Principles of Disclosing Archival Material
Based on the Act of 18 December 1998 on the Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation (Journal of Laws 2007, No. 63, Item 424, as amended), as well as the Act of 18 October 2006 on disclosing information about documents of the state security authorities originating in the years 1944–1990 and the content of these documents (Journal of Laws 2007, No. 63, Item 425, as amended), the Institute of National Remembrance processes applications of the following types:
1. Applications to grant access to copies of documents;
2. Applications to grant access to personal files concerning an employee or officer of a state security body;
3. Applications to grant access to documents with the purpose of conducting scientific research or publishing a press release;
4. Applications to grant access to documents with the purpose of executing one’s statutory responsibility;
5. Applications to grant access to copies of files concerning vetting lawsuits;
6. Applications to grant access to information included in the documents of state security bodies concerning a person holding a public office;
7. Applications to issue a certificate stating whether the personal details of the applicant are identical to the personal details that are included in the catalogue of officers, collaborators, candidate collaborators of the state security bodies, as defined in Article 5, as well as other individuals, which has been rendered accessible at the Institute of National Remembrance since 26 November 2004;
8. Other categories of applications.
1. Applications to grant access to copies of documents
Everyone is entitled to apply to the Institute of National Remembrance to be granted access to documents concerning him/herself (APPLICATION FORM). The application form is to be filled in and submitted, in person, at a Branch Office of the Institute of National Remembrance or is to be sent by mail, subject to the applicant’s signature being witnessed by a notary public or another person, as authorised, to authenticate signatures, according to the law of the state wherein the legal act has been performed. A person who is a permanent resident abroad may apply in person at a Polish consular post, whereas the applicant’s signature is to be authenticated by the respective consul. Following one’s application, the applicant may appoint an attorney to execute his/her rights, wherein one shall indicate, in the application, as appropriate, the first name and surname of the deceased person to whose rights it pertains.
After the last change in the law the Institute of National Remembrance grants access to original documents without anonymisation. Copies are available only when the documents are in poor condition or when more than one person seeks access to the same documents at the same time seeking or where the Institute holds only copies of the documents. Moreover, collaborators, employees and officers of state security organs are granted only copies of documents on the basis of an administrative decision.
The applicants are informed in writing on the successful application examination and the set date of accessing the files. The access of documents is granted in a branch office within the jurisdiction of the applicant’s residence, unless the another branch has been indicated.
Following familiarisation with the copies or originals of documents, an applicant is entitled to apply to the Institute of National Remembrance for being granted the copies of the documents regarding him/her. The copies are granted in a branch office within the jurisdiction of the applicant’s residence, unless another branch has been indicated. The applicant can also request being given the objects held in the Archives of the Institute of National Remembrance, which at the time of loss constituted his/her property or were in his/her possession. The applicant may also request the surnames and other data disclosed, as identifying employees, officers, soldiers and persons who offered information concerning him/her to the state security authorities.A note is granted in a branch office within the jurisdiction of the applicant’s residence, unless another branch has been indicated.
Everyone is entitled to apply to the Institute of National Remembrance to have their own addenda, dementi, updates, elucidations, as well as documents or copies hereof, attached to the collection of documents concerning him/her. A person who has been granted access to documents concerning him/her, whereas no documents have been preserved pertaining to him/her may reserve that his/her personal details, as secretly collected in the course of operational-intelligence activities by the state security authorities, should not be made accessible with the purpose of conducting scientific research or publishing a press release for a definite period, however not exceeding 50 years since the date they were produced.
Furthermore, each applicant who has been granted access to documents and no documents have perserved on him/her being a secret collaborator, employee and officer of state security organs, may reserve the information concerning him/her, which discloses his/her ethnic or racial origin, religious beliefs, denominational affiliation or data concerning his/her state of health or sexual lifestyle, as well as reveals his/her financial position, in particular his/her real estate and personal property constituting cultural property, as defined in the regulations concerning the protection of common cultural good, should not be rendered accessible.
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2. Applications to grant access to personal files concerning an employee or officer of a state security body
Everyone is entitled to apply to the Institute of National Remembrance to be granted access to personal files concerning the employees or officers of the state security bodies (APPLICATION FORM).
Employees and officers of the state security bodies are entitled to apply to the Institute of National Remembrance for copies of personal documents concerning them in order to be rendered accessible to them.
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3. Applications to grant access to documents with the purpose of conducting scientific research or publishing a press release
The Archives of the Institute of National Remembrance IPN grants access to documentation with the purpose of conducting scientific research and publishing a press release, as defined by the provisions of the Act of 26. January 1984 – The Press Law. The acquisition of the right to access the respective files is subject to the appropriate application (APPLICATION FORM – Application Form to be given assent to for access and use of those respective documents with the purpose of conducting scientific research, APPLICATION FORM – Application Form to be given assent to for access and use of those respective documents with the purpose of pursuing journalistic activities) to be submitted with the head of the Branch Office, as competent with respect to the applicant’s domicile or registered office. In case of those individuals who reside abroad, applications are to be made with the head of the Branch Office, as competent with respect to the applicant’s domicile or stay before he/she left the country. If an applicant has never lived in the country, then he/she should apply to the head of the Branch Office of the Institute of National Remembrance in Warsaw. An application must include the applicant’s first name and surname or corporate name, as well as one’s home address or the business address of the applicant; type and number of the identity card of the person to whom access is to be granted; date of issue of the identity card of the person to whom access is to be granted, and the name of the authority to have issued the said identity card. The application shall include, as precisely as possible, any data facilitating the retrieval of the referent documents.
Furthermore, in case of scientific research conducted by persons who are not research workers, such persons are obliged to enclose with the application the original of a letter of recommendation, produced in writing, by a research worker, as authorised to conduct scientific research in the field of the humanities, social or economic studies, or law. Applications by research workers shall bear the seal of a scientific/research institution or an official name stamp. In case of journalists, these are obliged to enclose with the application an authorisation in writing by the editorial office or publisher. Documents are made accessible subject to consent by the head of the Branch Office, as competent with respect to the applicant’s domicile or registered office. Following approval, the archival material, as appropriate, is rendered accessible at the reading-rooms of the organisational entities of the Institute of National Remembrance.
In the case of requests to access files for scientific research or publication of press material, if the signatures are known and no additional search query is required and the documents are made accessible within 7 days from the date of supplying the application. Exceptions are situations where the requested documents are in the technical development, restoration or when they are borrowed.
Furthermore, the applicant, who has been given access to documents for scientific research for a press release may submit a request for information from the database, records and files, including data on secret informers or agents in the process of gathering information.
The Institute charges a fee for preparing and issuing document copies for the purposes of scientific research for a press release. Detailed charging rules will be determined by the regulation of the Prime Minister.
As per Article 36.5 of the Act on the Institute of National Remembrance, legal responsibility for the manner in which the documents are used under the process of Article 36 of the Act, is assumed by the subjects to which these have been made accessible.
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4. Applications to grant access to documents with the purpose of executing one’s statutory responsibility
The amended Act on the Institute of National Remembrance specifies the manner in which documents, as collected within the Institute of National Remembrance, are to be rendered accessible in order for the statutory responsibility thereof to be executed. Applicants qualifying for access to documents shall undertake to produce an application form containing the same information as required in the case of scientific-research and journalistic applications. In addition, they must indicate the legal basis concerning the execution of the statutory responsibilities thereof. Such applications are to be submitted with the Head of the Branch Office, as competent with respect to the applicant’s domicile or registered office. According to the above-mentioned regulation, the Institute of National Remembrance renders information accessible, among others, to the following Office of the Veterans and Victimised Persons’ Affairs, the Polish National Police, common and military courts, as well as public prosecutor’s offices, state administration entities, and such like. Documents are made accessible subject to consent by the head of the Branch Office, as competent with respect to the applicant’s domicile or registered office. Following approval, the archival material, as appropriate, is rendered accessible at the reading-rooms of the organisational entities of the Institute of National Remembrance. Similar to the case of applications for scientific research or publication of press material, if the signatures are known and no additional search query is required and the documents are made accessible within 7 days from the date of supplying the application.
As per Article 36.5 of the Act on the Institute of National Remembrance, legal responsibility for the manner in which documents are used under the process of Article 36 of the Act, is assumed by the subjects to which these have been made accessible.
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5. Applications to grant access to copies of files concerning vetting lawsuits
According to Article 18.5 of the Act of 18 October 2006 on disclosing information about the documents of the state security authorities originating in the years 1944–1990 and the content of these documents (Journal of Laws 2007, No. 63, Item 425, as amended), everyone is entitled to apply to the Institute of National Remembrance to be granted access to copies of files concerning a vetting lawsuit that has been concluded with a legally valid sentence by the court (APPLICATION FORM).
An application for granting access to such information must include the following: definition of the body to which the application is being submitted, definition of the applicant by means of the specification of the first name, surname, home address, parents’ names, date and place of birth and the National Identification Number PESEL; information enabling the retrieval of the files of the referent vetting lawsuit, including the data concerning the person being vetted, as well as the applicant’s signature.
This application is to be submitted at the Headquarters of the Institute of National Remembrance, its Branch Offices or Delegations, or by mail.
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6. Applications to grant access to information included in the documents of the state security bodies concerning a person holding a public office
Everyone has the right to access documents concerning persons holding public offices, as specified in the Act of 18 October 2006 on disclosing information about the documents of the state security authorities originating in the years 1944–1990 and the content of these documents. The Institute of National Remembrance has been placed under an obligation to publish in the Public Information Bulletin information about documents, as collected within its Archival Resources, concerning persons holding public offices. General access to such data is safeguarded by means of publication thereof on the Internet. Irrespective of the electronic form of access to information concerning persons holding public offices, everyone may familiarise themselves with the same at one of the eleven Branch Offices of the Institute of National Remembrance, subject to the appropriate application (APPLICATION FORM). An application for granting access to such information must include the following: definition of the body to which the application is being submitted, definition of the applicant by means of the specification of the first name, surname, home address, parents’ names, date and place of birth and the National Identification Number PESEL; information enabling the identification of the referent person holding a public office to whom the documents are supposed to pertain with which the applicant wishes to become familiarised for him/herself; in particular the first name and surname of this person, as well as the public function, and as performed by a specific person; the applicant’s signature. The application form, filled in, addressed to the Head of the Branch Office, as competent with respect to the domicile of the person to which the information pertains, shall be submitted in person at the premises of the Branch Office of the Institute of National Remembrance or is to be sent by mail, subject to the applicant’s signature being witnessed by a notary public or another person, as authorised, to authenticate signatures, according to the law of the state wherein the legal act has been performed.
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7. Applications to issue a certificate stating whether the personal details of the applicant are identical to the personal details that are included in the catalogue of officers, collaborators, candidate collaborators of the state security bodies, as defined in Article 5, as well as other individuals, which has been rendered accessible at the Institute of National Remembrance since 26 November 2004.
Everyone may apply to the Institute of National Remembrance to have a certificate issued whether or not the personal details of the applicant are identical to the personal details that are included in the catalogue of officers, collaborators, candidate collaborators of the state security bodies, as defined in Article 5, as well as other individuals, which has been rendered accessible at the Institute of National Remembrance since 26 November 2004 (APPLICATION FORM).
The applicant applies to the Institute of National Remembrance with an application form including his/her precise personal details. Following the verification of the personal data, the President of the Institute of National Remembrance shall, within 14 days, issue a certificate stating conformity, or lack thereof, of the applicant’s personal details to the data that is found in the above-mentioned catalogue. At the request, made in writing, of the applicant, the content of the certificate is published in the Public Information Bulletin of the Institute of National Remembrance.
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8. Other categories of applications
In addition, the Institute of National Remembrance processes the following applications addressed to the President of the Institute of National Remembrance:
a). as per the Act of 24 January 1991 on veterans and certain persons who were victims of warfare and post-war repression (i.e. Journal of Laws 2002, No. 42, Item 371), at the request, made in writing, of an interested party, the President of the Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation, confirms, in the form of an administrative decision, the following circumstances:
- the fact of being detained, without charge or trial, in the years 1944-1956, in prison or other solitary confinement within the territory of Poland, for political or religious activity, connected with fighting for sovereignty and independence,
- the fact of a child being seized from its parents in order to be subjected to extermination or forced cultural genocide.
b). as per the Act of 17 December 1998 on retirement pensions and disability allowances disbursed by the Social Insurance Fund (i.e. Journal of Laws 2004, No. 39, Item 353) at the request, made in writing, of an interested party, the President of the Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation, confirms an occurrence i.e. periods of detention, in prison or other solitary confinement within the territory of Poland, without charge or trial, after 31 December 1956, for political activity.
