Archives in Slovenia
Origins
It is possible to trace the origins of some present public archives in Slovenia back to the second half of the 19th century. The Aškerc Award for outstanding achievements in archival science was named after the famous Slovene poet Anton Aškerc, who was the first town archivist of Ljubljana more than 100 years ago and who defended the fundamental principles of archival science.
However, the present structure of Slovenia's public archival service has only developed since 1945, when the National Government of Slovenia established the Central State Archive. From the 1950s onwards, the Yugoslav Federal Archives Act gave rise to the establishment of the so-called 'municipal archives', today known as regional archives (Maribor, 1952; Ljubljana, 1955; Koper, 1956; Celje 1957; and Nova Gorica, 1972), where the majority of archival material in Slovenia is concentrated. Whilst the Yugoslav Act allowed for the setting up of so-called 'special archives' and collections of historic material, the only 'special archives' established in Slovenia prior to 1990 were the so-called 'political archives', and no special diplomatic archives or special archives relating to the history of the economy, education or medicine were set up. After the political changes of 1990 the 'political archives' were incorporated into the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia.
Legislation
The Slovene Archives and Archival Institutions Act (AAIA) of 1997 is in compliance with guidelines from United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and with EU recommendations, following the example of legislation from several European countries (Denmark, Germany, Italy). The major change brought about by the AAIA was the separation of public and private archives, which prompted a reorganisation of the public archival service. In line with most European legislation on archives, the AAIA also implemented a rule making archival material accessible 30 years after it was created. The Slovene Archives and Archival Institutions Act outlines the professional and administrative tasks to be performed by public archives as part of their public service. They should appraise records created by entities under public law, carry out professional supervision and training of staff members, collect and process public and private archives, identify support for using and publishing archives, maintain and preserve archives, keep a register of public and private archives, identify support for archival material/records in archival institutions abroad relating to Slovenia and the Slovenes, register private archives of legal and natural persons, co-operate with owners of private archives and offer expert advice and supervision, make archives accessible, issue transcripts and copies of documents and certificates based on documents, foster cultural values related to the archives, carry out research in the field of archival science and history, and undertake publishing activities.
The Act also changed the definition of archival property: 'public archives constitute public property; private archives constitute private property.' The term 'public archives' implies not that the institution is accessible to the public, but rather that it was created in the public sector (by entities under public law). Jurisdiction in the public archival service is divided between the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia (ARS) and the regional archives. The ARS protects public archives of state authorities, of bodies exercising public authority and/or those public services provided by the state, of the Bank of Slovenia, and of state and public funds, agencies and other legal persons established by the state and/or whose activities cover the entire national territory.
Regional archives have similar jurisdiction as public archives, except that they function at a regional level. In 1999 the Ministry of Culture adopted seven by-laws which provide detailed regulations for certain fields of archival activity not specified by the AAIA (Preservation; Use of Public Archives; Maintenance of Archival Registers; Professional Requirements for Archival Employees in Public Institutions; Selection and Transfer of Public Archives; Dealing with Private Archives; Rules on Traineeship and Proficiency Examinations).
In 2006 a new Act was implemented, called the Protection of Documents and Archives and Archival Institutions Act (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia No 30/2006). This new Act has incorporated most of the former Act of 1997 (the Archives and Archival Institutions Act) with substantial supplements relating to the electronic archives and their permanent preservation.
Funding
Funds for performing public archival activity are provided by the state. As an administrative institution within the organisational structure of the Ministry of Culture, the ARS receives funds directly from the state budget, whereas regional archives are funded by the Ministry of Culture on the basis of their annual programme. In its capacity as a research institution, the ARS can also obtain funding for some of its research projects from the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology. However, the ARS is also legally obliged to carry out and self-fund independent research projects, in order to promote the development of archival science. The majority of archival staff work in public archives on a permanent employment basis. Special or independent archives employ a small number of people.
Archival policy regarding private archives
Archival policy promotes the protection of private archives. Public archives are legally obliged to keep registers of private archives. The owners of private archives have certain legal obligations after proclamation. They are monitored by a competent archival institution and their capacity to import or export archival material is limited. Private owners may decide to keep their archives in the private sector or to deposit them in a public archival institution, in which case they preserve their property rights. Alternatively the owner of a private archive may decide to sell his/her archive to a public archival institution, in which case the state has the pre-emptive right to purchase such archives. Models of best practice for private archival institutions have yet to be established. The owners of private property may be not only individuals and families, but also legal entities and individuals. Slovene archivists are keen to learn from the experience of those overseas archival institutions with expertise in this area regarding policies (including how to stimulate the private sector to protect private archival material) and practice relating to the preservation of private archival material. Records kept by the Roman Catholic Church are considered to be of public interest and are therefore considered to be the most important private archival material in Slovenia, for which reason the state annually provides some of the funds for carrying out its archival activity, as specified in the Act.
