Doha: Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani issued yesterday Law No. (7) of 2023 on documents and archives, which will go into force six months after the date of its publication in the official gazette.
H H the Amir also issued Amiri Decision No. (29) of 2023, organising Qatar National Archive and Amiri Decision No. (30) of 2023 forming the Board of Trustees of Qatar National Archive. The decisions are effective starting from the date of issue and are to be published in the official gazette.
The decision stipulates that the Board of Trustees of Qatar National Archive be formed under the chairmanship of H E Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Attiyah, the Minister of Culture as deputy chairman, and the membership of the Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, a representative of the Amiri Diwan, a representative of Qatar Museums, and a representative of Qatar National Library. The decision also stipulates that the term of membership of the Council shall be four years, renewable for one or more similar periods.
Qatar National Archive is affiliated with the Amiri Diwan. It was reorganised following the aforementioned Amiri Decision to be an advanced national centre that preserves the historical memory of the State, contributes to the documentary consolidation of the national cultural identity, and enhances the authenticity of its heritage and culture locally, regionally and globally.
Qatar National Archive aims to enrich intellectual activity, monitor the history of the State, and organise and supervise the collection and preservation of documents and archives in implementing the provisions of Law No. (7) of 2023 on documents and archives. It also aims to enable access to information, records and documents and facilitate their use by setting standards and policies that regulate the process of managing public, private, historical and national documents in the country.
Qatar National Archive is concerned with identifying all documents of historical value in possession of ministries and other government agencies or persons, and other documents and archives located abroad and determining the mechanisms for the Archive to obtain and transfer these documents and archives to it or to obtain copies of them.
Among the competencies of the Qatar National Archive include to highlight the cultural and scientific values of documents, conduct historical research and studies, raise awareness of the importance of documentary heritage, and allow researchers and those interested to benefit from the informative material in its possession.
