On 24 January 2020, the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia adopted the Law on Archival Material and Archival Activities (the “Law”), which regulates the system of protection of archival material and documentary material, conditions and manner of using archival material, and the organization, competence and activity of archives in the Republic of Serbia.

The Law entered into force on 1 February 2020, and became effective on 2 February 2021. The required subordinate legislation was to be adopted within one year from the date of entry into force of this Law.

Archival material, as documentary material kept permanently, is defined as a selected original or, in the absence of the original, any reproduced form of document or record created by the work and activities of, inter alia, business companies, entrepreneurs and persons performing registered activities, regardless of when and where they were created and whether they are kept at institutions in charge of protection of cultural goods, and regardless of the form and medium of the record in which they are preserved.

Creator of archival material and documentary material is a legal or natural person whose activities have created archival material and documentary material (the “Creator”); holder of archival material and documentary material is the holder of rights to the archival material and documentary material or any other (legal or natural) person that, in any manner and on any grounds, has the possession thereof (the “Holder”).

The Creator and the Holder shall, inter alia:

• provide adequate space and equipment for the storage and protection of the archival material and documentary material;
• keep an archive book in the prescribed form;
• appoint an expert responsible for the protection of archival material and documentary material and the handling of archival material and documentary material;
• record, mark, classify, date and archive archival material and documentary material;
• submit archival material to the competent archive under the conditions and within the time frame provided by the Law;
• inform the competent public archive about all changes that are of importance for the archival material, no later than 30 days as of occurrence thereof.

Additionally, the Creator and the Holder that are legal persons shall pass certain by-laws, which will further regulate the subject matter.

Pursuant to the Opinion of the Ministry of Culture and Information of 29 April 2021, obligation of business companies to submit a transcript of the archive book starts in 2022.

The penalties for noncompliance with the Law can range from 50,000 to 2,000,000 RSD for a legal person, and from 5,000 to 150,000 RSD for the responsible person of the legal person, per violation.

For more information about the Law, please contact us at office@pricapartners.com.