Public Records Act 1958
An Act to make new provision with respect to public records and the Public Record Office, and for connected purposes.
1 General responsibility of the F1Secretary of State for public records.
(1)
(2)
There shall be an Advisory Council on Public Records to advise the F4Secretary of State on matters concerning public records in general and, in particular, on those aspects of the work of the Public Record Office which affect members of the public who make use of the facilities provided by the Public Record Office.
The Master of the Rolls shall be chairman of the said Council and the remaining members of the Council shall be appointed by the F4Secretary of State on such terms as he may specify.
F5(2A)
The matters on which the Advisory Council on Public Records may advise the F6Secretary of State include matters relating to the application of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to information contained in public records which are historical records within the meaning of Part VI of that Act.
(3)
The F7Secretary of State shall in every year lay before both Houses of Parliament a report on the work of the Public Record Office, which shall include any report made to him by the Advisory Council on Public Records.
2 The Public Record Office.
(1)
The F8Secretary of State may appoint a Keeper of Public Records to take charge under his direction of the Public Record Office and of the records therein and may, with the concurrence of the Treasury as to numbers and conditions of service, appoint such other persons to serve in the Public Record Office as he may think fit.
(2)
The Keeper of Public Records and other persons appointed under this Act shall receive such salaries and remuneration as the Treasury may from time to time direct.
(3)
It shall be the duty of the Keeper of Public Records to take all practicable steps for the preservation of records under his charge.
(4)
The Keeper of Public Records shall have power to do all such things as appear to him necessary or expedient for maintaining the utility of the Public Record Office and may in particular—
(a)
compile and make available indexes and guides to, and calendars and texts of, the records in the Public Record Office;
(b)
prepare publications concerning the activities of and facilities provided by the Public Record Office;
(c)
regulate the conditions under which members of the public may inspect public and other records or use the other facilities of the Public Record Office;
(d)
provide for the making and authentication of copies of and extracts from records required as evidence in legal proceedings or for other purposes;
(e)
accept responsibility for the safe keeping of records other than public records;
(f)
make arrangements for the separate housing of films and other records which have to be kept under special conditions;
(g)
lend records, in a case where the F9Secretary of State gives his approval, for display at commemorative exhibitions or for other special purposes;
(h)
acquire records and accept gifts and loans.
(5)
The F10Secretary of State may by regulations made with the concurrence of the Treasury and contained in a statutory instrument prescribe the fees which may be charged for the inspection of records under the charge of the Keeper of Public Records, for authenticated copies or extracts from such records and for other services afforded by officers of the Public Record Office and authorise the remission of the fees in prescribed cases.
(6)
Fees received under the last foregoing subsection shall be paid into the Exchequer.
3 Selection and preservation of public records.
(1)
It shall be the duty of every person responsible for public records of any description which are not in the Public Record Office or a place of deposit appointed by the F11Secretary of State under this Act to make arrangements for the selection of those records which ought to be permanently preserved and for their safe-keeping.
(2)
Every person shall perform his duties under this section under the guidance of the Keeper of Public Records and the said Keeper shall be responsible for co-ordinating and supervising all action taken under this section.
(3)
All public records created before the year sixteen hundred and sixty shall be included among those selected for permanent preservation.
(4)
Public records selected for permanent preservation under this section shall be transferred not later than F1220 years after their creation either to the Public Record Office or to such other place of deposit appointed by the F13Secretary of State under this Act as the F13Secretary of State may direct:
Provided that any records may be retained after the said period if, in the opinion of the person who is responsible for them, they are required for administrative purposes or ought to be retained for any other special reason and, where that person is not the F13Secretary of State, the F13Secretary of State has been informed of the facts and given his approval.
F14(4A)
Until the end of the period of 10 years beginning with the commencement of section 45 of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010, subsection (4) has effect subject to any order made under subsection (2) of that section.
(5)
The F15Secretary of State may, if it appears to him in the interests of the proper administration of the Public Record Office, direct that the transfer of any class of records under this section shall be suspended until arrangements for their reception have been completed.
(6)
Public records which, following the arrangements made in pursuance of this section, have been rejected as not required for permanent preservation shall be destroyed or, subject in the case of records for which some person other than the F16Secretary of State is responsible, to the approval of the F16Secretary of State, disposed of in any other way.
(7)
Any question as to the person whose duty it is to make arrangements under this section with respect to any class of public records shall be referred to the F17Secretary of State for his decision.
(8)
The provisions of this section shall not make it unlawful for the person responsible for any public record to transmit it to the Keeper of the Records of Scotland or to the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.
4 Place of deposit of public records.
(1)
If it appears to the F18Secretary of State that a place outside the Public Record Office affords suitable facilities for the safe-keeping and preservation of records and their inspection by the public he may, with the agreement of the authority who will be responsible for records deposited in that place, appoint it as a place of deposit as respects any class of public records selected for permanent preservation under this Act.
(2)
In choosing a place of deposit under this section for public records of—
(a)
courts of quarter sessions or magistrates’ courts, or
(b)
courts of coroners of counties or boroughs,
the F19Secretary of State shall have regard to any arrangements made by the person for the time being responsible for the records with respect to the place where those records are to be kept and, where he does not follow any such arrangements, shall, so far as practicable, proceed on the principle that the records of any such court ought to be kept in the area of the F20county or county borough comprising the area for which the court acts or where it sits, except in a case where the authorities or persons appearing to the F19Secretary of State to be mainly concerned consent to the choice of a place of deposit elsewhere.
(3)
The F21Secretary of State may at any time direct that public records shall be transferred from the Public Record Office to a place of deposit appointed under this section or from such a place of deposit to the Public Record Office or another place of deposit.
(4)
Before appointing a place of deposit under this section as respects public records of a class for which the F22Secretary of State is not himself responsible, he shall consult with the Minister or other person, if any, who appears to him to be primarily concerned and, where the records are records of a court of quarter sessions the records of which are, apart from the provisions of this Act, subject to the directions of a custos rotulorum, the F22Secretary of State shall consult him.
(5)
Public records in the Public Record Office shall be in the custody of the Keeper of Public Records and public records in a place of deposit appointed under this Act shall be in the custody of such officer as the F23Secretary of State may appoint.
(6)
Public records in the Public Record Office or other place of deposit appointed by the F24Secretary of State under this Act shall be temporarily returned at the request of the person by whom or department or office from which they were transferred.
5 Access to public records.
F25(1)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F25(2)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F26(3)
It shall be the duty of the Keeper of Public Records to arrange that reasonable facilities are available to the public for inspecting and obtaining copies of those public records in the Public Record Office which fall to be disclosed in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
F27(4)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(5)
6 Destruction of public records in Public Record Office or other place of deposit.
If, as respects any public records in the Public Record Office or any place of deposit appointed under this Act, it appears to the Keeper of Public Records that they are duplicated by other public records which have been selected for permanent preservation or that there is some other special reason why they should not be permanently preserved, he may, with the approval of the F30Secretary of State and of the Minister or other person, if any, who appears to the F30Secretary of State to be primarily concerned with public records of the class in question, authorise the destruction of those records or, with that approval, their disposal in any other way.
7 Records for which Master of the Rolls remains responsible.
(1)
Subject to the provisions of this section, the Master of the Rolls shall continue to be responsible for, and to have custody of, the records of the Chancery of England, including those created after the commencement of this Act, and shall have power to determine where the said records or any of them are for the time being to be deposited.
(2)
Section three and subsection (6) of section four of this Act shall not apply to any of the said records but if and so long as any of them are deposited in the Public Record Office those records shall be in the custody of the Keeper of Public Records and subject to the directions of the F31Secretary of State as in the case of any other records in the Public Record Office.
(3)
Subject to the foregoing provisions of this section, the Master of the Rolls shall not have charge and superintendence over, or custody of, any public records and any public records which at the commencement of this Act were in the custody of the Master of the Rolls (other than records of the Chancery of England) shall thereafter be in the custody of the Keeper of Public Records or such other officer as the F32Secretary of State may from time to time appoint.
8 Court records.
(1)
The Lord Chancellor shall be responsible for the public records of every court of record or magistrates’ court which are not in the Public Record Office or a place of deposit appointed by F33the Secretary of State under this Act and shall have power to determine in the case of any such records F34other than records of the Supreme Court, the officer in whose custody they are for the time being to be:
F35. . .
F36(1A)
Records of the Supreme Court for which the Lord Chancellor is responsible under subsection (1) shall be in the custody of the chief executive of that court.
(2)
F37The power of the President of the Probate Division of the High Court under section one hundred and seventy of the M1Supreme Court of Judicature (Consolidation) Act 1925, to direct where the wills and other documents mentioned in that section are to be deposited and preserved (exercisable with the consent of the Lord Chancellor) shall be transferred to the Lord Chancellor.
F38(3)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(4)
Where any private documents have remained in the custody of a court in England or Wales for more than fifty years without being claimed, the Keeper of Public Records may, with the approval of the Master of the Rolls, require the documents to be transferred to the Public Record Office and thereupon the documents shall become public records for the purposes of this Act.
(5)
Section three of this Act shall not apply to such of the records of ecclesiastical courts described in paragraph (n) of sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 4 of the First Schedule to this Act as are not held in any office of the F39Senior Courts or in the Public Record Office, but, if the Lord Chancellor after consulting the President of the F40Family Division so directs as respects any of those records, those records shall be transferred to such place of deposit as may be appointed by the F41Secretary of State and shall thereafter be in the custody of such officer as may be so appointed.
(6)
The public records which at the commencement of this Act are in the custody of the University of Oxford and which are included in the index a copy of which was transmitted to the principal probate registrar under section two of the M2Oxford University Act 1860, shall not be required to be transferred under the last foregoing subsection but the Lord Chancellor shall make arrangements with the University of Oxford as to the conditions under which those records may be inspected by the public.
9 Legal validity of public records and authenticated copies.
(1)
The legal validity of any record shall not be affected by its removal under the provisions of this Act, or of the Public Record Office Acts 1838 to 1898, or by any provisions in those Acts with respect to its legal custody.
(2)
A copy of or extract from a public record in the Public Record Office purporting to be examined and certified as true and authentic by the proper officer and to be sealed or stamped with the seal of the Public Record Office shall be admissible as evidence in any proceedings without any further or other proof thereof if the original record would have been admissible as evidence in those proceedings.
F42(3)
An electronic copy of or extract from a public record in the Public Record Office which—
(a)
purports to have been examined and certified as true and authentic by the proper officer; and
(b)
appears on a website purporting to be one maintained by or on behalf of the Public Record Office,;
shall, when viewed on that website, be admissible as evidence in any proceedings without further or other proof if the original record would have been admissible as evidence in those proceedings.
F43(4)
F44In this section any reference to the proper officer is a reference to the Keeper of Public Records or any other officer of the Public Record Office authorised in that behalf by the Keeper of Public Records, and, in the case of copies and extracts made before the commencement of this Act, the deputy keeper of the records or any assistant record keeper appointed under the M3Public Record Office Act 1838.
10 Interpretation.
(1)
In this Act “public records” has the meaning assigned to it by the First Schedule to this Act and “records” includes not only written records but records conveying information by any other means whatsoever.
(2)
Where records created at different dates are for administrative purposes kept together in one file or other assembly all the records in that file or other assembly shall be treated for the purposes of this Act as having been created when the latest of those records was created.
F4511 Public Record Office Acts to cease to have effect.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
12 Northern Ireland.
(1)
It shall be lawful for any government department or other body or person having the custody of any public records relating exclusively or mainly to Northern Ireland to transmit those records to the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland.
F46(2)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
13 Short title, repeals and commencement.
(1)
This Act may be cited as the Public Records Act 1958.
F47(2)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(3)
This Act shall come into force on the first day of January, nineteen hundred and fifty-nine.
FIRST SCHEDULE Definition of Public Records
1
The provisions of this Schedule shall have effect for determining what are public records for the purposes of this Act.
Departmental records
2
(1)
Subject to the provisions of this paragraph, administrative and departmental records belonging to Her Majesty, whether in the United Kingdom or elsewhere, in right of Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom and, in particular,—
(a)
records of, or held in, any department of Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom, or
(b)
records of any office, commission or other body or establishment whatsoever under Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom,
shall be public records.
(2)
Sub-paragraph (1) of this paragraph shall not apply—
(a)
to records of any government department or body which is wholly or mainly concerned with Scottish affairs, or which carries on its activities wholly or mainly in Scotland, or
(b)
to registers or certified copies of entries in registers being registers or certified copies kept or deposited in the General Register Office under or in pursuance of any enactment, whether past or future, which provides for the registration of births, deaths, marriages F48, civil partnerships or adoptions, or
(c)
except so far as provided by paragraph 4 of this Schedule, to records of the Duchy of Lancaster, or
(d)
to records of the office of the Public Trustee relating to individual trusts F49or
(e)
to Welsh public records (as defined in F50the Government of Wales Act 2006).
3
(1)
Without prejudice to the generality of sub-paragraph (1) of the last foregoing paragraph, the administrative and departmental records of bodies and establishments set out in the Table at the end of this paragraph shall be public records, whether or not they are records belonging to Her Majesty.
(2)
The provisions of this paragraph shall not be taken as applying to records in any museum or gallery mentioned in the said Table which form part of its permanent collections (that is to say records which the museum or gallery has acquired otherwise than by transfer from or arrangements with a government department).
PART I | |
|---|---|
BODIES AND ESTABLISHMENTS UNDER GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS | |
Responsible Government Department | |
F51Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. | F52... Agricultural Wages Committees. F53The Animal Sentience Committee. Organisation known as the “National Farm Survey”. Official seed testing station for England and Wales. |
F54Department for Science, Innovation and Technology | Meteorological Office. |
F55... | F56... |
F57Department of Health | National Health Service Authorities F58including F59F60NHS England F61, integrated care boards, F62Primary Care TrustsF63, National Health Service trusts and NHS foundation trusts other than local health authorities F64and Authorities for districts or localities in Wales, or for areas in or consisting of Wales (including National Health Service trusts all of whose hospitals, establishments and facilities are situated in Wales). F65Commissioner for Patient Safety. F66Family Practitioner Committees F67for localities in England F68health service hospitals, within the meaning of the National Health Service Act 1977F69, in England except— records of endowments passing to Boards of Governors under section seven of the National Health Service Act 1946. records relating to funds held by Hospital Boards and Committees under sections fifty-nine and sixty of the said Act, and records of private patients admitted under section five of the said Act. F70records of property passing to F71Regional, Area or District Health Authorities or special health authorities under sections 23 to 26 of the M4 National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973 F72, section 92 of the National Health Service Act 1977, section 213 of the National Health Service Act 2006 or section 161 of the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006 records of property held by a F73Regional, Area or District Health Authority or special health authority under section 21 or 22 of the said Act 1973F74, section 90 or 91 of the National Health Service Act 1977, section 218 of the National Health Service Act 2006 or paragraph 8 of Schedule 6 to that Act, or paragraph 8 of Schedule 5 to the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006 F75records of trust property passing to F76F60NHS EnglandF77, an integrated care board, a F78Strategic Health Authority, Health Authority, Special Health Authority or Primary Care Trust by virtue of the Health Authorities Act 1995 F79, under section 213 of the National Health Service Act 2006 or section 161 of the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006, F80... or held by F81F60NHS EnglandF77, an integrated care board or F82a Strategic Health Authority or a Health Authority under section 90 or 91 of F83the National Health Service Act 1977, section 218 of the National Health Service Act 2006, paragraph 12 of Schedule 2 to, or paragraph 8 of Schedule 6 to, that Act, or F84by virtue of section 2 and section 13X of, or F85paragraph 23 of Schedule 1B to, that Act, or under paragraph 8 of Schedule 5 to the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006. F86... |
Home Office | Office of Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis. Office of Receiver for the Metropolitan Police District. |
F87Department of Employment | National Dock Labour Board. National Institute of Houseworkers Limited. Wages Boards and Wages Councils. |
F88Department of Social Security | National Insurance Advisory Committee. Industrial Injuries Advisory Council. F89Attendance Allowance Board. National Insurance and Industrial Injuries Joint Authorities. Workmen’s Compensation Supplementation Board. Pneumoconiosis and Byssinosis Benefit Board. F90... F91... |
F92Department of Transport | Air Transport Advisory Council. Air Registration Board. F93Airworthiness Requirements Board, Civil Aviation Authority. F94Strategic Rail Authority. |
F95Ministry of Justice | F96Legal Aid Board F97... |
PART II
OTHER ESTABLISHMENTS AND ORGANISATIONS
F98...
F99An advocate for victims of major incidents appointed under Part 2 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024.
F100Advanced Research and Invention Agency.
Anglo-Egyptian Resettlement Board.
F101Armed Forces Commissioner.
F102Armouries
F103...
F104The Big Lottery Fund.
F105The Board of the Pension Protection Fund.
F106The Board of Trustees of the National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside.
F107British Coal Corporation
F108British Council.
British Museum (including the Natural History Museum).
F109The Building Safety Regulator
F110Care Council for Wales.
F111The Care Quality Commission F112and the Healthwatch England committee.
Catering Wages Commission.
F113Central Police Training and Development Authority
F114Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission.
F115...
F116Civil Nuclear Police Authority.
F117Coal Authority
Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation.
F118Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment.
F119The Commission for Equality and Human Rights.
F120...
F121...
F122Commission on Industrial Relations
F123Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health.
F124Commission for Rural Communities.
F125...
F126The Committee on Climate Change.
F127 The company that was nominated under section 62 of the Postal Services Act 2000 (reorganisation of the Post Office: transfer of property etc to nominated company).
F128Competition and Markets Authority.
F129...
F130Competition Service
F131Compliance Officer for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority.
F132...
F133Consumer Council for Water.
F134...
F135...
F136Criminal Cases Review Commission
F137Crown Agents for Overseas Governments and Administrations (before and after their reconstitution as a body corporate) except when acting for governments or authorities outside Her Majesty’s dominions.
F138Crown Agents Holding and Realisation Board.
F139...
F140...
F141A development agency established under section 1 of the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998.
Development Commission.
F142...
F143...
F103...
F144Electoral Commission.
F145...
F103...
F146...
F147The Environment Agency
F148 Funding Agency for Schools
F149Further Education Funding Council for England.
F150...
F151Gambling Commission.
F152...
F132...
F153General Social Care Council.
F154...
F155General Teaching Council for Wales.
F156...
F157Health Research Authority.
F158Health Services Safety Investigations Body (except for any record that is prohibited from being disclosed by section 122 of the Health and Care Act 2022).
F159...
F160...
F161Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England
F162The Homes and Communities Agency.
F163Human Tissue Authority.
Imperial War Museum.
F164The Independent Football Regulator.
F165Independent Monitoring Authority for the Citizens’ Rights Agreements.
F166Independent Office for Police Conduct.
F167The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority.
F168The Independent System Operator and Planner designated in accordance with section 162 of the Energy Act 2023.
F169The Infected Blood Compensation Authority.
F170Information Commissioner.
F171Infrastructure Planning Commission.
Irish Sailors’ and Soldiers’ Land Trust.
F172...
F173The Legal Services Board.
F174The Legal Services Consultative Panel.
F175...
F176Local Better Regulation Office.
F177Local Government Boundary Commission for England.
London Museum.
F178The Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Legal Education and Conduct
F179...
F180The Marine Management Organisation.
F182...
F183Money and Pensions Service.
F184...
F185National Audit Office
F120...
F186The National Citizen Service Trust.
F187The National Data Guardian for Health and Social Care.
F188...
F189...
National Gallery.
F182...
F190...
National Maritime Museum.
F146...
F191...
National Portrait Gallery.
National Savings Committee.
F192Natural England.
F103...
F193...
F182...
F194Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.
F195Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority.
F196Office for Budget Responsibility.
F197Office of Communications.
F198...
F129...
F199The Office for Environmental Protection.
F200The Office of the Health Professions Adjudicator.
F201The Office for Legal Complaints.
F202Office for Nuclear Regulation
F203Office for Students.
F204...
F205...
F206Olympic Lottery Distributor.
F207The Ombudsman for the Board of the Pension Protection Fund.
F208Passengers’ Council.
F209Pensions Compensation Board.
F210Pensions Ombudsman.
F211The Pensions Regulator.
F212...
F213Police Information Technology Organisation
F214....
F214...
F127A Post Office company within the meaning of Part 1 of the Postal Services Act 2011.
F215The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care
F216...
F217...
F218Rail Passengers’ Committees.
F219...
F220The Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists
F221The Regulator of Social Housing
Remploy Limited.
F222Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Greenwich Observatory.
F127A Royal Mail company within the meaning of Part 1 of the Postal Services Act 2011.
F223School Curriculum and Assessment Authority
F224...
F225Science Museum
F226Service Police Complaints Commissioner.
F227Security Industry Authority.
F228...
F229...
F230...
F231The Simpler Trade Procedures Board.
F232...
F233Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission
F234A strategic highways company for the time being appointed under Part 1 of the Infrastructure Act 2015.
Tate Gallery.
F235...
F103...
F236Trade Remedies Authority.
F237Traffic Director for London
F238...
F239...
F240The trustee corporation established by section 75 of the Pensions Act 2008.
Trustee Savings Banks Inspection Committee.
United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.
F241United Kingdom Research and Innovation.
University Grants Committee.
F242Valuation Tribunal Service.
F243Victoria and Albert Museum
Wallace Collection.
War Works Commission.
F244...
Any body established for the purpose of determining the boundaries of constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, or of local authorities in England F245....
F2463A
(1)
Her Majesty may by Order in Council amend the Table at the end of paragraph 3 of this Schedule by adding to either Part of the Table an entry relating to any body or establishment—
(a)
which, at the time when the Order is made, is specified in Schedule 2 to the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 (departments, etc. subject to investigation), or
(b)
in respect of which an entry could, at that time, be added to Schedule 2 to that Act by an Order in Council under section 4 of that Act (which confers power to amend that Schedule).
(2)
An Order in Council under this paragraph may relate to a specified body or establishment or to bodies or establishments falling within a specified description.
(3)
An Order in Council under this paragraph shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament.
Records of courts and tribunals
4
(1)
Subject to the provisions of this paragraph, records of the following descriptions shall be public records for the purposes of this Act:—
F247(za)
records of the Supreme Court;
(a)
records of, or held in any department of, the Supreme Court (including any court held under a commission of assize);
F248(aa)
records of the family court;
(b)
records of county courts and of any other superior or inferior court of record established since the passing of the M5County Courts Act 1846;
F249(c)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(d)
records of courts of quarter sessions:
(e)
records of magistrates’ courts;
(f)
records of coroners’ courts;
F250(fa)
records of the Court Martial, the Summary Appeal Court or the Service Civilian Court;
(g)
records of courts-martial held whether within or outside the United Kingdom by any of Her Majesty’s forces raised in the United Kingdom;
(h)
records of naval courts held whether within or outside the United Kingdom under the enactments relating to merchant shipping;
(i)
records of any court exercising jurisdiction held by Her Majesty within a country outside Her dominions;
(j)
records of any tribunal (by whatever name called)—
(i)
which has jurisdiction connected with any functions of a department of Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom; or
(ii)
which has jurisdiction in proceedings to which such a government department is a party or to hear appeals from decisions of such a government department;
F251(ja)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(k)
records of F252. . . any Rent Tribunal or Local Valuation Court;
(l)
records of the Industrial Court, of the Industrial Disputes Tribunal, and of the National Arbitration Tribunal (which was replaced by the Industrial Disputes Tribunal);
(m)
records of umpires and deputy-umpires appointed under the M6National Service Act 1948, or the M7Reinstatement in Civil Employment Act 1944;
(n)
records of ecclesiastical courts when exercising the testamentary and matrimonial jurisdiction removed from them by the M8Court of Probate Act 1857, and the M9Matrimonial Causes Act 1857, respectively;
F253(nn)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(o)
records of such other courts or tribunals (by whatever name called) as the Lord Chancellor may by order contained in a statutory instrument specify.
F254(1A)
Records of, or held in any department of, the Supreme Court within sub-paragraph (1)(a) of this paragraph include the records of the Chancery Court of the county palatine of Lancaster and the Chancery Court of the county palatine of Durham (which were abolished by the Courts Act 1971).
(1B)
Records of county courts within sub-paragraph (1)(b) of this paragraph include the records of the following courts (which were abolished by the Courts Act 1971)—
(a)
the Tolzey and Pie Poudre Courts of the City and County of Bristol;
(b)
the Liverpool Court of Passage;
(c)
the Norwich Guildhall Court; and
(d)
the Court of Record for the Hundred of Salford.
(2)
This paragraph shall not apply to any court or tribunal whose jurisdiction extends only to Scotland or Northern Ireland.
(3)
In this paragraph “records” includes records of any proceedings in the court or tribunal in question and includes rolls, writs, books, decrees, bills, warrants and accounts of, or in the custody of, the court or tribunal in question.
Records of the Chancery of England
5
Records in Public Record Office
6
Without prejudice to the foregoing provisions of this Schedule, public records for the purposes of this Act shall include—
(a)
all records within the meaning of the M10Public Record Office Act 1838, or to which that Act was applied, which at the commencement of this Act are in the custody of the Master of the Rolls in pursuance of that Act, and
(b)
all records (within the meaning of the said Act or to which that Act was applied) which at the commencement of this Act are in the Public Record Office and, in pursuance of the said Act, under the charge and superintendence of the Master of the Rolls, and
Power to add further categories of records and to determine cases of doubt
7
(1)
Without prejudice to the Lord Chancellor’s power of making orders under paragraph 4 of this Schedule, Her Majesty may by Order in Council direct that any description of records not falling within the foregoing provisions of this Schedule F259and not being Welsh public records (as defined in F260the Government of Wales Act 2006) shall be treated as public records for the purposes of this Act but no recommendation shall be made to Her Majesty in Council to make an Order under this sub-paragraph unless a draft of the Order has been laid before Parliament and approved by resolution of each House of Parliament.
(2)
A question whether any records or description of records are public records for the purposes of this Act shall be referred to and determined by the F261Secretary of State and the F261Secretary of State shall include his decisions on such questions in his annual report to Parliament and shall from time to time compile and publish lists of the departments, bodies, establishments, courts and tribunals comprised in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of this Schedule and lists describing more particularly the categories of records which are, or are not, public records as defined in this Schedule.
Interpretation
8
It is hereby declared that any description of government department, court, tribunal or other body or establishment in this Schedule by reference to which a class of public records is framed extends to a government department, court, tribunal or other body or establishment, as the case may be, which has ceased to exist, whether before or after the passing of this Act.
F262SECOND SCHEDULE
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F263THIRD SCHEDULE
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F264FOURTH SCHEDULE
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