Regulacje prawa polskiego mające znaczenie dla działalności archiwalnej

Abstract

Provisions of Polish law of significance to archival activities Legal provisions significantly affect archival activities, including the state of preservation and availability of archival materials. This article presents the provisions of generally applicable law in Poland as of 1 September 2020, taking into account provisions directly related to the structure of archival institutions, the protection of archival materials and the processes of shaping, developing and sharing of archival resources. These provisions can be found in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, the Act on National Archive Resources and Archives of 1983 with secondary legislation, a range of other acts and secondary legislation to them, numerous international agreements and legal acts of the EU. It is particularly interesting that there is an increase in the number of regulations which treat archives together with other cultural assets, which locate the activities of archives in the area of general access to information. A major challenge is the dispersion of these norms across many legal acts, as well as frequent and fragmentary amendments to them. Some areas of legal regulations require more in-depth research, especially in terms of their actual impact on the activities of archives. This reflection may be useful in methodological discussions, educating archive staff at all levels and formulating proposals for legislative amendments.