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2008 Revised Edition CAP. 22.15
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1 Shor t title................................................................................................................ 5 2 Inter pretation.......................................................................................................... 5 3 Application............................................................................................................. 6
4 Archives Office......................................................................................................6 5 Archivist................................................................................................................. 6 6 Dele gation of the Archivist's powers ..................................................................... 7
7 Deposit of public records in the Archives Office .................................................. 7 8 Deposit of public records of less than 5 years of age............................................. 9 9 Public records not in the Archives Office..............................................................9 10 Retu rn of public records in Government office ..................................................... 9 11 Public records to be surrendered on demand ......................................................... 9 12 Public records not to be destroyed or disposed of without the authority of
the Archivist......................................................................................................... 10 13 Rout ine destruction of public records..................................................................10 14 Access to public records in the Archives Office..................................................10 15 Publication of public records ............................................................................... 11 16 Copyright ............................................................................................................. 11
17 Archives Office seal............................................................................................. 11 18 Use of documents in evidence ............................................................................. 11 19 Regulations .......................................................................................................... 11 20 Offences and penalties ......................................................................................... 12
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Arrangement of Sections CAP. 22.15 | Public Records Act |
Supporting Documents | |
ENDNOTES | 13 |
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Commencement [20th August 1979]
This Act may be cited as the Public Records Act.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —
“Archives Office” means the Tuvalu National Archive established under this Act;
“Archivist” means the person for the time being appointed Government Archivist under this Act;
“Government office” means any ministry, division, department, office or agency of the Government of Tuvalu, and includes the Parliament of Tuvalu and all courts of law in Tuvalu; and may include any office or body declared by the Minister to be a Government office for the purposes of this Act;
“public records” means all documentary materials of any kind, nature or description which have been drawn up, made, received, acquired or used in the course of legislative, administrative or executive transactions or in proceedings in any court, together with all exhibits and other material evidences which form part of or are annexed to or are otherwise related to specific documents, which are or are required to be in the custody of any
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public officer or Government office or which may at the commencement of this Act or thereafter be transferred to or acquired by the Archives Office.
The Minister shall appoint an Archivist who shall, subject to any directions given to him by —
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may deposit its records in the Archives Office pursuant to the provisions of section 4(2),
be charged with the care, custody, control and administration of the public records in the Archives Office and the public access thereto and with the performance of any other duties prescribed by this Act.
(1) All public records of the age of 5 years or over (other than those which under any Act are required to be held in the custody of a specified person or Government office) which in the opinion of the Archivist are of sufficient value to warrant their preservation as —
shall be transferred to the custody of the Archivist and be deposited in the Archives Office.
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9 Public records not in the Archives Office
10 Return of public records in Government office
Where the administrative head of the Government office by which any public record was deposited in the Archives, or the administrative head of the successor of that Government office, satisfies the Archivist that such record is required for use in that Government office, the Archivist shall return such record to the custody of that Government office for such period as may be agreed upon between the Archivist and the administrative head, and subject to such conditions as the Archivist may prescribe to ensure the safe custody and preservation of that public record during the time it is kept in that Government office.
11 Public records to be surrendered on demand
Where any public record is in the custody or possession of any person other than a public officer or other person authorised to have such custody or possession in his official capacity, that person shall, on demand in writing by the Archivist, deposit such records in the Archives Office or in such other Government office as the Archivist may direct.
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12 Public records not to be destroyed or disposed of without the authority of the Archivist
13 Routine destruction of public records
The Archivist may authorise the immediate destruction, or the destruction after the expiration of such time as may be agreed upon between the Archivist and the administrative head of the Government office concerned, of any specified public record or classes of public records that —
14 Access to public records in the Archives Office
(1) Except as may be otherwise provided in any written law, and subject to the conditions under which any records are deposited, all records deposited in the Archives Office shall be available for public reference subject to the provisions of any regulations made under this Act:
Provided that —
(2) Nothing contained in this section shall limit the powers of any competent court to order the production of any public record of Tuvalu.
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15 Publication of public records
On the recommendation of the Archivist, the Minister may authorise the publication of any public record deposited in the Archives Office and available for public reference which he considers to be of sufficient interest to warrant its publication.
The Archivist shall cause to be made a seal for the Archives Office, with which all certified copies issuing out of the office shall be sealed.
Any copy of any public record of Tuvalu in the custody of the Archivist which is certified by the Archivist to be a true copy of such public record shall be received as evidence of the contents of such record in all courts of law in Tuvalu.
(1) Subject to the provisions of the next succeeding subsection, the Minister may, from time to time, make regulations for any purpose for giving effect to the
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provisions of this Act and for the due administration thereof and in particular may make regulations —
(2) The Chief Justice may make rules of court with regard to the matters referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of the last preceding subsection in cases where the public records concerned relate to proceedings in any court.
(1) Any person who —
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of $200.
(2) The court by which any person is convicted of an offence against paragraph
(a) or paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section, may, in addition to any penalty imposed for the offence, direct that that person shall not be entitled to have access to the Archives Office for such period as the court thinks fit.
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1 1990 Revised Edition, Cap. 99 – Act 10 of 1979
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