(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[F1 had 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.
F1SI 1999/663