The Supreme Administrative Court in the judgment of 22 January 2019 (reference number II OSK 417/17) reminded the principle of universal access to archival resources (Article 16a (1) of the Act on National Archival Resources and Archives). According to art. 16a paragraph 1 of this Act „Everyone has the right to access archival materials”.
Old civil status documents should also be available on the same basis as archival resources. This applies to acts of more than 100 years in the field of birth certificates, collective civil registration files relating to birth certificates; 80 years – in the field of marriage certificates, death certificates and collective marital status registries concerning marriage and death certificates (Article 28 paragraph 4 of the Act on Civil Status Records).
