Cap. 477 Art. 10Access to records.

(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, when a record is deposited at the National Archives public access to such records shall only be regulated by the provisions of this Act.

(2) Public records in the National Archives, or in any other archival repository under the control of the National Archivist, shall be available for public inspection after the expiration of a period of thirty years from their creation, except insofar as a longer or shorter period may have been prescribed by the Minister following consultation with the Minister responsible for the public office which created the records or its successor in function.

At the expiration of the period of thirty years prescribed in sub-article (1) any records selected for permanent preservation which are still classified as confidential, or secret shall be examined by the Council to ascertain whether their continuing classification is necessary and, if it is not, they shall be de-classified and shall become open to public inspection under sub-article (1).

(3) The Minister may, on the advice of the National Archivist, limit access by the public to documents and objects where:

(a) they contain information which has been obtained by a public authority under an obligation of secrecy or confidentiality; or

(b) the security of the State or the personal safety of any individual so require; or

(c) the fragility of the archives so warrants; or

(d) the need for organisation of the archives makes it necessary.

(4) Without prejudice to the provisions of article 9, every copy of a document, issued as a true copy duly sealed with the seal of the National Archives and signed by the National Archivist, shall for the purposes of any law, be deemed an authentic copy and for the purpose of evidence in any court or tribunal be deemed equivalent to the original.