Federal Act of 26 June 1998 on Archiving

Article 9 ArchA Principle of freedom of access and term of protection 1 The archive records of the Confederation become available for consultation by the general public free of charge after the expiry of a retention period of 30 years, subject to the terms of Articles 11 and 12. Article 10 Principles (Articles 9, 11 and 12 ArchA) 1 Any person may consult the federal archive records after the expiry of the retention periods under Articles 9, 11and 12 of the Act. 2 The right to consult the archive records shall comprise in particular: a. consultation of finding aids; b. consultation of documents; c. photographic, photomechanical or digital reproduction of documents, subject to restrictions relating to their conservation; d. reproduction and exploitation of the information gathered, subject to requirements relating to the protection of personal privacy, especially data protection requirements. Article 11 Fees (Article 24, para. 1, ArchA) 1 The Federal Archives’ basic services such as help in identifying and consulting documents shall be free of charge, insofar as compatible with rational administration. 2 Extra services such as document copying shall be invoiced according to time and material resources expended. 3 The Department shall issue a fee ordinance. Article 12 Finding aids (Article 17, para. 3, ArchA) 1 Finding aids shall be freely accessible to facilitate the identification of archive records. The Federal Archives may develop and publish such aids for this purpose. 2 Finding aids are inventories, lists, indexes, conventional and digital files and other resources which allow access to archive records by listing or describing them. 3 Finding aids which, as such, contain sensitive personal data can only be published after expiry of the retention term. Before expiry of the retention term, publication shall only be possible on the conditions set out in Articles 11 and 13 of the Act.