The Archive preserves

The Lithuanian State Modern Archives collects and preserves documents produced by the state authorities, administrative institutions, other organizations, and individuals. It also provides consultations on document preparation, organization, accounting, and storage.

The list of acquisition sources for the Lithuanian State Modern Archives includes the institutions of the Republic of Lithuania responsible for governance, elections, justice, oversight, environmental protection, finance, taxation, culture, education, national security, defense, social security, transport, communications, healthcare and health supervision, law enforcement, economy, agriculture, and other public sectors operating since 1990. The list of private institutions contributing to the National Documentary Fund can be found [here].

Archival Holdings.
As of 2023, the Lithuanian State Modern Archives preserves 218 record groups, comprising approximately 160,000 inventory units recorded in 359 finding aids, including electronic records. The paper documents occupy about 4,020 linear meters of shelving. With the opening of new archival storage facilities at O. Milašiaus Street 25, the collections are continuously expanding.

The Archives holds documents of the Supreme Council – Reconstituent Seimas, the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, the President of the Republic of Lithuania, and municipal election documents. Among the most valuable is the original Act of the Re-Establishment of the Independent State of Lithuania signed by members of the Supreme Council on March 11, 1990. On March 30, 2006, the Lithuanian National Commission for UNESCO recognized this document as a regional heritage item and included it in the national register of the UNESCO “Memory of the World” programme.

The Archives also preserves documents from liquidated and reorganized ministries, state authorities and administrative bodies, as well as political and public organizations such as Sąjūdis, the Lithuanian Nationalist Union (LTS), the American Lithuanian National Union, the Citizens’ Charter of the Republic of Lithuania, the Independence Party, the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (LSDP), the Lithuanian Democratic Labour Party (LDDP), the Christian Democratic Party of Lithuania, the Union of Modern Christian Democrats (MKDS), the Union of Poles of Lithuania (LLS), and the New Union (Social Liberals).

The Chancellery of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania has digitized the documents of the archival record group No. 9 “Collection of documents on the events of January 13, 1991”—including texts, diagrams, photographs, and more—and made them available online at http://www3.lrs.lt.
The Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania also shares these documents via its website “January 13 in the Nation's Memory” at http://www.laisve15.lt.

The personal fonds preserved at the Lithuanian State Modern Archives include political and professional documents of the signatories of the March 11 Act: Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis, Kazimieras Antanavičius, Virgilijus Juozas Čepaitis, Bronislovas Genzelis, Bronislovas Juozas Kuzmickas, Kazimieras Motieka, Saulius Pečeliūnas, and journalist-politician Algimantas Degutis.

Access

The Archives of Lithuania are open to the public. Any person, upon the presentation of an ID card, may be granted access to our archival records. Records of state institutions without restrictions (a few exceptions of which are restricted by law) are available for reference. Records transferred to the state archives by individuals and non-state institutions are accessible and are subject to the terms set by their owners.

Access to documents which contain information on a person’s private life and personal data

Access to documents is regulated by the Law on Documents and Archives of the Republic of Lithuania and related legislation, particularly the Civil Code and the Law on Legal Protection of Personal Data of the Republic of Lithuania.

Article 2.23 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania determines the Right to Privacy and Secrecy and defines that the privacy of a natural person shall be inviolable. Information on a person’s private life may be made public only with his consent. After a person’s death, the said consent may be given by a person’s spouse, children, or parents. The establishment of a file on another person’s private life in violation of the law shall be prohibited. A person may not be denied access to the information contained in the file except as otherwise provided by the law.

The article 19 of the Law on Documents and Archives of the Republic of Lithuania, embeds provision of free access to documents without a delay period, except those documents to which the access is limited by other laws. Persons shall have the right of access to such documents in accordance with the procedure established by the said laws.

The part 5 of the article 20 of Law on Documents and Archives of the Republic of Lithuania determines fixed restrictions on access to the documents which contain information on person’s private life, as well as to structured sets of personal data - 30 years after the person’s death, and in the event of failure to determine the date of death – for a term of 100 years from his birth. If neither the date of birth nor the date of death of a person is determined, the access shall be limited for a term of 70 years from the creation of the documents. Restrictions on access set in related legislation do not mean, that documents are not accessible at all.

Some exceptions could be applied. For example, access to the documents containing information regarding the persons who have admitted to secret collaboration with the intelligence agencies of the USSR and who have been entered on the record of the persons who have confessed is restricted. In order to get access to the documents mentioned above a written consent must be given by the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania. It means that a person who wishes to get acquainted with such documents must apply to the Lithuanian Special Archive, which within its competence applies to the Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania in order to get a permission for access.

Access to the documents in the cases when a person who suffered from the intelligence agencies of the USSR expresses his will on the limitation of use of the information on him until his death is restricted as well. A person can get acquainted himself with such documents after getting written consent from a person who suffered from the intelligence agencies of the USSR and expressed his will on the limitation of use of the information on him until his death.

After the expiration of the above mentioned periods, documents are available without any restriction. During the closure, period access can be provided according to the procedures established by Law on Legal Protection of Personal Data of the Republic of Lithuania.

Time restrictions are not applied to a living person requesting his/her own birth certificate, marriage record or other vital records. A person has the right of access to such documents in accordance with the procedure established by the laws. Articles 23 and 24 of the Law on Legal Protection of Personal Data lay down procedure on a person’s (data subject’s) access to his personal data. Law on the Right to Receive Information from State and Local Authorities sets procedure on access to information on a person’s private life. Article 7 of this Law determines that the applicant has the right to receive private information about himself, except the cases established by laws, when certain information may not be provided. Private information related to the applicant may be provided to him/her according to the procedure established by this Law submitting a written request and confirming his/her identity in accordance with the procedure established by laws. A person who wishes to get acquainted himself or make use of the documents which contain personal data or information on his/her private life must apply to the document holder, submitting a written request and a document proving his/her identity.

A family member may review documents that are held in State Archives submitting a written request and a document proving his identity and family relations with a deceased person.

Data protection

The Law on Legal Protection of Personal Data of the Republic of Lithuania regulates protection the right of individuals privacy with regard to the processing of personal data. The Law on Documents and Archives of the Republic of Lithuania determines closure periods of access only to structured sets of personal data.

Documents containing personal data which restriction term is unexpired can be accessed by:

• courts, pre-trial investigation institutions, and other institutions in accordance with their competence; 
• lawyers - to personal data and private information of principle persons in court by procuration or contract with them;

Information on a person’s private life can be made public only with his/her consent. After a person’s death the said consent may be given by a person’s spouse, children and parents.

Natural and legal persons can have access to documents that contains information of a person’s private life - for scientific research, statistical and historical purposes on the following conditions.

Personal data shall be processed in the course of scientific research, statistical and historical purposes if the data subject has given his consent. Without the consent of the data subject personal data can be processed only if the State Data Protection Inspectorate which must carry out a prior checking has been duly notified.

As structured sets of personal data are defined concrete files or their parts, which filing principle is information about the person. Access to such files or their parts, which are held in the state archives is limited.

The main groups of containing personal data files are:

•  personal (officeholders, officers, students, etc.) files;
• population census files (census papers);
• household books;
• hypothecary books;
• church or civil registers of births, marriages, and deaths (parish registers);
• various lists containing personal data (not only first and family name, but also including natal data, marriage status and it’s content, nationality racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade-union membership, and the processing of data concerning health or sex life, conviction, and etc).

Without State Data Protection Inspectorate prior checking notification or agreement of relatives specified by law, direct disclosure of data for individual researches must be limited (producing of document copies, conversion of the document to another medium).

Individual researchers from the European Union and other states in the course of scientific research can access documents, the access to which is limited by law, analogous treatment as well as Lithuanian researches.

Users applying for access to files, which are determined as structured sets, must fill application for access to documents that contains private data. State archives can make the contracts in case of multiple disclosures of private data.