Public Records Act 1958

1958 CHAPTER 51 6 and 7 Eliz 2

An Act to make new provision with respect to public records and the Public Record Office, and for connected purposes.

[23rd July 1958]

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 Act excluded by Australian Constitution (Public Record Copy) Act 1990 (c.17, SIF 101),s. 1

C2 Act modified (1.4.1996) by 1995 c. 25, s. 120(2), Sch. 23 Pt. I para. 9 (with ss. 7(6), 115, 117); S.I. 1996/186, art. 3

C3 Act restricted (1.4.1999) by 1998 c. 38, s. 116(1) (with s. 143(2)); S.I. 1999/782, art. 2

Act modified (temp.) (1.4.1999) by 1998 c. 38, s. 116(2) (with s. 143(2)); S.I. 1999/782, art. 2

C4 Act excluded (24.4.2000) by S.I. 2000/942, art. 4

C5 Act applied (1.10.2007) by Mental Capacity Act 2005 (c. 9), ss. 66(4), 68(1)-(3), Sch. 5 para. 6(1) (with ss. 27, 28, 29, 62); S.I. 2007/1897, art. 2(d)

C6 Act restricted by Government of Wales Act 2006 (c. 32) , s. 146(1)(2)(3), the amending provision coming into force immediately after "the 2007 election" (held on 3.5.2007) subject to s. 161(4)(5) of the amending Act, which provides for certain provisions to come into force for specified purposes immediately after the end of "the initial period" (which ended with the day of the first appointment of a First Minister on 25.5.2007) - see ss. 46, 161(1)(4)(5) of the amending Act.

Act modified (temp) by Government of Wales Act 2006 (c. 32) , s. 146(2), the amending provision coming into force immediately after "the 2007 election" (held on 3.5.2007) subject to s. 161(4)(5) of the amending Act, which provides for certain provisions to come into force for specified purposes immediately after the end of "the initial period" (which ended with the day of the first appointment of a First Minister on 25.5.2007) - see ss. 46, 161(1)(4)(5) of the amending Act.

Commencement Information

I1 Act wholly in force at 1.1.1959 see s. 13(3).

1 General responsibility of the Lord Chancellor for public records. U.K.

(1) The direction of the Public Record Office shall be transferred from the Master of the Rolls to the Lord Chancellor, and the Lord Chancellor shall be generally responsible for the execution of this Act and shall supervise the care and preservation of public records.

(2) There shall be an Advisory Council on Public Records to advise the Lord Chancellor 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 Lord Chancellor on such terms as he may specify.

(3) The Lord Chancellor 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. U.K.

(1) The Lord Chancellor 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 Lord Chancellor gives his approval, for display at commemorative exhibitions or for other special purposes;

(h) acquire records and accept gifts and loans.

(5) The Lord Chancellor 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. U.K.

(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 Lord Chancellor 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 thirty years after their creation either to the Public Record Office or to such other place of deposit appointed by the Lord Chancellor under this Act as the Lord Chancellor 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 Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chancellor has been informed of the facts and given his approval.

(5) The Lord Chancellor 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 Lord Chancellor is responsible, to the approval of the Lord Chancellor, 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 Lord Chancellor 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. U.K.

(1) If it appears to the Lord Chancellor 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 Lord Chancellor 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 [F1 county] 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 Lord Chancellor to be mainly concerned consent to the choice of a place of deposit elsewhere.

(3) The Lord Chancellor 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 Lord Chancellor 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 Lord Chancellor 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 Lord Chancellor may appoint.

(6) Public records in the Public Record Office or other place of deposit appointed by the Lord Chancellor under this Act shall be temporarily returned at the request of the person by whom or department or office from which they were transferred.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words substituted by virtue of Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70), s. 179(2)

5 Access to public records. U.K.

(1) Public records in the Public Record Office, other than those to which members of the public had access before their transfer to the Public Record Office, shall not be available for public inspection [F2 until the expiration of the period of thirty years beginning with the first day of January in the year next after that in which they were created, or of such other period], either longer or shorter, as the Lord Chancellor may, with the approval, or at the request, of the Minister or other person, if any, who appears to him to be primarily concerned, for the time being prescribe as respects any particular class of public records.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing subsection, if it appears to the person responsible for any public records which have been selected by him under section three of this Act for permanent preservation that they contain information which was obtained from members of the public under such conditions that the opening of those records to the public after the period determined under the foregoing subsection would or might constitute a breach of good faith on the part of the Government or on the part of the persons who obtained the information, he shall inform the Lord Chancellor accordingly and those records shall not be available in the Public Record Office for public inspection even after the expiration of the said period except in such circumstances and subject to such conditions, if any, as the Lord Chancellor and that person may approve, or, if the Lord Chancellor and that person think fit, after the expiration of such further period as they may approve.

(3) Subject to the foregoing provisions of this section, subject to the enactments set out in the Second Schedule to this Act (which prohibit the disclosure of certain information obtained from the public except for certain limited purposes) and subject to any other Act or instrument whether passed or made before or after this Act which contains a similar prohibition, 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 public records in the Public Record Office.

(4) Subsection (1) of this section shall not make it unlawful for the Keeper of Public Records to permit a person to inspect any records if he has obtained special authority in that behalf given by an officer of a government department or other body, being an officer accepted by the Lord Chancellor as qualified to give such an authority.

(5) The Lord Chancellor shall, as respects all public records in places of deposit appointed by him under this Act outside the Public Record Office, require arrangements to be made for their inspection by the public comparable to those made for public records in the Public Record Office and subject to restrictions corresponding with those contained in the foregoing provisions of this section.

Textual Amendments

F2 Words substituted by Public Records Act 1967 (c. 44), s. 1

6 Destruction of public records in Public Record Office or other place of deposit. U.K.

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 Lord Chancellor and of the Minister or other person, if any, who appears to the Lord Chancellor 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. U.K.

(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 Lord Chancellor 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 Lord Chancellor may from time to time appoint.

8 Court records. U.K.

(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 him under this Act and shall have power to determine in the case of any such records the officer in whose custody they are for the time being to be:

. . . . . . F3

(2) [F4 The power of the President of the Probate Division of the High Court under section one hundred and seventy of the M1 Supreme 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.]

(3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F5

(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 Supreme Court or in the Public Record Office, but, if the Lord Chancellor after consulting the President of the [F6 Family 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 Lord Chancellor 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 M2 Oxford 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.

Textual Amendments

F3 S. 8(1) proviso repealed by Courts Act 1971 (c. 23), Sch. 11 Pt. II

F4 S. 8(2) repealed (E.W) by Supreme Court Act 1981 (c.54, SIF 37),s. 152(4), Sch.7

F5 s. 8(3) repealed by Administration of Justice Act 1969(c.58), Sch. 2

F6 Words substituted by Administration of Justice Act 1970 (c. 31), Sch. 2 para. 19

Marginal Citations

M1 1925 c. 49.

M2 1860 c. 91.

9 Legal validity of public records and authenticated copies. U.K.

(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.

In this subsection the 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 M3 Public Record Office Act 1838.

Marginal Citations

M3 1838 c. 94.

10 Interpretation. U.K.

(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.

F7 11 Public Record Office Acts to cease to have effect. U.K.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Textual Amendments

F7 S. 11 repealed by Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (c. 48, SIF 67A), s. 303(2), Sch. 8

12 Northern Ireland. U.K.

(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.

F8 (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Textual Amendments

F8 S.12(2) repealed by Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 (c. 36), Sch. 6 Pt. I

13 Short title, repeals and commencement. U.K.

(1) This Act may be cited as the Public Records Act 1958.

F9 (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(3) This Act shall come into force on the first day of January, nineteen hundred and fifty-nine.

Textual Amendments

F9 S.13(2) repealed by Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1974 (c. 22), Sch. Pt. XI

SCHEDULES

Section 10.

FIRST SCHEDULE U.K. Definition of Public Records

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C7 Sch. 1 excluded by Transport Act 1968 (c. 73), s. 144(9)

Sch. 1 excluded (E.W.S.) (1.4.1994) by 1993 c. 43, s. 125(6); S.I. 1994/571, art. 5 (with art. 7) (which exclusion was repealed (18.7.1996) by 1996 c. 42, s. 8(2)(3))

Sch. 1 excluded (E.W.S.) (18.9.1996) by 1996 c. 42, ss. 5(3), 8(3)

1 U.K. The provisions of this Schedule shall have effect for determining what are public records for the purposes of this Act.

Departmental records U.K.

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 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.

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).

TABLE

PART I
BODIES AND ESTABLISHMENTS UNDER GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS
Responsible Government Department
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.	Agricultural Wages Board. Agricultural Wages Committees. Organisation known as the “National Farm Survey”. Official seed testing station for England and Wales.
[F10 Ministry of Defence]	Meteorological Office.
F11 . . .	F12 . . .
[F13 Department of Health]	National Health Service Authorities [F14 including National Health Service Trusts] other than local health authorities. [F15 Family Practitioner Committees] [F16 National health service hospitals][F17 health service hospitals, within the meaning of the National Health Service Act 1977] 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, andrecords of private patients admitted under section five of the said Act. [F18 records of property passing to [F19 Regional, Area or District] Health Authorities or special health authorities under sections 23 to 26 of the M4 National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973 [F20 or section 92 of the M5 National Health Service Act 1977] records of property held by a [F21 Regional, Area or District] Health Authority or special health authority under section 21 or 22 of the said Act 1973][F22 or section 90 or 91 of the National Health Service Act 1977] Welsh Board of Health.
Home Office	Office of Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis. Office of Receiver for the Metropolitan Police District.
[F23 Department of Employment]	National Dock Labour Board. National Institute of Houseworkers Limited. Wages Boards and Wages Councils.
[F24 Department of Social Security]	National Insurance Advisory Committee. Industrial Injuries Advisory Council. [F25 Attendance Allowance Board.] National Insurance and Industrial Injuries Joint Authorities. Workmen’s Compensation Supplementation Board. Pneumoconiosis and Byssinosis Benefit Board. [F26 Occupational Pensions Board] F27 . . .
[F28 Department of Transport]	Air Transport Advisory Council. Air Registration Board. [F29 Airworthiness Requirements Board, Civil Aviation Authority.]
[F30 Lord Chancellor’s Department]	[F31 Legal Aid Board]

PART II

OTHER ESTABLISHMENTS AND ORGANISATIONS

• Anglo-Egyptian Resettlement Board.

• [F32 Armouries]

• [F33 The Board of Trustees of the National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside.]

• [F34 British Coal Corporation]

• British Museum (including the Natural History Museum).

• Catering Wages Commission.

• Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation.

• [F35 Commission on Industrial Relations]

• [F36 Crown 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.

• [F37 Crown Agents Holding and Realisation Board.]

• [F38 the Data Protection Registrar]

• Development Commission.

• F39 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• [F40 Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England]

• Imperial War Museum.

• Irish Sailors’ and Soldiers’ Land Trust.

• London Museum.

• F41 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• [F42 Monopolies and Mergers Commission.]

• [F43 National Audit Office]

• F44 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• National Gallery.

• National Maritime Museum.

• National Parks Commission.

• National Portrait Gallery.

• National Savings Committee.

• Office of [F45 the Director General of Fair Trading.]

• [F46 Post Office].

• Remploy Limited.

• [F47 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]

• Royal Greenwich Observatory.

• [F48 Science Museum]

• Tate Gallery.

• F49 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• Trustee Savings Banks Inspection Committee.

• United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.

• University Grants Committee.

• [F50 Victoria and Albert Museum]

• Wallace Collection.

• War Works Commission.

• 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 or Wales.

Textual Amendments

F10 Words substituted by Defence (Transfer of Functions) Act 1964 (c. 15), ss. 1, 3(2)

F11 Sch. 1 para. 3 Table Pt.I entries repealed by National Heritage Act 1983 (c.47, SIF 78), s.40, Sch. 6

F12 Sch. 1 para. 3 Table Pt.I entries repealed by National Heritage Act 1983 (c.47, SIF 78), s.40, Sch. 6

F13 Sch. 1 para. 3 Table Pt. I words substituted by virtue of S.I. 1988/1843, art. 2

F14 Sch. 1 para. 3 Table Pt. I Words inserted (E.W.S) by National Health Service and Community care Act 1990 (c.19, SIF 113:2), s. 66(1), Sch.9 para.6(a)

F15 Sch. 1 para. 3 Table Pt. I entry inserted (E.W.) by S.I.1985/39, art.4

F16 Sch. 1 para. 3 Table Pt. I: for the words "National health service hospitals" there are substituted (E.W.S) the words "health service hospitals, within the meaning of the National Health Service Act 1977" by National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 (c. 19, SIF 113:2), s. 66(1), Sch. 9 para. 6(b)

F17 Sch. 1 para. 3 Table Pt. I: for the words "National health service hospitals" there are substituted (E.W.S) the words "health service hospitals, within the meaning of the National Health Service Act 1977" by National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 (c. 19, SIF 113:2), s. 66(1), Sch. 9 para. 6(b)

F18 Words inserted by National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973 (c. 32), Sch. 4 para. 82

F19 Sch. 1 para. 3 Table Pt. I words substituted by Health Services Act 1980 (c.53,SIF 113:2), Sch. 1 Pt. I para. 12

F20 Words added (E.W.) (N.I.) by National Health Service Act 1977 (c. 49), Sch. 15 para. 22

F21 Sch. 1 para. 3 Table Pt. I words substituted by Health Services Act 1980 (c.53,SIF 113:2), Sch. 1 Pt. I para. 12

F22 Words added (E.W.) (N.I.) by National Health Service Act 1977 (c. 49), Sch. 15 para. 22

F23 Words substituted by virtue of S.I. 1959/1769 (1959 I, p. 1795), art. 2(1), 1968/729 art. 3(2) and 1970/1537 art. 3

F24 Sch. 1 para. 3 Table Pt. I words substituted by virtue of S.I.1988/1843, art. 3

F25 Words inserted by National Insurance (Old persons' and widows' pensions and attendance allowance) Act 1970 (c. 51), Sch. 2 para. 2 and by Social Security Act 1973 (c. 38), Sch. 27 para. 19(b)

F26 Words inserted by Social Security Act 1973 (c. 38), Sch. 27 para. 19(a)

F27 Words repealed by Social Security Pensions Act 1975 (c. 60), Sch. 5

F28 Sch. 1 para. 3 Table Pt. I Words substituted by virtue of S.I. 1959/1768 (1959 I, p.1793), arts. 2(1), 4(1), 1966/741, arts. 2(1), 3(1), 1966/1015, arts.2(1), 3, 1970/1537, arts. 2(1), 7(4), 1974/692, arts. 2(3), 5(3) and 1983/1127, art.2

F29 Sch. 1 para. 3 Table Pt.I words included by virtue of Civil Aviation Act 1982 c.16,SIF 9), Sch. 15 para.3

F30 Sch. 1 para. 3 Table Pt. I Words inserted by Legal Aid Act 1988 (c. 34,SIF 77:1), s. 45, Sch. 5 para. 1

F31 Sch. 1 para. 3 Table Pt. I Words inserted by Legal Aid Act 1988 (c. 34,SIF 77:1), s. 45, Sch. 5 para. 1

F32 Table Pt. II entry inserted by National Heritage Act 1983 (c. 47, SIF 78), s. 40(1), Sch. 5 para. 3

F33 Table Pt. II entry inserted by S.I.1990/1765, art.3(2)

F34 Table Pt. II entry inserted by Coal Industry Act 1987 (c. 3, SIF 86), s. 1(2), Sch.1 para. 6

F35 Entry inserted (E.W.S.) by Employment Protection Act 1975 (c. 71), Sch. 16 Pt. IV para. 6

F36 Words substituted by Crown Agents Act 1979 (c. 43), s. 32(1), Sch. 6 Pt. I

F37 Entry inserted by Crown Agents Act 1979 (c. 43), s. 32(1), Sch. 6 Pt. I

F38 Table Pt. II entry inserted by Data Protection Act 1984 (c. 35, SIF 106:1),s.3(6),Sch. 2 para. 14

F39 Entry repealed (E.W.S.) by Employment Protection Act 1975 (c. 71), Sch. 18

F40 Table Pt. II entry inserted by National Heritage Act 1983 (c. 47, SIF 78), s. 40(1), Sch. 5 para. 3

F41 Entry repealed (E.W.S.) by Employment Protection Act 1975 (c. 71), Sch. 18

F42 Words substituted by virtue of Fair Trading Act 1973 (c. 41), s. 4(1)

F43 Table Pt. II entry inserted by National audit Act 1983 (c.44, SIF 99:1),s. 3(1), Sch.2 para.4

F44 Table Pt. II: words repealed by Coal Industry Act 1987 (c. 3,SIF 86), s. 10(3), Sch. 3 Pt.II

F45 Words substituted by Fair Trading Act 1973 (c. 41), Sch. 12

F46 Words added by Post Office Act 1969 (c. 48), s. 75(1)

F47 Table Pt. II entry inserted by National Heritage Act 1983 (c. 47, SIF 78), s. 40(1), Sch. 5 para. 3

F48 Table Pt. II entry inserted by National Heritage Act 1983 (c. 47, SIF 78), s. 40(1), Sch. 5 para. 3

F49 Entry repealed (E.W.S.) by Employment Protection Act 1975 (c. 71), Sch. 18

F50 Table Pt. II entry inserted by National Heritage Act 1983 (c. 47, SIF 78), s. 40(1), Sch. 5 para. 3

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C8 Sch. 1 Table Pt. 1: reference to Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food extended by S.I. 1978/272, art. 11(6)

C9 Sch. 1 para. 3 Table Pt. II: Public Records Act 1958 shall, as from the appointed day, have effect as if British Telecommunications were included amongst the bodies and establishments set out in Part II of the Table at the end of paragraph 3 of Schedule 1 to that Act by virtue of British Telecommunications Act 1981 (c. 38, SIF 96), ss. 1(2), 56(1) (which amending provisions were repealed by Telecommunications Act 1984 (c. 12, SIF 96), s. 109, Sch. 7 Pt. II (with saving relating to the operation of s. 56 of the 1981 Act in Sch. 5 para. 44))

Marginal Citations

M4 1973 c. 32.

M5 1977 c. 49.

Valid from 30/11/2000

[F51 3A (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— U.K.

(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.]

Textual Amendments

F51 Sch. 1 para. 3A inserted (30.11.2000) by 2000 c. 36, ss. 67, 87(1)(j), Sch. 5 Pt. I para. 4 (with ss. 56, 78)

Records of courts and tribunals U.K.

4 (1) Subject to the provisions of this paragraph, records of the following descriptions shall be public records for the purposes of this Act:—

(a) records of, or held in any department of, the Supreme Court (including any court held under a commission of assize);

(b) records of county courts and of any other superior or inferior court of record established since the passing of the M6 County Courts Act 1846;

F52 (c) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(d) records of courts of quarter sessions:

(e) records of magistrates’ courts;

(f) records of coroners’ courts;

(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;

(k) records of the Lands Tribunal or of 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 M7 National Service Act 1948, or the M8 Reinstatement in Civil Employment Act 1944;

(n) records of ecclesiastical courts when exercising the testamentary and matrimonial jurisdiction removed from them by the M9 Court of Probate Act 1857, and the M10 Matrimonial Causes Act 1857, respectively;

(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.

(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.

Textual Amendments

F52 Sch. 1 para. 4(1)(c) repealed by Courts Act 1971 (c. 23), Sch. 11 Pt. II

Marginal Citations

M6 1846 c. 95.

M7 1948 c. 64.

M8 1944 c. 15.

M9 1857 c. 77.

M10 1857 c. 85.

Records of the Chancery of England U.K.

5 The records of the Chancery of England shall be public records for the purposes of this Act.

Records in Public Record Office U.K.

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 M11 Public 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

(c) all records forming part of the same series as any series of documents falling under sub-paragraph (a) or sub-paragraph (b) of this paragraph.

Marginal Citations

M11 1838 c. 94.

Power to add further categories of records and to determine cases of doubt U.K.

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 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 Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chancellor 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 U.K.

8 U.K. 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.

Section 5.

SECOND SCHEDULE U.K. Enactments prohibiting disclosure of information obtained from the public

. . . F53	. . . F53	. . . F53
. . . F54	. . . F54	. . . F54
. . . . . . F55
. . . F56	. . . F56	. . . F56
The Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946	Section 56	(9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 59)
The Statistics of Trade Act 1947	Section 9	(10 & 11 Geo. 6. c. 39)
. . . . . . F57
The Industrial Organisation and Development Act 1947	Section 5	(10 &11 Geo. 6. c. 40)
. . . . . . F58
. . . F59	. . . F59	. . . F59
. . . . . . F60
. . . F61	. . . F61	. . . F61
. . . F62	. . . F62
[F63 The Agricultural Statistics Act 1979	Section 3]
[F64 The Film Levy Finance act 1981]	[F64 Section 8]

Textual Amendments

F53 Sch. 2: entry repealed by Land Registration Act 1988 (c. 3, SIF 98:2), s. 2, Sch.

F54 Sch. 2: entry repealed by Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1989 (c.43), s. 1(1), Sch. 1 Pt.I

F55 Entry repealed by Supply Powers Act 1975 (c. 9), s. 8(5), Sch. 2 Pt. I

F56 Sch. 2: entry repealed by Statute Law (repeals) Act 1981(c.19),s.1(1), Sch.1 Pt. XI

F57 Entry repealed by Statute Law Repeals Act 1973 (c. 39), Sch. 1 Pt. XIII

F58 Entries repealed by Fair Trading Act 1973 (c. 41), Sch. 13, Legal Aid Act 1974 (c. 4), Sch. 5 Pt. I, Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1977 (c. 18), Sch. 1 Pt. XIX and Agricultural Statistics Act 1979 (c. 13), Sch. 2

F59 Sch. 2: entry repealed by Statute Law (Repeals ) Act 1989 (c. 43),s. 1(1), Sch. 1 Pt.I

F60 Words repealed by Fair Trading Act 1973 (c. 41), Sch. 13

F61 Sch. 2: entry repealed by Film Levy Finance Act 1981 (c. 16, SIF 45A), s.10, Sch. 2

F62 Sch. 2: entry repealed by Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1989 (c.43),s.1(1), Sch.1 Pt.I

F63 Words added by Agricultural Statistics Act 1979 (c. 13), Sch. 1 para. 2

F64 Sch. 2: entry added at the end by Film Levy Finance Act 1981 (c.16, SIF 45A), s.10(1)(b)

F65 THIRD SCHEDULE U.K.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Textual Amendments

F65 Sch. 3 repealed by Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (c. 48, SIF 67A), s. 303(2), Sch. 8

F66 FOURTH SCHEDULE U.K.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Textual Amendments

F66 Sch. 4 repealed by Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1974 (c. 22), Sch. Pt. XI