Archivistic law in Switzerland is regulated in a federalist manner: each canton has its own law and/or regulation (ordinance) on archives. There are also archival regulations in some cities and large municipalities. The Confederation enacted the Archiving Act in 1998, though it only affects federal archives and has no direct effect on the cantons, cities, or municipalities, although cantons that legislated after 1998 drew inspiration from federal provisions.
Due to federalism, regulations are highly diverse, particularly regarding protection periods. However, they often share a similar structure. Each archive stems from its own historical and regulatory tradition. For example, the state archives of a university canton do not operate in the same environment as those of a non-university canton.
Until the 1980s, archival regulation was mostly limited to a few regulatory provisions included in texts governing the executive functions responsible for archives, except in the Canton of Geneva, which, as early as 1925, adopted a "Loi sur les archives publiques". [1] In 1984 and 1989, the cantons of Jura and Neuchâtel also adopted archival laws. Their motivations were quite different: for Jura, it was about equipping the newly created canton with an archival organization, while for Neuchâtel, it was about addressing the challenge of new digital media and clarifying problematic protection periods.
A new legislative development took place in the 1990s with the emergence of data protection laws. Their priority was the protection of personal privacy (data protection). In order of adoption, the following cantons now have a law on archives: Jura (1984 and 2011), Neuchâtel (1989), Zurich (1995), Basel-Stadt (1996), Geneva (2000), Glarus and Lucerne (2003), Zug (2004), Basel-Landschaft, Solothurn (2006), Bern (2009), Ticino (2011), and Vaud (2012). Strictly speaking, these are mostly laws on archiving rather than on archives, as they regulate the archiving process.
In other cantons, archiving is governed only by regulations, some of which are 30 years old. These regulations often address archives alongside other provisions related to state organization.
In Aargau, the "Gesetz über die Information der Öffentlichkeit, den Datenschutz und das Archivwesen" (IDAG) was adopted in 2006. [2] This was the first time in Switzerland that these three themes were combined in a single regulatory text. The Valais followed suit with a similar joint law adopted in 2008 (Loi sur l'information du public, la protection des données et l'archivage, LIPDA). [3] In Geneva, these three areas were coordinated through a series of legislative revisions: the "Loi sur les archives" (LArch in 2000 and its regulation in 2001), and the "Loi sur l'information du public, l'accès aux documents et la protection des données personnelles" (LIPAD in 2001-2008).
In addition to strictly archival laws and regulations, there are other specific legal norms that impact archive management. For example, the Confederation, the canton of Basel-Stadt, and Vaud have regulations on the protection of personal documents. Access to archived documents may also be restricted by professional secrecy, the violation of which is punishable by fines or imprisonment under Article 321 of the penal code. [4]
Some cantons have addressed the issue of access rights to archived documents in legal provisions other than archival texts. For example, the canton of Valais did so in its law and regulation on cultural promotion (LPrC, art. 29). [5] In the cantons of Bern, Solothurn, and Vaud, access rights are not regulated in archival laws but in laws and regulations on access to public documents. In these three cantons, the public is considered to have the right to access public documents unless a prevailing interest opposes it, regardless of whether the documents are held in services or archives. [6] Consequently, the archiving laws and regulations of these cantons contain only marginal notes (Vaud) [7] or no provisions (Bern, Solothurn) on access to archived documents. The Confederation, as well as the cantons of Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Geneva, recognize the principle of access to public documents. However, access to archived documents is primarily regulated in archival laws and regulations.
Confederation
Canton of Aargau
Canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden
Canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden
Canton of Basel-Landschaft
Canton of Basel-Stadt
Canton of Bern
Canton of Fribourg
Canton of Geneva
Canton of Glarus
Canton of Graubünden
Canton of Jura
Canton of Lucerne
Canton of Neuchâtel
Canton of Nidwalden
Canton of Obwalden
Canton of St. Gallen
Canton of Schaffhausen
Canton of Schwyz
Canton of Solothurn
Canton of Thurgau
Canton of Ticino
Canton of Uri
Canton of Valais
Canton of Vaud
Canton of Zug
Canton of Zurich