Laws and sub-legal acts
Archival laws
Download: Consolidated text of the Law on Archive Material
Download: Law on Archive Material (2012)
Bylaws for office archiving
Download: Decree on office and archival work (2014)
Download: Tariff, for the amount of fees charged by SARNM
Download: Decree on special protection of archive material in martial law and state of emergency
OFFICE AND ARCHIVE WORK IN THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA
In 1996, the Government of the Republic of Macedonia adopted the Decree on office and archival operations (Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia, No. 58/1996). This regulation regulates the manner of work and the rules for handling the documentary material and archive material in the office and archive work of all holders in the Republic of Macedonia (state bodies, enterprises and other legal entities).
The first part of the Decree, which refers to "Office work", regulates the following issues: admission. reviewing, scheduling and filing of acts, their submission for work and administrative-technical processing, divorce and classification of acts, postponement of resolved acts in the registry office.
The second part of the Decree refers to "Archival work" of holders. It regulates the following issues: selection of archival material from documentary material; recording and categorization of archive material; inventory and destruction of documentary material; storage, protection and security of the material and the material; handing over the archive material to the State Archives.
The decree defines the terms: act, attachment, subject, file, documentary material, archive material, archive box (folder).
Acts can be ordinary or secret. The type and degree of secrecy are determined for the acts of secret character.
The decree determines the work to be done in the bookstore of the holder.
The basic book for recording deeds is the register, which is kept according to a system of basic numbers and sub-numbers. The logbook can also be maintained by the system of automatic data processing (computer).
Of special importance are the provisions that refer to the classification of the resolved cases, their postponement (archiving), filling in the content of the deadline stamp and determining the deadlines for keeping the acts.
All resolved acts and objects and books (locked and officialized) are handed over from the registry office to the archive at the end of the year. Resolved cases are classified and arranged according to archival signs, according to the Plan of archival signs for arrangement of resolved cases. The selection of the archive file from the documentary material is done according to the List of archive file. The separation of the documentary material that has passed the storage deadlines is done according to the List of documentary material.
The plan and the two lists contain a General and a Special section. Archival marks cannot be changed throughout the year, but new ones can be added.
All acts, after their registration, are given a deadline stamp that contains: archival mark (four-digit) according to the Plan, storage period, according to the Lists, date of disposal in the registry office and signature of the official. The deadline stamp is filled in by the official who solved the case. The resolved acts in the library are classified and placed in folders according to the lists, especially the archive material, and especially the documentary material.
Holders are obliged to regularly select the archive material from the documentary material and to adopt and implement a Plan and lists. The plan and the lists are prepared by a commission and submitted to the State Archives for inspection, by November 30 of the current year. The archive gives consent for the application of the Plan and the Lists in the next year, or, if there are remarks, returns them for correction.
When selecting, the holders separately mark the archival copy of the acts of permanent value. The archive copy is given for use by exception and by reverse, ie copying, and in the original when it should serve as evidence.
Categorization of archive material is performed by the holders in order to ensure its effective protection in peacetime and military conditions. The categorization is performed on the basis of criteria and in a manner determined by a bylaw.
The entire archive file, after the selection, is obligatorily recorded. according to unique methods. The registration of the material is done by the commission of the holder.
The records (inventory and description) of the archive material contain the following elements: name of the holder; year of origin of the material; inventory and description of archive material; quantity expressed in sheets and physical condition of the material. The records are submitted to the State Archives by March 31 of the following year.
The decree also regulates the procedure for separation and destruction of documentary material. The allocation of the material is done by commission, every year, based on the List of documentary material. After the expiration of the storage period, the Commission prepares an inventory sheet of the material proposed for destruction and submits a request to the Archive. The archive forms a Higher Commission of two of its representatives. The High Commission inspects the census and the proposed material on the spot. If it concludes that the proposed documentary material has expired and there is no archive material in it, it gives written consent for its destruction. The holder destroys the documentary by handing it over to a waste disposal company or otherwise.
The holders are obliged to keep, secure and protect the selected archive material from any kind of alienation, damage and destruction.
The selected archive material marked as an archive copy is handed over for permanent storage of the archive in original, complete and arranged condition, with inventory and description of the material, in archive boxes and within the deadline determined by law.
The State Archives provides professional assistance to the holders in adopting the plans and lists, in selecting, publishing, recording and protecting the archive material until the handover of the Archive.
In 1997, the Director of the State Archives adopted the Guidelines for the manner and technique of handling documentary material and archival material in office and archival operations. (Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia No. 60/1997). The Guidelines elaborate in more detail the provisions of the Decree on Office and Archival Operations.
The following forms are given as an integral part of the Guidelines: for the admission and deadline stamp; for keeping a register, special register, list of acts, inventory and description of the archive, inventory of documentary material, register, file and auxiliary delivery books.
A very important part of the Guide is the Plan of archival marks for the distribution of acts, the List of archival material of permanent value and the List of documentary material with storage deadlines (General part).
The general part covers all types of acts that are created in the work of each holder in the Republic of Macedonia and which refer to: 01. Organization and development; 02. Management; 03. General and legal matters; 04. Labor relations; 05. Financial and material operations; 06. Defense and protection.
The general part serves as an example for the preparation of the Special part of the plan and the lists, which covers the materials from the basic (specific) activity of one holder, and starts with the archival sign from 07 onwards.