For companies and institutions that generate large volumes of documents, archiving becomes essential. While there is still the option of storing paper documents, as there are many documents that should not be destroyed even after digitisation, for larger companies and enterprises electronic archiving is the optimal solution - in most cases.
Basically, the type determines how electronic and paper documents are archived, and the fate of the latter after archiving depends on the type of document. The presence or absence of a signature and whether the document is authenticated or not further complicates the picture.
Electronic archiving with digitisation
- In the course of a company's operations, many paper documents can accumulate over the years that are unsigned, have no evidentiary value and therefore do not need to be authenticated when archived. In this case, it is quite common for the paper to be destroyed at the end of the process, as it would be completely unjustified to spend money and space on storing them. In addition, digitisation makes them much easier to retrieve in certain cases.
- If you want to archive paper documents in a certified form electronically, you must comply with the current regulations: the Act CCXXII of 2015 on Confidential Services known as the CCXXII Act and the Government Decree 451/2016 (XII. 19.) on the detailed rules of electronic administration known as the Conversion Decree. If this is fulfilled, the electronic document has the same evidential value as the paper document. In this case, it is the responsibility of the copy maker to ensure visual and content conformity, to make any changes visible, to place the authentication clause and many other steps that make the electronic document authentic.
In this case, the quantity of documents and the frequency with which they can be retrieved is a particularly important consideration, as authentication can be costly. Experience has shown that, in a very simplified way, if a company or institution makes frequent use of large volumes of authenticated paper documents, it is reasonable and cost-effective to archive authenticated documents, i.e. documents with legal effect, electronically.
Digital archiving is governed by ITM Decree 1/2018 (29.VI.), in force since 1 July 2018, which states, among other things, that the person obliged to preserve electronic documents must store them securely, and neither the document nor the signature may be damaged, as this is a basic condition for authenticity. The archived documents are stored in a professional documentation system are easy and simple to use.