Archiving Ordinance
English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.
Art. 4 Commencement of obligation to offer documents to the Federal Archives
(Art. 6 ArchA) 1 Documents shall be deemed no longer constantly required and hence must be offered to the Federal Archives when the body bound to make such offer is no longer using them frequently and regularly. Such offer shall be made no later than five years after the last addition to the records. 2 The Federal Archives may extend the term of paragraph 1 if the body required to offer its documents can submit justification that it still needs them. 3 Special categories of documents shall be offered and, where applicable, transferred immediately after drafting or signature. State Treaties shall be offered through the Directorate of Public International Law. The Federal Archives shall regulate the details in directives.
Para. 1 — Amended by Art. 20 No 2 of the GEVER Ordinance of 3 April 2019, in force since 1 April 2020 (AS 2019 1311).
Art. 5 Methods of obligatory offering and transfer of documents
(Arts. 5, 6 and 7 ArchA) 1 The body required to offer its documents to the Federal Archives shall ensure that the documents are prepared so that they can be assessed for archival value and, where applicable, archived without extra expense. 2 The body required to offer its documents to the Federal Archives shall suggest which documents are of archival value from a legal and administrative point of view. 3 Requirements for special retention periods under Article 12 of the Act shall be indicated at the time of offering. 4 The Federal Archives shall issue directives governing the details of the obligation to offer documents to it and of their transfer.
Art. 6 Establishment of archival value
(Arts. 7 and 8 ArchA) 1 The Federal Archives shall decide whether documents should be permanently archived, taking account of the suggestions of the body required to offer its documents to it. It shall assess the documents offered using historical and archival criteria. 2 If the Federal Archives and the body obliged to offer its documents disagree on the archival value of documents, they shall be archived. 3 The Federal Archives shall co-operate with the independent archiving bodies to decide whether such documents are of archival value. 4 The Federal Archives shall assess the archival value of the documents offered within a period of one year. If it fails to reach a decision, the archiving obligation shall lapse. Such period may be extended if the Federal Archives demonstrates that it cannot assess the documents in time.
Art. 7 Independent archiving
(Art. 4 paras. 3–5 ArchA) 1 The Swiss National Bank and the autonomous federal institutions and similar federal institutions designated in Annex 2 shall archive their documents independently. 2 The other public or private law bodies as per Article 1 paragraph 1 letter h of the Act and Article 2 paragraph 3 of the Ordinance who fulfil enforcement tasks assigned to them by the Confederation, the Federal Criminal Court; Federal Administrative Court and the Federal Appeal and Arbitration Commissions as per Art. 1 paragraph 1 letter d of the Act (Annex 1) shall inform the Federal Archives whether they wish to archive their documents independently. 3 The Federal Archives shall agree to independent archiving in the terms of paragraph 2 if the conditions of Article 8 paragraph 1 are met. 4 If the bodies named in paragraph 2 do not carry out independent archiving, they shall be required to offer their documents to the Federal Archives. The Federal Archives may charge them the costs of such arch
Para. 2 — Amended by No IV 2 of the O of 22 Aug. 2007 on the Formal Revision of Federal Legislation, in force since 1 Aug. 2008 (AS 2007 4477, 2008 3452).
Art. 8 Assurance of uniform archiving practice
(Art. 4 paras. 3–5 ArchA) 1 Independent archiving bodies as per Article 1 paragraph 1 letters d, e and h of the Act shall reach an agreement with the Federal Archives on the composition, safekeeping, preservation and making accessible of their documents. They shall provide the necessary human, accommodation and financial resources. 2 The Federal Archives shall be authorised to inspect registries or information management units of such independent archiving bodies and to inspect the condition of the documents held there. 3 The Federal Archives may withdraw its consent to independent archiving or apply for such withdrawal if the archiving obligation is not being fulfilled, or not fulfilled in accordance with the principles of the Act. 4 In the event of revocation the costs of transfer, further archiving and restoration of any damage incurred shall be met by the body which produces the documents.
Art. 9 Obligation to conclude a contract for private law orders
(Art. 24 para. 2 ArchA) Where orders are performed under private law, the body placing the order shall govern the archiving of the documents beforehand by contract after agreement with the Federal Archives.