16. The Minister may make regulations for any one or more of the purposes hereinafter prescribed: -
| (a) selection of public records and private documents and manuscripts for permanent preservation, their transfer to and deposit in the National Archives and the measures to be taken for their effective preservation in the National Archives; |
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| (b) temporary deposit of any specified class or description of public records at places other than the National Archives pending their transfer to the National Archives; |
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| (c) care and custody of public records in Government Departments and other institutions; |
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| (d) public access to the public archives and the terms and conditions subject to which public archives or any specified class or description of public archives are open to inspection by the members of the public; |
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| (e) prohibition or restriction of the disclosure of information obtained by the public from public archives; |
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| (f) maintenance of secrecy by officers of the National Archives in respect of any class or description of public archives in respect of which secrecy is required to be maintained by or under any written law; |
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| (g) purchase from private individuals or organizations of manuscripts and documents and other printed matter of historical or cultural or literary value for permanent preservation in the National Archives; |
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| (h) destruction of valueless records and documents in public offices and preparation of schedules therefor; |
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| (i) holding of exhibitions and expositions of public archives. |
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| (2) No regulation made by the Minister under subsection (1) shall have effect until it has been approved by the National State Assembly and notification of such approval is published in the Gazette. |
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Sri Lanka Consolidated Acts