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	Statutes of Northern Ireland
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PUBLIC RECORDS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1923

PUBLIC RECORDS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1923 - LONG TITLE

An Act to establish a Public Record Office of Northern Ireland for
the reception and preservation of certain public records appertaining
to Northern Ireland, and for purposes connected therewith.{1}
[22nd June 1923]
1920 c.67

Establishment of Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.

PUBLIC RECORDS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1923 - SECT 1

1.(1) There shall be established a Public Record Office of Northern
Ireland for the reception and preservation of public records to
which this Act applies.

(2) This Act shall apply to the following public records:

(a)Northern Ireland records, that is to say, all records of any
court, Government department, authority or office in Northern Ireland
with respect to which the Parliament of Northern Ireland has power
to make laws, and

(b)Imperial records, that is to say, public records appertaining to
Northern Ireland to which this Act may be applied by any order
made by the Governor of Northern Ireland in Council under the
provisions of this Act, and not being Northern Ireland Records.

(3) For the purposes of this Act the expression "records" means
rolls, records, writs, books, proceedings, decrees, bills, warrants,
accounts, maps, papers and documents of a public nature.

PUBLIC RECORDS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1923 - SECT 2
Charge and superintendence of records, and appointment of Deputy
Keeper and staff.

2.(1) The Northern Ireland records shall be under the charge and
superintendence of the Minister of Finance for Northern Ireland for
the time being (in this Act referred to as "the Minister of
Finance") in the name and on behalf of the Governor of Northern
Ireland, and shall be removed to the Public Record Office of
Northern Ireland in manner hereinafter in this Act provided:

Provided that, until such removal, the persons having the care of
any such records shall continue to have the charge of them subject
to such orders as the Minister of Finance is by this Act empowered
to give concerning the same.

(2) The Minister of Finance shall appoint a fit person duly
qualified by his knowledge of records to be Deputy Keeper of the
Records of Northern Ireland, and such Deputy Keeper shall act as
chief Record Keeper under the Minister of Finance, and shall
superintend all persons employed in the Public Record Office of
Northern Ireland in keeping the records in the custody of the
Minister of Finance, and shall discharge all such other duties as
may be required of him under this Act and subject to such
directions as he may receive from the Minister of Finance.

(3) The Minister of Finance shall appoint all such officers, clerks
and servants as shall be necessary for the purposes of this Act,
and the persons so appointed shall assist in executing this Act
under the superintendence of the Deputy Keeper of the Records of
Northern Ireland in such manner as the Minister of Finance may
direct.

(4) The said Deputy Keeper of the Records and officers, clerks and
servants shall be removable by the Minister of Finance.

(5) There shall be paid out of moneys provided by Parliament to
the said Deputy Keeper of the Records and to the officers, clerks
and servants appointed in pursuance of this section, such annual
salaries or remuneration as the Minister of Finance may determine.

PUBLIC RECORDS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1923 - SECT 3
Removal of accumulating records to Record Office.

3. The Minister of Finance shall by warrant under his hand from
time to time appoint a fit person to attend all courts, Government
departments or offices in Northern Ireland and in his name to
receive and take charge of all Northern Ireland records of which
the charge and superintendence are by this Act vested in the
Minister of Finance, and the judge of the court or principal
officer of the department or office to which any Northern Ireland
records belong, upon sight of the warrant of the person thereby
appointed to take charge of the Northern Ireland records to be
delivered from that court, department or office into the custody of
the Minister of Finance, shall give the necessary orders to the
proper officer of his court, department or office for the delivery
thereof. As soon as such Northern Ireland records have been so
delivered to the person appointed to receive them in pursuance of
such warrant, such Northern Ireland records shall be deemed to be
in the custody of the Minister of Finance and shall forthwith be
removed to and deposited in the Public Record Office of Northern
Ireland, and shall be subject to the rules made under this Act;
and the person receiving any such Northern Ireland records shall
thereupon deliver the schedule thereof and receipt for the same
under his hand to the judge or officer from whom he receives them,
and shall deliver a copy of such schedule to the Minister of
Finance or to the officer appointed by the Minister of Finance to
receive the same into the said Public Record Office:

Provided that

(a)in the case of Northern Ireland records forming part of the
records of any court of justice, no such warrant shall be issued
by the Minister of Finance without the approval and countersignature
of the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland;

(b)every such warrant shall specify and describe the Northern Ireland
records intended to be delivered to the person thereby authorised to
receive them;

(c)the Minister of Finance shall not issue any such warrant for the
removal of any Northern Ireland records unless or until the records
described in such warrant are of the age of twenty years from the
making thereof, or, if the records are under that age, unless the
removal thereof has been requested by the judge of the court or
principal officer of the department or office to which they belong,
and, in the case of records of a court, with the approval also of
the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland;

(d)if it appears to the judge of any court, with the approval of
the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, or to the principal
officer of any Government department or office, that it will be
conducive to the ends of justice or to the due performance of the
business of such court, department or office that any records
belonging thereto should not be delivered into the custody of the
Minister of Finance at the end of twenty years from the making
thereof, it shall be lawful for such judge or principal officer to
certify in writing accordingly to the Minister of Finance, and the
Minister of Finance upon receiving such certificate may from year to
year, but not for any time longer than a year without a new
certificate, withhold the issue of any warrant for the removal into
his custody of the records mentioned in such certificate.

PUBLIC RECORDS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1923 - SECT 4
Validity of records after removal.

4. The removal of any Northern Ireland record to the Public Record
Office of Northern Ireland by and in accordance with this Act shall
not in any manner affect the legal authenticity of that record, but
any such record deposited in that Public Record Office and there
kept under the authority of this Act, shall be taken to be in its
legal place of deposit, and every such record so removed shall be
of the same legal validity in all courts and proceedings as if
such record had not been removed.

PUBLIC RECORDS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1923 - SECT 5
Deposit of documents in Record Office by trustees or other persons.

5. It shall be lawful for any trustee or other person having the
custody of any deeds or documents, which in the opinion of the
Minister of Finance are fit to be deposited in the Public Record
Office of Northern Ireland, so to deposit the same with the
permission of the Minister of Finance, and subject to any rules to
be made under this Act, in a repository which may be provided for
that purpose in the said Public Record Office, and any deeds or
documents so deposited shall be deemed to be Northern Ireland
records in the custody of the Minister of Finance.

PUBLIC RECORDS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1923 - SECT 6
Seal of Record Office, certified copies of records, and effect of
same.

6.(1) The Minister of Finance shall cause to be made a seal of
the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, and shall cause to be
sealed or stamped therewith all certified copies, made as hereinafter
in this section provided, of any Northern Ireland records in his
custody.

(2) The Minister of Finance or Deputy Keeper of the Records of
Northern Ireland may allow copies to be made of any Northern
Ireland record in the custody of that Minister, at the request and
cost of any person desiring to procure the same, and any copy so
made shall be examined and certified as a true and authentic copy
by the said Deputy Keeper of the Records, or by such officer of
the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland as the Minister of
Finance may appoint for that purpose, and shall be sealed or
stamped with the seal of the said Public Record Office without any
proof of the seal or stamp or of the signature, or official
character of the person purporting to have signed the same, and
shall be delivered to the person for whose use the copy was made.

(3) Every copy of a Northern Ireland record in the custody of the
Minister of Finance, certified under this section and purporting to
be sealed or stamped with the seal of the Public Record Office of
Northern Ireland, shall be received as evidence in any court of
justice and before any legal tribunal in Northern Ireland, and
before either House of the Parliament of Northern Ireland or any
committee of either or both of those Houses, without any further or
other proof thereof, in every case in which the original record
could have been received there as evidence.

PUBLIC RECORDS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1923 - SECT 7
Printing, publication, sale and distribution of records, calendars,
etc.

7.(1) It shall be lawful for the Governor of Northern Ireland to
cause to be printed from time to time such calendars, catalogues
and indexes of Northern Ireland records, and also such Northern
Ireland records in the custody of the Minister of Finance, as that
Minister may recommend as fit to be printed.

(2) All Northern Ireland records, calendars, catalogues and indexes
of records which are printed in accordance with the provisions of
this section shall be published and sold for such reasonable sums
as may be approved by the Minister of Finance, and the proceeds of
all such sales shall be placed to the credit of the Exchequer of
Northern Ireland, and carried to the account of the Consolidated
Fund thereof:

Provided that, so many printed copies of any such records,
calendars, catalogues and indexes as the Minister of Finance may
direct may be presented gratuitously to departments of the
Government, institutions and libraries in Northern Ireland.

(3) The Minister of Finance shall have power to purchase, for the
use of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, such private
calendars, catalogues and indexes to the Northern Ireland records as
the Minister of Finance may think fit, and every calendar, catalogue
and index to any Northern Ireland records in the custody of the
Minister of Finance which may be compiled, continued or copied after
the passing of this Act by any officer of, or person employed in,
the said Public Record Office, except such printed copies as may be
sold or presented gratuitously under this section, shall belong to
the Governor of Northern Ireland for the use of the said Public
Record Office.

PUBLIC RECORDS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1923 - SECT 8
Power to make rules as to disposal of valueless documents.

8.(1) The Minister of Finance, with such approval as is hereinafter
in this section mentioned, may, if he thinks fit, make rules
respecting the disposal by destruction or otherwise of documents
which are deposited in or can under this Act be removed to the
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland as Northern Ireland records,
and which are not of sufficient public value to justify their
preservation in the said Public Record Office. Such rules shall

(a)so far as they relate to documents of any court, be made with
the approval of the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland; and

(b)so far as they relate to documents removed or about to be
removed to the said Public Record Office from any Government
department or public office in Northern Ireland, be made with the
approval of the head of such department or the principal officer of
such office.

(2) Before the power of disposal given by this section is exercised
as to any documents, the Minister of Finance shall cause a schedule
to be prepared of the documents proposed to be disposed of, showing
a list of these documents and such particulars as to their
character and contents as may be calculated to enable the Houses of
Parliament to judge of the expediency of disposing of such documents
in the proposed manner. Where there are several documents of the
same class or description, it shall be sufficient to classify them,
as far as practicable, according to their nature and contents,
instead of specifying each document separately. Such schedule shall
be laid before both Houses of Parliament, and if, during the next
ten days on which either House shall sit, a resolution is passed
by either House requiring the preservation of any scheduled record,
such record shall not be disposed of.

(3) No rule made in pursuance of this section shall provide for
the disposal of any documents of older date than the year eighteen
hundred.

(4) Every rule made in pursuance of this section shall be laid
before both Houses of Parliament within twenty-one days after it is
made, if Parliament be then sitting, and, if not sitting, within
twenty-one days after the next meeting of Parliament, and if neither
House of Parliament within twenty-one days after the rule has been
laid before it presents an Address praying the Governor of Northern
Ireland to withhold his assent from the rule, the Governor of
Northern Ireland, may, by Order in Council, approve of the rule.
Every such rule, when approved by Order of the Governor in Council,
shall, subject to revocation or alteration by a subsequent rule,
have effect as if it were enacted in this Act.

PUBLIC RECORDS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1923 - SECT 9
Rules for management of Record Office.

9. The Minister of Finance shall (without prejudice to the
provisions of this Act with respect to the disposal of valueless
documents) have power to make rules for carrying this Act into
execution, and, in particular, with respect to all or any of the
following matters:

(1) The management of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland;

(2) The admission of persons to the use of the Northern Ireland
records, calendars, catalogues and indexes, in his custody;

(3) The amounts of the fees which he shall think proper to be
paid in connection with the use of the Northern Ireland records
under his charge and superintendence, and the cases in which the
payment of fees may be dispensed with;

(4) Any other matter with respect to which rules may be made under
this Act.

Every such rule shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament
within twenty-one days after it is made, if Parliament be then
sitting, or, if not sitting, within twenty-one days after the then
next meeting of Parliament.

All fees payable in accordance with any such rule shall be pthe
credit of the Exchequer...

PUBLIC RECORDS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1923 - SECT 10
Annual Report.

10€. The Deputy Keeper of the Records of Northern Ireland, under
the direction of the Minister of Finance, shall once in every year
furnish a report to the Governor of Northern Ireland of the
proceedings taken in the execution of this Act, and every such
report shall be signed by the said Deputy Keeper of the Records
and the Minister of Finance and shall be laid before both Houses
of Parliament.

PUBLIC RECORDS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1923 - SECT 11
Modification of 1875 c.59 and 1876 c.58.

11. The Public Records (Ireland) Act, 1867, Amendment Act, 1875, and
the Parochial Records Act, 1876, shall, so far as they relate to
Northern Ireland records belonging to parishes situate in Northern
Ireland, have effect with the following modifications:

(a)Records belonging to such parishes shall, subject to the
provisions of the said Acts, be under the charge and control of
the Minister of Finance in the name and on behalf of the Governor
of Northern Ireland, and the Minister of Finance shall be
substituted in the said Acts for the Master of the Rolls;

(b)References to the Public Record Office of Ireland shall be
construed as references to the Public Record Office of Northern
Ireland;

(c)References to the Deputy Keeper of the Records shall be construed
as references to the Deputy Keeper of the Records of Northern
Ireland; and references to the Assistant Deputy Keeper of the
Records shall be construed as references to such officer as may be
appointed by the Minister of Finance under this Act for the purpose
of certifying copies of Northern Ireland records;

(d)The reference in section five of the said Act of 1876 to the
Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland and one of their officials
shall be construed as a reference to the Ministry of Finance for
Northern Ireland and an officer of that Ministry;

Para.(e) rep. by SLR (NI) 1952

(f)References to the Public Records (Ireland) Act, 1867, shall be
construed as references to this Act.

PUBLIC RECORDS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1923 - SECT 12
Application of Act to Imperial records.

12. [(1)] If provision is made by or in pursuance of any Act of
the Parliament of the United Kingdom, or by any authority of the
Government thereof, for the removal to, and the reception and
preservation in, the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland of any
Imperial Records within the meaning of this Act, the Governor of
Northern Ireland may, by Order in Council, apply the provisions of
this Act, with such modifications as may be specified in the Order
in Council, to the purposes of such removal, reception and
preservation.

[(2) Without prejudice to the foregoing provisions of this section,
the provisions of this Act shall have effect in relation to copies
of calendars prepared as mentioned in section 27(5) of the
Administration of Justice Act 1969 which have been removed to the
Public Record Office in Northern Ireland, either before the
commencement of that Act or in pursuance of a direction given under
section 27 of that Act, as they have effect in relation to
Northern Ireland records.]

PUBLIC RECORDS ACT (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1923 - SECT 13
Short title.

13. This Act may be cited as the Public Records Act (Northern
Ireland), 1923.