Belgrade Archives temporarily suspends receipt of documents, no penalties until further notice

The Historical Archives of Belgrade have announced that due to a large number of requests and insufficient technical and human resources, they are currently unable to receive new documentation related to the implementation of the Law on Archival Materials and Archival Activities.

As stated, legal entities from the territory of Belgrade should not submit copies of the archive book either in person or by mail, until further notice. At the same time, work is underway to establish an electronic service that will enable the submission of documents in digital form, about which the public will be informed in a timely manner.

The Archives emphasize that, until the conditions for receipt of documents are met, they will not implement the punitive measures provided for by law. So far, more than 27,000 requests for approval of the lists of categories of archival materials have been received, of which about 20,000 have been processed.

The Serbian Archival Society warned legal entities in June last year that they were not obliged to purchase electronic archiving software, despite offers from private companies. The expert recommendation states that the law does not prescribe the mandatory purchase of such solutions, and that insisting on purchasing with threats of sanctions is misleading.

It is recommended that all questions related to electronic archiving and legal obligations be checked directly with the competent public archives, in order to avoid misinterpretations and unnecessary costs.

Istorijski arhiv Beograda

Arhivističko društvo Srbije

Historical Archives of Belgrade

Serbian Archival Society