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.
Section 1 General
Art. 10 Principles
(Arts. 9, 11 and 12 ArchA) 1 Anyone shall have the right of access to the Confederation archive records after expiry of the retention periods in Articles 9, 11 and 12 of the Act. 2 The right to consult the archive records shall comprise in particular: a. consultation of research aids; b. consultation of documents; c. photographic, photomechanical or digital reproduction, subject to conservation restrictions; and d. the reproduction and further use of obtained information, subject to the legal provisions protecting personal rights, especially data protection.
Art. 11 Fees
(Art. 24 para. 1 ArchA) 1 The basic services of the Federal Archives such as support in identifying the documents and allowing consultation shall be free of charge, insofar as this is compatible with efficient administration. 2 The costs of additional services such as copying shall be charged according to time spent and costs of materials. 3 The Federal Department of Home Affairs shall issue a fee schedule.
Art. 12 Finding aids
(Art. 17 para. 3 ArchA) 1 Finding aids shall be freely accessible to investigate the archive records and may be produced and published for this purpose by the Federal Archives. 2 Finding aids shall be catalogues, lists, indices, conventional files, digital files and other aids allowing access to the archive records by enumerating or describing them. 3 Finding aids which, as such, contain sensitive personal data shall only be published after expiry of the retention period. Before such expiry, publication shall only be permitted in accordance with Articles 11 and 13 of the Act.
Para. 3 — Amended by Annex 2 No II 12 of the Data Protection Ordinance of 31 Aug. 2022, in force since 1 Sept. 2023 (AS 2022 568).
Section 2 Retention Periods
Art. 13 Calculation of retention period
(Art. 10 ArchA) 1 The retention period shall as a rule cover a whole file or transaction. 2 The year of the most recent document shall serve as the basis for setting the retention period. Documents added later which contain no information of relevance to the matter shall not count towards the retention period. 3 The competent authority may release documents still covered by the retention period if: a. the main focus of the research is on documents dated outside the retention period; b. if contextual source criticism necessitates access to all the documents.
Art. 14 Extended retention period
(Arts. 11 and 12 ArchA) 1 Archive records that are classified according to the names of people and which contain sensitive personal data shall be covered by the 50‑year extended retention period in accordance with Article 11 of the Act. In an individual case, this may be reduced in accordance with Articles 11 and 13 of the Act or extended in accordance with Article 12 paragraph 2 of the Act. 2 If there is an overriding and legitimate public or private interest in preventing the consultation by third parties, the due retention period as per Art. 9 of the Act may be extended for certain categories of archive records or in an individual case. The extended retention period for categories of archive records shall as a rule total 50 years. 3 An overriding and legitimate public interest in preventing consultation shall exist if access to the records is likely: a. to jeopardise the internal or external security of the Confederation; b. to lastingly affect relations with foreign countries, inte
Para. 1 — Amended by Annex 2 No II 12 of the Data Protection Ordinance of 31 Aug. 2022, in force since 1 Sept. 2023 (AS 2022 568).
Section 3 Applications to the Authority
Art. 15 Consultation applications in general
(Arts. 9, 11, 12 and 13 ArchA) 1 Consultation of the archive records may be applied for verbally or in writing. 2 Consultation applications during the retention period must be justified in writing. 3 Applications to consult documents still covered by the retention period must prove, where applicable, that they were already in the public domain, unless public access is subject to statutory control.
Art. 16 Consultation applications during the extended retention period under Art. 11 of the Act
(Art. 11 ArchA) 1 When consultation is applied for during the extended retention period under Article 11 of the Act, it shall be sufficient to prove that: a. the person concerned has given his or her consent; b. the person concerned has been dead for at least three years. 2 If the search does not relate to persons, a written declaration by the applicant to this effect shall suffice.
Section 4 Decision by the Authority
Art. 17 Authority to issue a ruling
In terms of the Act and of this Ordinance, the competent authority shall have power to rule on access to all documents written or received by it.
Art. 18 Permission to consult during the retention periods
(Arts. 9, 11, 12 and 13 ArchA) 1 The competent authority shall permit consultation during the retention period if the relevant documents relating to persons or facts were already in the public domain before expiry of the retention period, unless new legitimate public or private interests emerge against such consultation. 2 The competent authority shall allow consultation during the extended retention period under Article 11 paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Act if the conditions of Article 16 paragraph 1 are met. 3 The competent authority may allow consultation during the retention period at the request of the Federal Archives if: a. there are no statutory provisions that prevent it; and b. there are no overriding and legitimate opposing public or private interests; or c. the research does not relate to specific persons in accordance with Article 11 paragraph 3 of the Act. 4 The public activity of persons from contemporary history may not be protected by the argument of overriding private inte
Para. 3 let. a — AS 1999 2858
Art. 19 Requirements and conditions
(Art. 13 paras. 2 and 3 ArchA) 1 The ruling authority may make its authorisation to consult during the retention periods subject to requirements and conditions. It may in particular require that certain parts of the file are not assessed, or that data be rendered anonymous. 2 The Federal Archives may require a written declaration from the person consulting the file that he or she is aware of the requirements and conditions. 3 In special cases the authority may require the text to be submitted to it before publication.
Section 5 Data Protection; Procedure
Art. 20 Right to information
(Art. 15 paras. 1 and 2 ArchA) 1 Anyone may request information about data concerning him or her that is archived at the Federal Archives or the independent archiving bodies. 2 Before issuing the information, the competent body shall check the applicant's identity and decide whether his or her request is legitimate. 3 Such a request for information is not admissible if the data is no longer classified under the name of the person concerned or if the release of the information is not compatible with efficient administration. 4 The right to information shall further be governed by the data protection legislation.
Art. 21 Note of objection
(Art. 15 para. 3 ArchA) 1 If a concerned person becomes aware that archived documents contain information about him or her which he or she considers incorrect, he or she may have this noted but may not correct the data. 2 The note of objection must be submitted in writing to the body where the consultation of the documents took place. It must be marked as an objection with the place, date and signature of the person concerned. 3 The note of objection shall be added to the documents at the appropriate point.
Art. 22 Procedure on refusal of consultation and information
(Art. 9 paras. 1, 11, 13 para. 1 and Art. 15 ArchA) 1 An applicant must be granted a hearing before any decision to reject or only partially accept and application. An appealable ruling shall be issued on request. 2 The procedure is governed by the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act of 20 December 1968. The procedure under Article 15 paragraph 1 of the Act is reserved.
Para. 2 — SR 172.021