The Law on Archival Material and Archival Activities (“the Law”) prescribes the obligation for creators and holders of archival material and documentary material that are legal entities to maintain an archival book and submit it to the competent public archive within a prescribed deadline.
Although the Regulation on Uniform Technical and Technological Requirements and Procedures for the Preservation and Protection of Archival Material and Documentary Material in Electronic Form, which came into force on January 1, 2024, introduced changes to the method of keeping archival books – electronically – and the method of submission – via the eGovernment portal (eArhiv) – this is still not being implemented in practice. As a result, archival books are still maintained and submitted in paper form.
The deadline for submitting a transcript of the archival book is April 30 of the current year for archival and documentary material created in the previous year. Therefore, archival books for 2024 must be submitted no later than April 30, 2025, either directly to the address of the competent public archive or via postal service.
We remind you that, in addition to the obligation to submit the archival book, the Law also prescribes the obligation to adopt certain general acts, which, alongside the archival book, must also be submitted to the archive:
- A general act on the method of recording, classifying, archiving, and preserving archival and documentary material;
- A list of categories of archival and documentary material with retention periods;
- A general act on the method of recording, protecting, and using electronic documents.
Associations founded exclusively by natural persons, as well as representative offices of foreign legal entities, are not required to submit either the archival book or the prescribed documentation to the competent public archive.
For additional information or consultations, the Tasić & Partners team is at your disposal.