to the Federal Archives or, in the cases referred to in paragraph 3, the competent State Archives for adoption and, if it is concerned, Documents of permanent value within the meaning of § 3 are to be considered as archival material of the Federal Government . Documents whose disclosure would be contrary to the confidentiality of the letter, post or telecommunications are exempted from the obligation to offer them. Regulations of the Federal Government, by which other bodies are assigned tasks according to § 1 shall remain unaffected. (2) The legislative bodies shall decide on their own responsibility whether to offer documents and to submit documents. (3) Documents of subordinated bodies of the federal government, whose local jurisdiction does not extend to the entire scope of this law, are to be offered and handed over to the competent national archives with the consent of the competent top-level federal authority, if the protection of the interests of third parties within the meaning of paragraph 4 and the § § § § § § § § 4 and 5 is ensured by the Land Law. The competent supreme federal authority may offer and submit such documents to the Federal Archives, provided that there is a well-founded interest of the Federal Government. (4) To offer and to submit are also documents which are

1.

§ 30 of the First Book of the Social Code, § 32 of the Law on the Deutsche Bundesbank or § 9 of the Law on the Banking Act, or § 30 of the Code of Tax Law, or

2.

shall be subject to secrecy other than those referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.

The Federal Archives must take into account the vulnerable concerns of the person concerned from the transfer to the issuing body, in the same way as the issuing body; in particular, in the case of documents containing personal data, the Federal Archives have to comply with the requirements laid down in the regulations concerning the Processing and securing of these documents, which apply to the issuing body. (5) As far as uniform documents, which are produced in large numbers, have a permanent value within the meaning of § 3, the nature and scope of the documents to be provided to the competent archive shall be by agreement with the bodies referred to in paragraph 1 to establish in advance in principle. In the case of machine-readable data carriers, the form of transmission of the data is to be agreed in addition; it must comply with the generally accepted rules of technology. If such documents, which have been offered to the competent archive, are not accepted within four months, the offering body shall not be obliged to retain the documents further. (6) Documents which, in the opinion of the (7) legislation on the obligation to destroy documents shall remain unaffected. (8) Documents in the sense of the this law shall be files, documents, maps, plans and carriers of Data, image, film, sound and other records, which shall be recorded at the offices of the Federal Government referred to in paragraph 1, at positions of the German Democratic Republic, in places of occupation zones, of the German Reich or of the German Confederation (9) Documents within the meaning of this Act are also those of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, the organizations and the legal entities associated with this party. persons and the mass organizations of the German Democratic Republic, to the extent that they relate to the performance of state tasks This shall also apply to other parties and to organisations and legal persons of the German Democratic Republic associated with these parties. (10) The Federal Archives shall advise the authorities of the Federal Government referred to in paragraph 1 in the administration of their documents. Unofficial table of contents

§ 2a

(1) Under the name "Stiftung Archiv der Parties und MassenOrganizations der DDR" (Foundation Archive of the Parties and Mass Organisations of the GDR), an independent foundation under public law is established in the Federal Archives. The foundation is created by the remission of the Federal Minister of the Interior. (2) The Foundation has the task of taking over documents from posts in accordance with § 2 para. 9, to secure, to make use of, and to supplement it in the long term. This also applies to other documents, materials and library holdings on German history, in particular to the history of the German and international labour movement, which are thus in historical or factual context. (3) Documents according to § 2 (9) are to be transferred as Foundation assets of the Foundation. For other documents, materials and library holdings separate agreements must be concluded with the owners. (4) The protection period of 30 years referred to in § 5 (1) sentence 1 shall not apply to the Foundation's holdings. In addition, the use of the documents of the Foundation shall be regulated in accordance with the last sentence of Article 5 (1) and the provisions of paragraphs 2, 5 and 6. Unofficial table of contents

§ 3

The Federal Archives shall decide, in consultation with the offering body, whether the documents remain value for the research or understanding of German history, the safeguarding of legitimate concerns of the citizens or the provision of Information for legislation, administration or case-law. Unofficial table of contents

§ 4

(1) Legal claims affected by the destruction of the personal data concerning them shall remain unaffected. (2) The data subject shall, upon request, be provided with information on the data contained in the archive material to the extent that the archive material has been obtained by The name of the person has been opened. In place of information, the Federal Archives may grant access to the files. (3) If it is found that personal data are incorrect, this is to be noted in the documents or to be recorded in other ways. If a person concerned disputes the accuracy of personal data, he or she shall be given the opportunity to present a reply. The responsible archive shall be obliged to add the reply to the documents. The counter-representation may also be required by heirs of the person concerned if they assert a legitimate interest in it. Unofficial table of contents

§ 5

(1) The right to use the archives of the Federal Government from a period of more than 30 years is to be applied to everyone on request, unless otherwise provided by law. Further legal rights and special agreements for the benefit of owners of private archives remain unaffected. (2) The Federal Archives, which refers to natural persons, may not be allowed to take part in the archives until 30 years after the death of the persons concerned. Third parties are used. If the year of death is not or can only be ascertained at an unreasonable cost, the protection period ends 110 years after the birth of the person concerned. (3) The archive material according to § 2 para. 4 may not be used until 60 years after the date of birth. This protection period shall not apply to documents from the period prior to 23 May 1949, the use of which is necessary for the carrying out of certain scientific research activities or for the exercise of legitimate concerns. (4) The protection periods of the Paragraphs 1 to 3 shall not apply to such documents which were already intended for publication in the course of their formation. The same applies to archival material, to the extent that prior to the transfer to the Federal Archives or the archives of the legislative bodies, it has already been open to information access under the Freedom of Information Act. (5) The protection period referred to in paragraph 1 Sentence 1 may be shortened, provided that paragraph 6 does not preclude this. The protection periods referred to in the first sentence of paragraph 1 and paragraph 2 may be shortened if the consent of the person concerned is available. If the consent of the person concerned is not available, the protection periods referred to in the first sentence of paragraph 1 and paragraph 2 may be shortened if the use is indispensable for a scientific research project or for the exercise of legitimate concerns, which: are in the overriding interest of another person or body, and an impairment of legitimate concerns can be excluded by appropriate measures, in particular by presenting anonymized reproductions. The protection periods referred to in the first sentence of paragraph 1 and paragraph 2 may be shortened for persons of the history of time and office holders in the performance of their duties if the interests of the person concerned are duly taken into account. The protection periods referred to in the first sentence of paragraph 1 and paragraph 3 may be extended by a maximum of 30 years, in so far as this is in the public interest. If the archive material has been created by the Federal Government as referred to in § 2 para. 1, the reduction or extension of the protection periods shall be subject to the consent of this body. (6) The use shall not be permitted if:

1.

There is reason to believe that the good of the Federal Republic of Germany or of one of its countries would be endangered, or

2.

There is reason to believe that the interests of third parties are worthy of protection, or

3.

the conservation status of the archive material would be endangered, or

4.

an unreasonable administrative burden would be incurred, or

5.

the obligation of secrecy in accordance with Section 203 (1) to (3) of the Criminal Code or other federal legislation on secrecy would be violated.

(7) The use of documents which are subject to the obligation of secrecy in accordance with Section 203 (1) or (3) of the Criminal Code may be restricted or denied as far as this is necessary for the protection of legitimate concerns of the person concerned. This shall also apply to documents referred to in the second sentence of paragraph 3. (8) In the case of the use of documents older than 30 years and still subject to the power of disposal of the bodies referred to in Article 2 (1), paragraphs 1 to 7 shall apply accordingly. This does not apply to documents which are not accepted by the Federal Archives pursuant to § 2 (5) and (6). (9) The linking of personal data is only permissible if the interests of those concerned are not affected by the protection of the protection of personal data. Unofficial table of contents

§ 6

(1) The member of the Federal Government responsible for the affairs of culture and the media is authorized to do so by means of a decree law which does not require the approval of the Bundesrat.

1.

to regulate the use of archive material at the Federal Archives and

2.

To adopt rules on fees and charges for their use.

The fees are to be determined in the light of the use of the Federal Archives according to the personnel and material expenses incurred by the use of the Federal Archives. (2) The member of the Federal Government responsible for culture and the media is authorized to Legal regulation without the consent of the Federal Council Procedure and the form of compulsory registration of cinematographic works. Unofficial table of contents

§ 7

The Federal Government may delegate to the Federal Archives other functions of the Federal Government, other than those specified in this Act or in other laws, which are in fact connected with the archives of the Federal Government or research into German history. Unofficial table of contents

§ 7a

(1) The manufacturers and co-producers of German feature films have to register these films in a database at the Federal Archives in accordance with sentences 2 and 3. The registration is within twelve months after the first public performance in a cinema, at a national or international important festival, at a national or international major award ceremony or after a public Award at such a nationally or internationally significant event. If a German feature film is not made public, the time limit set out in the second sentence shall begin with the completion of the film. (2) The producers and co-producers of cinematographic works within the meaning of paragraph 1 shall have at the time of registration, but no later than twelve months later in the Federal Archives, in which location a technically flawless archival copy of the cinema film is located. Any changes made to the location of a film copy must be immediately communicated to the Federal Archives. (3) Cinema films within the meaning of this Act are film-making works,

1.

which are intended for a public performance in a cinema or which are publicly listed at a national or international festival or at a national or international award ceremony; and

2.

in the case of those not within the meaning of Section 3 (4) of the Law on the German National Library of 22 June 2006 (BGBl. 1338), which is the subject of Article 15 (62) of the Law of 5 February 2009 (BGBl. I p. 160) has been changed, the music is in the foreground.

For the purposes of this Act, German cinematographic films are feature films whose manufacturers are domicated, registered or established in Germany; in the case of coproduction, one of the producers must be domicated, registered or established in Germany. Germany. (4) National or international festivals and awards ceremonies within the meaning of this Act are the festivals and awards ceremonies, including all the festival series, which are mentioned in the current version.

1.

§ 22 (3) sentence 1 and § 41 (3) of the Film Promotion Act as amended by the announcement of 24 August 2004 (BGBl). 2277), the most recent of which is Article 1 of the Law of 31 July 2010 (BGBl. 1048), and

2.

of the Directives referred to in paragraph 1.

(5) Paragraph 1 shall apply to non-programme films only if they have been either publicly listed or funded with public funding, or if a public award is awarded at a national or international festival of importance or at a national or international award ceremony. Movie theaters are not program-filling if they have a lead time of less than 79 minutes or for children's films of less than 59 minutes. Unofficial table of contents

§ 7b

(1) The offence is unlawful.

1.

contrary to the first sentence of Article 7a (1), a cinema film is not registered, not correct or not in good time, or

2.

Contrary to § 7a (2) sentence 1, a notice shall not be published or not made in time

(2) The conduct of an act referred to in paragraph 1 as a person subject to professional registration is negligent. (3) The administrative offence can be punished with a fine of up to ten thousand euros. (4) Administrative authority In the sense of Section 36 (1) (1) of the Code of Administrative Offences, the Federal Archives are. Unofficial table of contents

§ 8

Documents contained in the tax secrecy pursuant to Section 30 of the German Tax Code concerning the circumstances of another or other business or business secrets may also be used by other public authorities other than those referred to in Article 2 (1) of the German Code of Confidentiality. responsible public archives for the purpose of archiving. The use of the documents shall apply in accordance with the provisions of this Act which apply to documents within the meaning of Section 2 (4) (1). Unofficial table of contents

§ 9

Public officials and public servants in public archives shall be subject to all secrecy rules applicable to the employees of the issuing bodies, in particular Article 30 of the German Tax Code, § 203 (2) and § 355 the Criminal Code, § 32 of the Law on the Deutsche Bundesbank and § 9 of the Law on Credit. Unofficial table of contents

§ 10

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§ 11

Documents which are subject to secrecy other than those referred to in § § 8 and 10 of the Federal Republic of Germany may be offered and handed over to public archives for acquisition and use by entities other than those referred to in § 2 (1) (1). , if the interests worthy of protection are taken into account in accordance with § § 2 and 5 of this Act. Unofficial table of contents

§ 12

This law shall also apply in the Land of Berlin in accordance with the provisions of Section 13 (1) of the Third Transfer Act. Legal orders issued pursuant to this Act shall apply in the Land of Berlin pursuant to Section 14 of the Third Transfer Act. Unofficial table of contents

§ 13

This Act shall enter into force on the day after the announcement.