Certain exemptions suggested for Archive Law

The government has proposed certain exemptions when publicizing classified archives, such as documents related to national defense and foreign relations, reported local media Cheng Pou.
The archive bill is now under public consultation. In its original version, the bill stipulated that such documents would only be sealed for 50 years. Now the government has proposed otherwise, on the basis that national defense and foreign relations are within the sole authority of the mainland.
The archive legislation in effect was made into law in 1989 as Decree-Law No. 13/89/M. The government justified the need for new archive legislation by citing changes in political structure, economic environment and social condition.
Documents related to national defense and foreign relations, under the current Decree-Law, are uncovered for public access after 50 years. The Cultural Affairs Bureau, which administers the bill, proposes otherwise.
On the other hand, documents covering medical information, personal data, judicial files and civil registration will also be exempted from being uncovered. Information collected through surveys or censuses will be handled in a similar way.
The Cultural Affairs Bureau explained that the judiciary has its own regulations governing the archive.
The general public can access classified documents after they have been archived for 30 years. The government suggests documents with personal data should only be unclassified after 80 years of the most recent document, unless the date of death of the concerned people is known.
Private documents, on the other hand, can be classified with an application by their owners. The bureau stressed that the Archive Bill only covers mobile properties owned by the public sector. AL