Law No. 2024/001 of 24 July 2024 to regulate archives in Cameroon

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REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON PEACE - WORK- FATHERLAND
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2024/001 J 4 JUIL L024
LAW N0 __________ OF _______�---
TO REGULATE ARCH.IVES IN CAMEROON
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The Parliament deliberated and adopted,
the President of the Republic hereby
enacts the /aw set out below:www.prc.cm

RO IN E
RTIFIEE CONF
IFIED TRUE C
The Parliament deliberated and adopted,
the President of the Republic hereby
enacts the /aw set out below:www.prc.cm

CHAPTERI
GENERAL PROVISIONS
f-PURPOSE
SECTION 1: This law regulates archives in Cameroon. As such, it shall:
- organize the archiving and preservation of the archivai heritage;
- organize the traceability, control and security of archives, from their creation to
their final storage;
- fost�r professionalism in archiving and the empowerment of ail those involved
in the archivai production chain;
- foster the inclusion of an archivai culture in national development strategies;
- regulate economic archiving actîvities;
- ensure the financing of the development and modernization of the National
Archives System;
Il -DEFINITIONS
SECTION 2: Within the meaning of this law and its implementing instruments, the
following definitions shall apply:
1. approval: permission granted to a natural or legal person to provide archivai
services;
2. archiving: all the techniques, actions and means used to collect, classify,
preserve and transfer documents throughout their life cycle, from their creation
• upstream within orgànizations to their disposai or entry into the· National
Archives System;
3.

nts throughout their life cycle, from their creation
• upstream within orgànizations to their disposai or entry into the· National
Archives System;
3.

electronic archiving: any action aimed at identifying, collecting, classîfying
and storing information for subsequent consultation on an electronic medium
· for as long as necessary to fulfil legal oblig�tions or to satisfy information
needs;
4. archives: all documents, including data irrespective of their nature, date, oral
or material form, medium or location created or received by any natural or legal
persan and by any public or private service or body in the course of its activities
and prese.rved in the public interest, bath for the purposes of managing and
justifying the rights of natural or legal persans, whether public or private, and
for historical purposes:
5. audiovisual archives: works containing reproducible images and/or sounds
on a physical médium, the recording, transmission, perception and
understanding of which require the use of a ·
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6. current records: documents that are frequently used in the activities of the
ministries, services, establishments or organizations that created or received
them;
7. electronic archives: digital documents based on or resulting from a
digitization process, produced by a natural or legal person within the
framework of its activities;
8. historical or permanent records: documents which, after regular or
occasional use, are -preserved by virtue of their historical value;
9. non-current records: documents which, although no longer considered
. current records, cannot yet be disposed of or kept permanently by virtue of
their administrative value or occasional use;
1 O.oral archives: documents made up of induced or spontaneous oral
testimonies;
11.pre-archiving centre: entity that manages intermediate archives in public or
private services and, regional and local authorities;
12.filing: physical process of ordering documents by placing them in the
appropriate file.

ic or
private services and, regional and local authorities;
12.filing: physical process of ordering documents by placing them in the
appropriate file.

Additionally, it is the intellectual and physical arrangement of
archivai documents in files, and of files in an archive group, according to the
principle of respect of archivai groups, or chronological-, geographical,
numerical, aiphabetical and subject criteria. lt is also the practice of securing
a private archive by giving it the legal status of a public archive;
13.classification: process where by archivai documents are classified, that is
declared confidential or non-disclosable, within the framework of the protection
of national defence secrets;
14.collection: technical operation where by archivai documents are transferred
from production services to services in charge of their preservation;
15. preservation: set of technical operations aimed at ensuring the availability and
durability of archivai documents, as a preventive or remedial measure;
16.archival control or scientific and technical control: legal means used by
the State to ensure the preservation of a high-quality national information
heritage in the public interest.

nd technical control: legal means used by
the State to ensure the preservation of a high-quality national information
heritage in the public interest.

lt covers the entire archivai chain and relates to
the conditions of management, collection, selection and disposai, as well as
the processing, classificatron, preservation and communication of archives;
17.disposition: process whereby previously classified private archives are no
longer considered public archives;
18.declassification: process by which archivai documents are declassified and
made freely available to the public;
19.period of administrative use: legal or practical storage period during which
a document that can be used by the produc1ng service or its replacement must
be kept in its current state. At the end of such period, a decision is taken
regàrding its final processing;
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rvice or its replacement must
be kept in its current state. At the end of such period, a decision is taken
regàrding its final processing;
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•. 20.eJectronic documents: documents stored on a digital medium requiring a
machine for their consultation, created or received by a public or private body
or by any natural or legal person in the exercise of its activities;
21.data: representation of raw facts, recorded information, figures, statements
and characters or concepts in a form that can be processed by a computer to
enable automatic analysis and/or retrieval of information;
22.

statements
and characters or concepts in a form that can be processed by a computer to
enable automatic analysis and/or retrieval of information;
22.

disposai: controlled process of removing or destroying a file or set of files from
the archive group to which they belong because they have no administrative
use or historical înterest;
23.rec<?rding: information medium whose content, inçluding text, sound, images
or video, can only be used on a computer;
24.reliability: character of a complete document that may be reused in
subsequent activities;
25.imprescriptibility: characteristic of archives that cannot be erased or
·removed over time;
26.inalienability: characteristic of public archives that cannot be transferred or
sofd;
27.unseizability: characteristic of archives that cannot be seized;
28.intangibility: characteristic of archives that must be kept intact and
unalterable;
29.integrity: characteristic of information that has not been destroyed, altered or
modified in any way;
30.interoperability: capacity of different hardware, software or protocols to work
together and share information;
31.durability: aptitude of information to span a period of time throughout its life
cycle while remaining intact;
32.producer: any natural or legal., public or private person who, in the exercise of
his activities or duties, creates, receives or keeps archives;
33.final disposition: destination of a document or set of documents at the end of
their administrative life, as proposed in an archive table, which may be
disposai, sorting or permanent storage;
34.National Archives System: set of institutions, actors and facilities for the
producti'on, processing, preservation, use and regulation of archives;
35.processing: prooedures and operations for sorting, filing, · describing,
analysing, indexing and creating search aids;
36.sorting: process of separating those documents to be preserved for their
historical or cultural interest from those to be discarded, following an evaluation
of a set of documents;
37.trànsfer: physical and intellectual process wherèby archives are moved from
producing institution to repositories responsible for their preservation.

.trànsfer: physical and intellectual process wherèby archives are moved from
producing institution to repositories responsible for their preservation.

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CHAPTER Il
CLASSIFICATION OF ARCHIVES
1-PUBLIC ARCHIVES
SECTION 3: public archives shall inciude:
(a) documents emanating from the conduct of the business of the State, its
agencies and regional and local authorities;
(b) documents emanating from the activities of private bodies in charge of
managing public services or, a public service mission;
(c) documents relating to public hearings before any courts of any type, including
audiovisual and sound recordings which are of interest for the creation of
historical archives of the judicial system;
(d) records and registers of public or ministerial officiais. SECTION 4: (1) Public archives shall be public property and form part of the national
archivai heritage and collective memory. As such, they shall be unseizab1e,
inalienable, intangible and imprescriptible. (2) No person may keep public archives wîthout the right or authority to
do so. Any natural or legal person holding public archives, in any capacity shall be
required to return them immediately to the producer or to the public body responsible
for the management of the National Archives System.

ity shall be
required to return them immediately to the producer or to the public body responsible
for the management of the National Archives System.

(3) The public body responsible for the management of the National
Archives System may institute proceedings for the recovery or restitution of public
archives before the competent court of first instance of the place where the archives
are kept or where the holder is domiciled. Such action shall be imprescriptible. (4} The conditions for implementing the provisions of Subsection (3)
above shall be laid down by regulatory instrument. SECTION 5: ln the event of closure of a government service holding public archives,
such archives shall be transferred to the body in charge of the National Archives
System, save otherwise provided in the dissolution document. SECTION 6: ln the event of a change or division of a government service, the ensuing
new institutions shall be bound to collaborate with the public body responsible for the
management of the National Archives System to determine the fate of the archives
of the former institution.www.prc.cm

public body responsible for the
management of the National Archives System to determine the fate of the archives
of the former institution.www.prc.cm

SECTION 7: (1) The archives of enterprises prlvatized prior to adoption of the
privatization instrument, shall be transferred to the public body responsible for the
management of the National Archives System. (2) To ensure service continuity, some files may, after evaluation, be
kept temporarily in the enterprise referred to in (1) above. At the end of the period of
administrative use of such files, they shall be transferred to the public body
responsible for the management of the National Archives System
Il- PRIVATE ARCHIVES
SECTION 8: (1) Private archives shall be documents created or received by natural
or legal persons under private law. without a public mandate or outside the scope of
a public service mission. (2) The criteria for the identification and classification of private ·
archives shalf be laid down by regulatory istrument. SECTION 9: (1) Private archives of historical interest may be classified as public
archives. (2) lt shall be prohibited to destroy archives which have been or àre
being classified. (3) The State shall have the right of first refusai on any private archivai
document offered for public sale.

which have been or àre
being classified. (3) The State shall have the right of first refusai on any private archivai
document offered for public sale.

SECTION 10: Where, during the initial inventory of the archivai group, some
documents are found to be of no historical interest, they may be declassified by
agreement betw�en the owner of the archivai group and the public body responsible
for the management of the National Archives System. SECTION 11: The conditions for the classification and declassification of private
archives shall be laid down by regulatory instrument. 6www.prc.cm

m. SECTION 11: The conditions for the classification and declassification of private
archives shall be laid down by regulatory instrument. 6www.prc.cm

CHAPTER Ill
ARCHIVING AND THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES SYSTEM
1- MANAGEMENT.COLLECTION, PRESERVATION
AND PROTECTION OF ARCHIVES
SECTION 12: The conditions for the organization and functioning of the public body
responsible for the management of the National Archives System shall be laid down
by regulatory instrument. SECTION 13: The State, public establishments, public enterprises, regional and local
authorities and the public body responsible for the management of the National
Archives System shall carry out the collection, preservation and protection of records. SECTION 14: (1) The legal persans referred 'to in Section 13, as well as private
bodies entrusted with a public service mission, shall be required to establish a pre
archival service responsible for the preservation of active and inactive records, in
conjunction with the public body responsible for the management of the National
Archives System. (2) The conditions for keeping and preserving active, intermediate
and historical records shall be laid down by regulatory instrument.

rchives System. (2) The conditions for keeping and preserving active, intermediate
and historical records shall be laid down by regulatory instrument.

SECTION 15: Upon the expiry of their period of active use, public records shall be
selected in order to separate documents to be preserved from those of no
administrative, legal, historicçil or scientific use, for disposai. SECTION 16: (1 )Archives relating to professional secrecy and the strategic interests
of the State may be classified as confidential. (2) The conditions for the classification, declassification and
management of archives shall be laid down by regulatory instrument. SECTION 17: The terms and conditions for the collection, sorting, processmg,
preservation and transfer of archives shall be laid down by regulatory instrument. SECTION 18: The State shall ensure the protection of archives in the event of armed
conflict. SECTION 19: { 1) The State, public- establishments, public enterprises. and regional
and local authorities shall ensure the integrity, authenticity, accessibility, compliance
with retention periods and security of electronic documents. 7
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(2) The conditions for the management and preservation of electronic
archives shall be laid down by regulatory instrument. SECTION 20: ln the event of an emergency, the public body responsible for the
management of the National Archives System may refer the matter to the competent
court in order to obtain measures to protect an endangered archivai group. JI.. DISCLOSURE OF ARCHIVES
SECTION 21: (1) Public archives may be consulted at any time by any person who
so requests.

an endangered archivai group. JI.. DISCLOSURE OF ARCHIVES
SECTION 21: (1) Public archives may be consulted at any time by any person who
so requests.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection {1) above and
subject to specific legal or regulatory provisions, or public policy measures, archives
relating in particular to the following shall be open to the public only after 30 (thirty)
years with effect from the date of closure of the.file:
- confidentiality of the proc�edings of the Government and of the executive,
legislative and judicial branches;
conduct of external relations;
- money and public credit;
- confidentiality of national affairs;
- investigation, by the competent services, of offences relating to economic
crime;
- statistical confidentiality, save in the case of data relating to private facts and
behaviour c.ol!ected through que.stionnaires on private facts and behaviour;
- electoral records. SECTION 22: The. period of 30 (thirty) years provided for in Section 21 above shall
be extended to:
(a) 150 (one hundred and fifty) years from the date of birth of.the data subject,
for documents containing persona!

ion 21 above shall
be extended to:
(a) 150 (one hundred and fifty) years from the date of birth of.the data subject,
for documents containing persona!

medical information;
(b) 120 (one hundred and twenty) years from the date of birth of the data subject
for personnel files;
(c) 100 (one hundred) years from the date of the deed or closure of the file, the
date of the census or survey, for documents relating to:
- cases brought before the courts, including pardon decisions, records and
lists of notaries, and civil status and registration registers;
- documents for which the disclosure is likely to undermine the security of
named or readily identifiable persons învolved in intelligence activities,
whether or not such documents have been classified;
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activities,
whether or not such documents have been classified;
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- documents relating to investigations conducted by the Criminal
Investigation Department, to cases brought before the courts, subject to
separate provisions concerning court judgments and the enforcement of
court decisions the disclosure of which undermîne persona! privacy. - documents containing individual information on persona! and family life
and, in general, on private facts and behaviour, collected within the
framework of statistical surveys by government services;
(d)60 (sixty) years, with effect from the date of the deed, for documents
· containing information relating fo:
- private life or concerning St{:lte security or national defence, the list of whic.h
shall be laid down by regulatory instrument
- the fundamental interests of the State in the conduct of foreign policy;
- · public security, persona!

h
shall be laid down by regulatory instrument
- the fundamental interests of the State in the conduct of foreign policy;
- · public security, persona!

safety or protection of privacy;
- the opinion or value judgement on a named or easily identifiable natural
persan, or which show the conduct of an individual in circumstances likely to
be prejudicial to such individual;
- security and defence system installations;
- procedures for the use of war or similar equipment;
- the operational procedures or technical capabilities of intelligence services;
- transformational projects infrastructure;
- administrative premises, diplomatie and consular missions and detention
facilities, until the date of the end of use of the said facilities or parts thereof
with similar characteristics, as established by a published deed. SECTION 23: Public bodies that have transferred records may consult them during
the retention period, insofar as it is necessary for the performance of their tasks. SECTION 24: (1) The public body responsible for the management of the National
Archives System may, on the recommendation of the government service or
organization of origin of the archives concerned, authorize their consultation before
the expiry of the time limits provided for in Section 22 above.

organization of origin of the archives concerned, authorize their consultation before
the expiry of the time limits provided for in Section 22 above.

(2) Consultation of the archives referred to in Subsection (1) above
shall not be subject to any restriction, unless expressly provided otherwise in the
authorization document. SECTION 25: (1) Every persan shall have the right of access to his persona! data
held in archives, with the exception of classified archives. (2) The right provided for in Subsection (1) above may be extended to
the rightful claimants of the person concerned, after his or her death. . 9 PRe-s,oe
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bove may be extended to
the rightful claimants of the person concerned, after his or her death. . 9 PRe-s,oe
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SECTION 26: Public archives shall be kept in a single file accessible for disclosure
to the public. SECTION 27: (1) Government services holding public archives shall be bound to
transfer them to the public body responsible for the management of the National
Archives System, subject to a special dispensation granted by decree of the
President of the Republic. (2) Pending the transfer provided for in Subsection ( 1) above, the
repository services shall be bound to clearly indicate the restrictions attached to their
free disclosure. SECTION 28: ( 1) Copies and authentic extracts of records accessible to the public
may be issued. (2) The terms and conditions for the issuance of copies and authentic
extracts of records shall be laid down by regulatory instrument. SECTION 29: {1) ln the event of a dispute, the production, by the public body
responsible for managing the National Archives System, of a certified true copy of a
document for which it is responsible, shall entitle the latter to be admitted as evidence
just as the original of the said document.

ed true copy of a
document for which it is responsible, shall entitle the latter to be admitted as evidence
just as the original of the said document.

{2) Where the dispute concerns the strategic interests of the State,
the original of a document by the public body responsible for the management of the
National Archives System for purposes of evidence must be produced by duly
authorised sworn staffers. {3) The staffer referred to in Subsection {2) above shall be
responsible for the document until its return. He shall draw up a report at the end of
his mission. SECTION 30: {1) The release of records shall be subject to copyright and
neighbouring rights. (2) lt shall excfude the reproduction, distribution or use of disclosed
documents for commercial purposes. (3) Any refusai to disclose documents must be justified by the
institution holding the documents. 111-ARCHIVAL CONTROL
SECTION 31: {1) The purpose of archivai control shall be to ensure the proper'
preservation of the national archivai heritage. 10
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(2) Archivai contrai shall relate ta the collection, filing, preservation
and access to archives. SECTION 32: (1) Archivai contrai shall be carried out by archivai inspectors and
controllers. {2) Archivai inspectors and controflers shall be criminal investigation
officers with special powers. As such, they shall be responsible for determining
offences relating to archives and for drawing up reports which shall be conclusive
until proved otherwise. . SECTION 33: (1) Archivai inspectors and controllers shall, throughout their career,
take an oath before the High Court of the place where they are posted. (2) The oath shall be worded as follows:
"/ swear to keep secret ail information to which I may have access by vinue of
my duties and not to publish, even after my duties have ceased, anything
contrary to the law, regu/ations, public order, public morality, the honour of
families and individua/s, public safety and security". (3) A copy of the affidavit shall be kept in the administrative file of the
persan concerned. (4) The staffer referred to in Subsection ( 1) above shall be bound by
the obligation of reserve and professional secrecy.

le of the
persan concerned. (4) The staffer referred to in Subsection ( 1) above shall be bound by
the obligation of reserve and professional secrecy.

SECTION 34: The conditions for exercising archivai contrai shall be laid down by
reg�latory instrument. IV-ARCHIVE MANAGEMENT STAFF
SECTION 35: (1) Specialized staff shall be responsible for the collection, processing
ând preservation of the archives of the State, public establishments, public
enterprises and regional and local authorities. {2) The staff referred to in Subsection ( 1) above shall take an oath,
in accordance with Section 33 above. V -FINANCING OF THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES SYSTEM
SECTION 36: A special fund shall be established to finance the development and
modernization of archives. SECTION 37: The following operations shall be eligible for financing by the Special
Fund referred to in Section 36 above:
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nancing by the Special
Fund referred to in Section 36 above:
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- research, training, management, preservation, protection and security of
records;
- organization of the National Archives System;
- development and modernization of archivai facilities nationwide;
- collection of State archives and data held by natural or legal persons;
- establishment of a public electronic archiving system for the long-term
preservation of web, software and public data generated by ail electronic
transactions;
- classification of sensitive State data;
- any action aimed at repatriating displaced records.

public data generated by ail electronic
transactions;
- classification of sensitive State data;
- any action aimed at repatriating displaced records.

SECTION 38: (1) The resources of the Special Fund shall be derived mainly from:
- the State budget and special allocations;
- contributions from regional and local authorities and other public, private or
international bodies;
- a proportion of revenue from excise duties;
- a proportion of revenue from IT tax:
- a proportion of revenue from the special excise duty levied on the disposai of
household waste;
- a proportion of the special levy of 1 % (one percent) of the pre-tax turnover of
telephone operators, satellite picture distributors and cable distributors;
contributions from development partners;
- gifts and legacies;
- own resources likely to be generated;
- any other resources allocated by the State. {2) The amount of the levy provided for on the resources referred to in
Subsection_ {1) above shall be laid down by the Finance Law. SECTION 39: The terms and conditions for the·organization and functioning of the
Special Fund provided for in Section 36 of this law shall be laid down by regulatory
instrument. 12
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nd provided for in Section 36 of this law shall be laid down by regulatory
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CHAPTERIV
ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFENCES AND PENALTIES
1-0FFENCES
SECTION 40: (1) Without prejudice to the recognized prerogatives of the Legal
Department and general jurisdiction crimrnal investigation officers1 archivai
inspectors and controllers with competence over archivai contrai, shall be
responsible for investigating and establishing offences related to archives. (2) The officers referred to in Subsection 1 above shall, at the behest
of the public body in charge of the National Archives System, take an oath before the
territorially competent Court of First Instance. SECTION 41: (1) The sworn officers referred to in Section 35 above shall pe'rform
their duties in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code . . (2) The minutes drawn up and signed by the said officiais shall be
authentic until otherwise proven. Il -OFFENCES AND PENALTIES
SECTION 42: (1) Whoever takes off, misappropriates, removes, alters or destroys
an archivai document, shall be punished with imprisonment of from 1 (one) year to 5
(five) years and a fine of from 10 000 (ten thousand) to 200 000 (two hundred
thousand} CFA francs, pursuant to Section 188(1) of the Penal Code. .

5
(five) years and a fine of from 10 000 (ten thousand) to 200 000 (two hundred
thousand} CFA francs, pursuant to Section 188(1) of the Penal Code. .

(2) Whoever being in possession of public archives by virtue of his
duties, destroys or allows the destruction, misappropriation or removal of all or part
of archives without the prior consent of the public body responsible for the
management of the National Archives System, shall be punished with imprisonment
· of from 5 (five) years 10 (ten) years and a fine of from 25 000 (twenty-five thousand)
to 200 000 (two hundred thousand) CFA francs, pursuant to Section 188(2} of the
Penal Code. (3) The penalties referred to in Subsection 2 above shall also apply
to whoever being in possession of public records by vîrtue of his duties, destroys or
allows the destruction, misappropriation or removal of all or part of archives without
the prior consent of the public body responsible for the management of the National
Archives System
SECTION 43: (1) Whoever without authority or authorization keeps, makes avaHable,
transcribes, publishes or reprodtJces a public archivai document shall be punished
with imprisonment of from 1 (one) year to 5 (five) years and a fine of from 10 000 (ten
thousand) to 200 000 (two hundred thousand) CFA francs, pursuant to Section 188
(1) of thé Penal Code.

o 5 (five) years and a fine of from 10 000 (ten
thousand) to 200 000 (two hundred thousand) CFA francs, pursuant to Section 188
(1) of thé Penal Code.

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(2) Any natural or legal person who carries or transports archives or
their duplicates which may not be taken out of national territory shall be fiable to the
same penalties. The said archives or their duplicatas shall be confiscated by the
customs authorities. (3) The confiscated archives or their duplicates shall be transferred to
the public body in charge of managing the National Archives System, pursuant to the
Law governing · the heritage and relevant international conventions ratified by
Cameroon. SECTION 44: Whoever falsifies, forges or alters public archivai documents shall be
punished with imprisonment of from 5 (five) to 20 (twenty) years and a fine of from
40 000 (forty thousand) to 2 000 000 (two million) CFA francs, pursuant to the
provisions of Section 205 of the Penal Code. SECTION 45: Whoever transfers or discloses public archives containing industrial or
commercial secrets with the aim of undermining national development shall be
puriished with imprisonment of from 6 (six) months to 2 (two} years and a fine of from
1 000 000 {one million) to 5 000 000 (five million) CFA francs, pursuant to the
provisions of Section 224 of the Penal Code.

years and a fine of from
1 000 000 {one million) to 5 000 000 (five million) CFA francs, pursuant to the
provisions of Section 224 of the Penal Code.

SECTION 46: Whoever violates professional secrecy or commercial secret of a
national enterprise shall be punished with imprisonment of from 3 (three) months to
3 (three) years and a fine of from 20 000 (twenty thousand) to 5 000 000 (five million)
CFA francs, pursuant to the provisions of Sections 310 and 311 of the Penal Code. SECTION 47: {1} Any owner of private archives classified as historical archives who
disposes of or destroys them shall be punished with imprisonment of from 5 (five) to
10 (ten) years and a fine of from 25 000 {twenty-five thousand) to 200 000 (two
hundred thousand) CFA francs, pursuant to the provisions of Section 188(2) of the
Penal Code. (2) Any owner of private archives classifie� as historical archives who
offers them for sale shall be Hable to the same penalties. SECTION 48: (1) Whoever refuses to transfer classified records to · sworn officers
appointed by the public body in charge of managing the National Archives System
shall be punished with imprisonm�nt of from 3 (three) months to 2 (two) years,
pursuant to the provisions of Section 148 of the Penal Code.

ves System
shall be punished with imprisonm�nt of from 3 (three) months to 2 (two) years,
pursuant to the provisions of Section 148 of the Penal Code.

(2) The same penalty shall apply to the following offences:
- refusai to present classified records or records to be classified;
- refusai to allow inspection and contrai mission offidals access to archive
repositones, or entities responsible for the management of archivai
documents;
14 ·,;r PR
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s responsible for the management of archivai
documents;
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- failure to take measures to protect archives at risk of damage or loss. SECTION 49: The penalties referred to in Section 48 above shaH be doubled for any
official responsible for the management and preservation of archivai documents. SECTION 50: Whoever, following the termination of his duties, misappropriates or
removes archivai documents in his possession by virtue of his duties shall be
punished with imprisonment of from 10 (ten) to 20 (twenty) years and a fine of from
20 000 000 (twenty million) to 100 000 000 (one hundred million)"CFA francs. SECTION 51: (1) Any private law institution that refuses to submit to the inspection
of its archives shall bè liable to a fine of from 1O 000 000 (ten million) to 50 000 000
(fifty million) CFA francs. (2) Refusai by any head of a public institution to submit to inspection
shall be brought before the Public Service Disciplinary Board. SECTION 52: (1) The following shall be liable to a fine offrom 10 000 000 (ten million)
.

all be brought before the Public Service Disciplinary Board. SECTION 52: (1) The following shall be liable to a fine offrom 10 000 000 (ten million)
.

to 50 000 000 (fifty million) CFA francs:
- any private law· institution that fails to comply with the legal, regulatory and
statutory prescriptions regarding the management of archives;
- any natural or moral person who illegally sells archives. (2) lllegal incarne, if any, shall be confiscated and the archives that
have been sold handed over to the public body responsible for the management of
the National Archives System. Ill -COMPROMISE
SECTION 53: (1) The public body responsible for the management of the National
Archives System may, upon request, reach compromise regarding violations of the
provisions of this law. (2) The compromise referred to in Subsection (1) above may be
made either before or after the judgment, where it is proven to be in the interest of
preserving a public record, or where such record is of historical, scientific or cultural
interest. SECTION 54: ( 1) Settlement must be in writing. (2) Settlement sha11 extinguish public action and any litigation initiated
by the administration. 15
PRESIDENC
PRES
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sh public action and any litigation initiated
by the administration. 15
PRESIDENC
PRES
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uro� AFFAI ou SE�VICE
RTIFIEE ORME
IED TR OPYwww.prc.cm

CHAPTERVI
TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS
SECTION 55: The State and its agencies, as well as any other natural or legal
person in possession of archives, or responsible for their collection,· sorting,
management, preservation, protection or disclosure, shall have a period of 18
(eighteen) months to comply with the provisions of this la"'.V.
SECTION 56:The conditions for the implementation of this law shall be defined, as
and when necessary, by separate instr:Uments.
SECTION 57: Ali previous provisions repugnant hereto, in particular those of Law
No. 2000/1 0 of 19 December 2000 to regulate:archives, are hereby repealed.
SECTION 58: This law shall be registered, published according to the procedure of
urgency and inserted in the Official Gazette in English and French./-
PRESIOENCE DE LA REPUBLIQUE
PRESIDEN
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16
>rAOUNDE, z 4 JUIL 2024
PRESIDENT OF :THE REPUBLICwww.prc.cm