Archives Act, 1992
Act 12 of 1992
- Published in Government Gazette 421 on 18 June 1992
- Assented to on 9 June 1992
- Commenced on 18 June 1992
- [This is the version of this document from 18 June 1992 and includes any amendments published up to 17 January 2025.]
1. Definitions
In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise -“accessions” means all documents, not being archives as defined in this Act, that have been acquired in terms of section 7;“archives” means all documents received or created in the course of conduct of affairs in -(a)an office of a previous authority as defined in section 1 of the law repealed by section 17 of this Act;(b)an office of any representative authority established in accordance with the provisions of the Representative Authorities Proclamation, 1980 (Proclamation AG. 8 of 1980), the former Government of Rehoboth referred to in the Rehoboth Self-Government Act, 1976 (Act 56 of 1976), or the former administration of the Administrator-General including the legislative and executive authorities established by the National Assembly Proclamation, 1979 (Proclamation AG. 21 of 1979), the Council of Ministers Proclamation, 1980 (Proclamation AG. 19 of 1980) and the South West Africa Legislative and Executive Authority Establishment Proclamation, 1985 (Proclamation R.101 of 1985);(c)a government office or an office of a local authority or statutory institution;and which are not, because of their nature or the provisions of any other law, required to be dealt with in any other way than in accordance with the provisions of this Act;“archives depot” means an archives depot referred to in section 5;“directives” means the directives issued by the Head of Archives under this Act;“documents” means a combination of any medium and the information contained thereon or therein, including on paper, parchment, vellum, charts, plans, working drawings, or in volumes, files, scrolls, or in the form of punched cards, punched tape, magnetic tape, compact disc, photographic negatives and copies, cinematographic film, microfilm, microfiche or gramophone, phonographic or other kind of sound recordings;“financial year” means the financial year as defined in section 1 of the State Finance Act, 1991 (Act 31 of 1991);“government office” means an office forming part of or falling under a ministry or public office as defined in section 1 of the Public Service Act, 1980 (Act 2 of 1980);[The Public Service Act 2 of 1980 has been replaced by the Public Service 13 of 1995. Section 38 of Act 13 of 1995 provides that certain expressions relevant to Act 2 of 1980 shall be construed to refer to certain corresponding expressions relevant to Act 13 of 1995, but does not say anything about references to the term “government office”.]“Head of Archives” means the Head of the National Archives referred to in section 3;“head of office” means, in the case of a government office, the person who in terms of the Public Service Act, 1980 (Act 2 of 1980), is the chief executive officer of the ministry or public office of which such government office forms part and, in the case of a local authority or statutory institution, the chief executive officer thereof;[The Public Service Act 2 of 1980 has been replaced by the Public Service Act 13 of 1995. Section 38 of Act 13 of 1995 provides that certain expressions relevant to Act 2 of 1980 shall be construed to refer to certain corresponding expressions relevant to Act 13 of 1995. Section 38 covers references to “head of department’ but not “head of office”.]“intermediate depot” means an intermediate depot referred to in section 5;“local authority” means -(a)the council of any municipality established or constituted, or deemed to have been established or constituted under the Municipal Ordinance, 1963 (Ordinance 13 of 1963);(b)any village management board constituted or deemed to have been constituted under the Village Management Boards Ordinance, 1963 (Ordinance 14 of 1963); or(c)the Peri-Urban Development Board established under the Peri-Urban Development Board Ordinance, 1970 (Ordinance 19 of 1970);[The Local Authorities Act 23 of 1992 repealed the Municipal Ordinance 13 of 1963, the Village Management Boards Ordinance 14 of 1963 and the Peri-Urban Development Board Ordinance 19 of 1970.]“master film material” means original negative, intermediate positive, duplicate negative, colour reversal negative, working copies, magnetic tape recordings, final combined magnetic sound-track, final optical sound-track, original negatives of off-cuts and stock shots with regard to motion pictures or videos made in or about Namibia, as well as original negatives and positives of slides and original negatives of microfilm in any format;“Minister” means the Minister of Education and Culture; and[The “Ministry of Education and Culture” has since become the “Ministry of Education”. See Proc. 4/2004, GG 3436.]“statutory institution” means a council or board, fund, body, company, corporation or other organisation instituted or established by or under any law.2. Powers and duties of Minister
Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Minister shall exercise control over the custody and care of archives and accessions.3. National Archives of Namibia, and powers and duties of Head of Archives
4. Control over archives in government offices, offices of local authorities and statutory institutions
5. Archives depots and intermediate depots
The Minister may from time to time establish archives depots for the custody of archives which have been in existence for a period of 20 years or more and intermediate depots for the temporary custody of archives which have been in existence for a period less than 20 years.6. Transfer of archives
7. Acquisition of documents for archives depot
8. Utilization of archives and accessions
9. Temporary transfer of archives and accessions from one archives depot to another and lending of archives and accessions to libraries, museums and other institutions
10. Access to archives
11. Annual report by Head of Archives
The Head of Archives shall annually, not later than 31 May, submit a report to the Minister concerning his or her activities during the previous financial year.12. Directives
The Head of Archives may in any manner which he or she deems proper issue directives regarding -13. Delegation of powers
14. Offences and penalties
15. Restriction of liability
No person, including the State, shall be liable in respect of anything done or omitted in good faith and not attributable to negligence in the exercise or performance of a power or duty in terms of this Act.16. Prescription of actions
Any civil proceedings against the State or any person in respect of anything done or omitted in the exercise or performance of a power or duty in terms of this Act shall be instituted within 6 months after the cause of action has arisen.17. Repeal of law and savings
18. Short title
This Act shall be called the Archives Act, 1992.History of this document
18 June 1992 this version
Commenced
09 June 1992
Assented to
Documents citing this one 27
Gazette 15
Act 6
| 1. | Public Procurement Act, 2015 | 72 citations |
| 2. | National Heritage Act, 2004 | 40 citations |
| 3. | Deeds Registries Act, 2015 | 9 citations |
| 4. | Namibia Film Commission Act, 2000 | 7 citations |
| 5. | Namibia Library and Information Service Act, 2000 | 6 citations |
| 6. | Civil Registration and Identification Act, 2024 | 2 citations |
Judgment 3
Government Notice 2
| 1. | Companies Administrative Regulations, 2010 | |
| 2. | Rules for High Court regulation proceedings contemplated in chapters 5 and 6 of Prevention of Organised Crime Act, 2004 |
Proclamation 1
| 1. | COVID-19: Regulations Relating to Health Matters |