As of January 1^st 2024, after a delay of over a year (implementation was originally scheduled to begin on September 1^st 2022), begin the obligations for businesses and the public sector,  based on the Regulation on Unified Technical and Technological Requirements and Procedures for Preserving and Protecting Archival Material and Documentary Material in Electronic Form (hereinafter referred to as the Regulation), as a sub-law act of the Law on Archival Material and Archival Activity (hereinafter referred to as the Law).

The Regulation, like the Law itself, has raised many uncertainties regarding the interpretation of prescribed obligations and their practical application in the private sector.

Entities Covered by the Regulation:

The application of the Regulation obliges creators and holders of archival material and documentary material in electronic form. The Law specifies that creators are legal and natural persons whose work results in creation of archival material and documentary material, while holders are legal and natural persons who hold such material for a specified reason.

Obligations Effective from January 1st 2024:

Obligations that holders and creators of archival material and documentary material in the private sector must fulfill before handing it over to the archive are normative in terms of the mandatory adoption/creation of internal acts and factual or operational in terms of taking certain actions to comply with the Regulation.

Normative Obligations:

• The creator and holder must adopt/create a list of categories of archival material and documentary material with retention periods and submit it in electronic form for approval to the competent public archive in the eArchive software solution through the eAdministration Portal;
• Adoption of internal rules governing the preparation of documentary material for reliable electronic storage.

Factual Obligations:

• Implementation of protective measures for the software solution used for electronic archiving.
• Classification of documentary material in accordance with the list of categories of archival material and documentary material and determination of the retention period.
• Registration of prescribed data on the creator in the software solution.
• Preparation of documentary material for electronic archiving in accordance with the regulation governing reliable electronic storage and document formats suitable for long-term preservation.
• Determination of metadata on the documentary material.
• Keeping records of actions taken in the process of preparation for electronic storage and electronic archiving.
• Storage of documentary material in formats suitable for long-term preservation.
• Keeping an archive book in electronic form.
• Confirmation of the fidelity and accuracy of metadata with qualified electronic signature, i.e seal accompanied by a qualified time stamp, and their periodic upgrade until handing over to the competent archive, all in accordance with the regulation governing reliable electronic storage and document formats suitable for long-term preservation.
• Providing access to documentary material permanently stored in the competent public archive through the e-archive.
• Separation of material to be permanently preserved and material to be destroyed.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Is a new paid software solution required?

No. While the public sector will archive through the eArchive software solution, private sector entities can choose between two options:

– preserving electronic documents within existing software infrastructure, ensuring the ability to prove the validity of a qualified electronic signature and seal;

– archiving electronically through another entity – a provider of qualified electronic signature services.

Of course, until the archival material is handed over to the competent archive, the recording of electronic documents, i.e. electronic archiving, is carried out in accordance with the Regulation on the conditions for the preparation of documents for reliable electronic storage and document formats that are suitable for long-term storage (“Official Gazette of the RS”, No. 86/ 2018).

Is there an obligation to digitize documents?

No. The Regulation primarily applies to documentary material originally created in electronic form as per the Law on Electronic Document, Electronic Identification, and Trust Services in Electronic Business. However, if documents are digitized and converted into electronic form, the Regulation and obligations regarding the archiving of electronic documents apply.

Do the obligations of the Regulation apply to foreign companies operating in Serbia and representative offices?

Yes. According to the Law, creators are legal and natural persons whose work results in archival material and documentary material, while holders are legal and natural persons who hold such material for a specified reason. Consequently, there is an obligation to apply the Regulation by foreign companies through their representative offices in the Republic of Serbia when generating documentary material and archival material in electronic form.

Do the obligations of the Regulation apply to documents created before January 1st 2024?

According to the current text, the application of the Regulation is exclusively related to documentary material and archival material that originally originated in electronic form after January 1st 2024.

Instead of a Conclusion:

Although there is an undisputed need for additional regulation in this matter and without questioning the capacity of competent archives to implement the Regulation, the fact remains that there are still many open questions regarding its application (e.g., how often or at what time intervals are subjects obliged to conduct electronic archiving, is there an obligation to electronically archive e-invoices and other electronic documents that are already reliably stored in the appropriate information systems of competent state authorities – SEF, CROSO, the portal of the Tax Administration). In this regard, clarification of certain obligations is expected in the coming period, either through regulations or in other ways, all with the aim to resolve uncertainties in its application.