Regulations Concerning the Dissemination of Documents in Open File Reading-Rooms of the Institute of National Remembrance - Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation

Chapter 1
General Provisions

§ 1.

1. These regulations define the principles of granting access to open documents that are collected within the archival resources of the Institute of National Remembrance - Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation, hereinafter referred to as the ” Institute of National Remembrance”, in the open file reading-rooms of the Institute of National Remembrance, in connection with processing applications, as defined in the following:
1) Article 30, Article 33.1, Article 35a.4, Article 35c and Article 36 of 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), hereinafter referred to as ”The Act on the Institute of National Remembrance”;
2) Article 18.5 and Article 22.1 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), hereinafter referred to as ”The Vetting Act”.

2. The principles of rendering documents accessible to employees of the Institute of National Remembrance are defined in the regulations on the dissemination of documents found in the archival resources of the Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation, to the employees of the Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation for official purposes, comprising Annex to Ordinance No. 24/07 by the President of the Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation of 27 November 2007.

§ 2.

Whenever these Regulations refer to the following:
1) The Reading-room – one shall construe this term as denoting an open files reading-room at the organisational entities of the Institute of National Remembrance;
2) The Documents – one shall construe this term as denoting documents, as defined in Article 7 of the Act on the Institute of National Remembrance, and Article 3 of the Vetting Act;
3) The User – one shall construe the term as denoting a person to whom documents have been rendered accessible in the Reading-room;
4) The Visitors’ Book – one shall construe this term as denoting the name register of those persons using the Documents in the Reading-room.

§ 3.

In the course of processing applications to grant access to Documents, the following open Documents are rendered accessible in the Reading-room:
1) concerning the applicant or his/her next of kin, to whom the application pertains;
2) personal details of an employee or officer of the state security bodies;
3) applied for with the purpose of conducting scientific research or publishing press releases;
4) applied for with the purpose of being granted access to copies of files concerning vetting lawsuits that have been concluded with a legally valid sentence by the court;
5) including information concerning certain persons holding public offices;
6) disseminated to authorised parties with the purpose of executing one’s statutory responsibility.

Chapter 2
Dissemination of Documents

§ 4.

1. The Documents are rendered accessible in the Reading-room in the form of originals, photocopies, microfilms, electronic copies or printouts of electronic copies. It is permitted to grant access to the Documents in the form of excerpts or extracts, subject to reservation as per Section 3.
2. The Documents that are in poor physical condition shall be subjected, prior to dissemination, to preservation procedures.
3. If the physical condition of the Documents precludes the dissemination of originals, copies thereof are rendered accessible.

§ 5.

The Documents are rendered accessible exclusively in an organised condition, and following their technical elaboration, consisting in the appropriate press marking, stapling, stamping, and numbering of cards/pages.

§ 6.

1. Prior to entering the Reading-room, the User is obliged to leave his/her coat, as well as bags, briefcases and backpacks in the cloakroom.
2. The employee on duty in the Reading-room delivers the archival Documents following presentation by the User of his/her valid identity card or passport.

§ 7.

The Reading-room User is obliged, as follows:
1) to wear, in a visible place, his/her identifier, as issued by the Internal Security Service of the Institute of National Remembrance;
2) to enter, each time, his/her presence in the Visitors’ Book of the open files Reading-room, the sample of which is comprised by Annex 1 to these Regulations;
3) to familiarise him/herself with these Regulations and abide by its provisions, as well as to confirm the above in the statement, the sample of which is comprised by Annex 2 to these Regulations;
4) to enter his/her name into the control card, as produced for each archival unit, the sample of which is comprised by Annex 3 to these Regulations.

§ 8.

The Reading-room User is prohibited from the following:
1) destroying the Documents, as rendered accessible to him/her;
2) excluding any Documents whatsoever from the archival units as rendered accessible to him/her;
3) interfering in the arrangement and content of the Documents, as rendered accessible to him/her;
4) making any annotations, any remarks or corrections;
5) disseminating the Documents, to which he/she has been granted access, to other Users;
6) copying the Documents on his/her own with the help of his/her own copying devices;
7) carrying the Documents, as rendered accessible to him/her, out of the premises of the Reading-room;
8) smoking tobacco or consuming food or drinks;
9) using mobile phones;
10) engaging in conversation with other Users.

§ 9.

The Reading-room User has the right, as follows:
1) to use the reference library to be found in the Reading-room;
2) to use his/her own portable computer;
3) to take notes;
4) to use his/her own materials, having notified the employee on duty in the Reading-room of the fact.

§ 10.

1. The User is granted access to 5 archival units at one time, subject to reservation as per Section 2.
2. The head of the organisational entity is authorised to permit, whenever reasonable, the dissemination of a larger number of archival units.
3. The User is legally liable for the method of application of the Documents, as rendered accessible to him/her.

§ 11.

1. Having used the Documents, as rendered accessible to him/her, the User returns these to the employee on duty in the Reading-room.
2. The employee on duty in the Reading-room is obliged to check the completeness and physical condition of the Documents being returned.
3. The User may instruct that the returned Documents be placed on deposit in the Reading-room for future use at a later date, subject to reservation as per Section 4. In this case, the employee on duty in the Reading-room shall retain the returned Documents on deposit in the Reading-room.
4. The intermission concerning the use of the Documents may not exceed 1 month following the day of return thereof. In case the time limit, as defined herein, is exceeded, the Documents are returned to the depository.

§ 12.

The method and form of producing copies of the Documents, as rendered accessible to the User, as well as the amount of the charges for the services, is determined by separate provisions.

§ 13.

1. One should use the Documents in a way that does not interfere with other Users’ work.
2. Failure to abide by the provisions of these Regulations on the part of the User, as well as interference with other Users’ work, may result in a rebuke, as administered by the employee on duty in the Reading-room. Non-compliance with the rebuke may result in the accessed Documents being reclaimed from the User.

§ 14.

1. The employee on duty in the Reading-room is obliged to grant general information concerning the archival resources, the recording and archival aids, as accessible, as well as the principles and forms of the dissemination of the Documents.
2. The User is granted recording aids, as prepared for the archival resources.

§ 15.

The opening hours of the Reading-room are determined by the heads of the respective organisational entities of the Institute of National Remembrance.