NATIONAL ARCHIVES

CHAPTER 28:01
NATIONAL ARCHIVES

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

    SECTION

PART I
PRELIMINARY

    1.    Short title

    2.    Interpretation

PART II
NATIONAL ARCHIVES—ADMINISTRATION

    3.    Establishment of National Archives

    4.    Seal

    5.    Government Archivist

    6.    Powers and duties of the Government Archivist

    7.    Prescribed bodies

PART III
NATIONAL ARCHIVES ADVISORY COUNCIL

    8.    Establishment of National Archives Advisory Council

PART IV
HISTORICAL, PUBLIC AND GENERAL RECORDS

    9.    Historical records

    10.    Deposit of historical records and rights of owner thereof

    11.    Selection and conservation of public records

    12.    Destruction of public records

    13.    General records

PART V
PUBLIC ARCHIVES

    14.    Public and judicial records declared public archives by the Minister

    15.    Historical records declared public archives by the Minister

    16.    Publication or reproduction of public archives

PART VI
INSPECTION, COPYING AND REMOVAL OF RECORDS

    17.    Inspection and copying of National Archives

    18.    Restrictions on removal and export of National Archives

    19.    Government Archivist’s right of access to documents restricted

        by Act, Order of Court, etc.

PART VII
EVIDENCE

    20.    Authenticated copies

PART VIII
MISCELLANEOUS

    21.    Failure to comply with Notices to produce documents

    22.    Failure to comply with conditions

    23.    Penalty

    24.    Secrecy

    25.    Regulations

CHAPTER 28:01
NATIONAL ARCHIVES

12 of 1975
20 of 1987
4 of 1989

    An Act to provide for the classification, conservation, custody, control, acquisition and disposal of certain public, judicial, historical and general records; for the establishment of a collection of such records, to be known as the National Archives of Malawi, which shall be the official repository thereof; for the setting-up of the National Archives Advisory Council, with power to advise the Minister on certain stated matters of policy and administration; for the repeal of the National Archives Act of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in its operation to Malawi; and for matters incidental to or connected with the foregoing

PART I
PRELIMINARY

1.    Short title

    This Act may be cited as the National Archives Act.

2.    Interpretation

    In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

    ‘‘Council’’ means the National Archives Advisory Council established pursuant to section 8;

    ‘‘document’’ includes any manuscript, newspaper, picture, painting, record, register, printed material, book, map, plan, drawing, photograph (positive or negative), photocopy, microfilm, cinematograph film, video tape, gramophone record or other transcription of language, picture or music, recorded by any means capable of reproduction;

    ‘‘Government Archivist’’ means the person designated as such under section 5;

    ‘‘historical records’’ means any documents (other than public or judicial records) which are declared to be of historical importance pursuant to section 9 (3);

    ‘‘judicial records’’ means any documents constituting the official records of any proceedings before any court, commission, board of inquiry or other judicial or quasi-judicial body or person, which are in the custody of such court, or of any Ministry, Department or agency of Government, or of any person lawfully committed with such custody or which have been deposited in the National Archives as judicial records;

    ‘‘National Archives’’ means a place where there is kept the official collection of public archives and public, judicial, historical and general records established pursuant to section 3;

    ‘‘prescribed body’’ bears the meaning ascribed to that term by section 7 (1);

    ‘‘public archives’’ means all such public and judicial records and all such historical records as are classified and conserved in the National Archives as public archives pursuant to sections 14 and 15, respectively;

    ‘‘public records’’ means—

    (a)    any documents of the Government, or of any Ministry, Department or agency thereof (other than judicial records), which relate to the general or specific functions of the Government, or of the said Ministry, Department or agency, as the case may be, or to the performance of such functions, and which are in the custody of the said Ministry, Department or agency, or are on deposit in the National Archives as public records;

    (b)    any documents of any prescribed body, being public records pursuant to section 7 (2), which are in the custody of such prescribed body, or are on deposit in the National Archives as public records,

    but does not include any such records as are classified and conserved in the National Archives as public archives pursuant to this Act;

    ‘‘Seal’’ means the seal of the National Archives, as provided for in section 4 (1).

PART II
NATIONAL ARCHIVES— ADMINISTRATION

3.    Establishment of National Archives

    (1) There is hereby established, for the purposes of this Act, an official collection of public archives, and other public, judicial, historical and general records of, or relating to, Malawi; which collection shall be known as the National Archives of Malawi.

    (2) All public archives and all such…