v1.2 · Updated 2026-09-20 · Free China Movement (FCM) · Model Legislative Draft · English
Legal nature and evidentiary boundary: This document is model legislation, not current law. Every matter involving specific historical facts, victim counts, individual liability, institutional liability, or criminal determinations must be established case by case under the applicable evidentiary standards and statutory procedures; naming a historical event as a priority area for investigation, archives, reparations, or commemoration does not amount to a pre-judgment of the legal liability of any specific person or institution.
I. General Provisions
Article 1 [Legislative Purpose] To safeguard the right to know, preserve national memory, support judicial remedies, historical research, and victims’ rights, and to prevent major historical archives from being destroyed, concealed, altered, or selectively disclosed, this Act is enacted.
Article 2 [Basic Principles] Preservation of archives is the absolute precondition; openness is the principle and restriction the exception; any restriction must have a clear statutory purpose, be limited to the minimum necessary scope, have a fixed time limit, and be subject to independent review.
Article 3 [Definitions] “Transitional archives” means paper, electronic, audio-visual, database, and physical records relating to major political violence, political persecution, major civilian casualties in military operations, detention, disappearances, executions, reform through labor (laogai), food policy, prisons, the judiciary, propaganda, security, the military, party affairs, and other major rights violations.
II. Preservation, Freezing Orders, and Inventories
Article 4 [Immediate Preservation Obligation] After this Act takes effect, no organ or individual may, without authorization, destroy, delete, overwrite, alter, transfer, or conceal transitional archives that are legally required to be preserved.
Article 5 [Emergency Freezing Order] The national archives authority may issue an emergency freezing order for archives at risk of loss, and take measures including sealing, mirror backups, off-site storage, and chain-of-custody records.
Article 6 [Institutions Covered] This Act applies to state organs, the military, public institutions, public utilities, organizations performing public functions, and archives of former political parties, political organizations, security agencies, and their affiliated units received in accordance with law.
Article 7 [Inventories] Each institution shall compile an archives inventory within the statutory time limit, recording the archive’s name, period, medium, storage location, responsible person, classification level or grounds for restriction, and digitization status.
III. Transfer and National Archives Administration
Article 8 [Transfer] Archives relating to major historical violations shall be transferred to the national archives institution or an authorized independent custodial unit in tiers based on risk and value.
Article 9 [Chain of Custody] During transfer, provenance, custodians, dates, copying processes, integrity verification, and any damage or loss shall be recorded for verification by judicial and investigative authorities.
Article 10 [Digitization] The national archives institution shall develop a priority digitization plan, prioritizing archives that are fragile, in high demand, of major public interest, or relevant to victim remedies.
IV. Disclosure, Access, and Restrictions
Article 11 [Principle of Openness] Any person may apply to access transitional archives in accordance with law, and shall not be discriminated against on grounds of political views, organizational affiliation, occupation, nationality, or media position.
Article 12 [Access by the Individual and Close Relatives] Individuals have the right to apply for access to archives directly concerning themselves. Close relatives of the missing or deceased may apply for access in accordance with law for purposes of establishing the fate of the missing or deceased, restoring reputation, reparations, or commemoration.
Article 13 [Research, Media, and Education] The national archives institution shall, while protecting lawful privacy and security interests, provide reasonable-use mechanisms for academic research, journalism, and civic education.
Article 14 [Privacy Protection] Sensitive personal information of no major public-interest necessity — including private life, medical records, minors, victims of sexual violence, and confidential informants bearing no individual responsibility — may be subject to redaction, partial disclosure, summary disclosure, or deferred disclosure.
Article 15 [Security Exception] Disclosure may only be deferred where it would create a concrete, actual, and grave risk to life safety or other serious risks protected by law; safeguarding the reputation of an organ, political party, the military, or an individual shall not serve as the sole ground for secrecy.
Article 16 [Time-Limited Review] Any decision restricting disclosure shall state its time limit and shall be reviewed periodically. When the risk ceases or the public interest clearly outweighs the interest in restriction, the archives shall be disclosed in whole or in part.
V. Applications, Decisions, and Remedies
Article 17 [Applications] The archives application procedure shall be simple, low-cost, and allow electronic applications. Persons applying for their own cases, missing relatives, or reparations may use an expedited procedure.
Article 18 [Written Decisions] When disclosure is refused or restricted, the specific statutory provision, factual reasons, scope of restriction, time limit, and avenues of remedy shall be explained in writing.
Article 19 [Independent Review] An independent archives and information review body shall be established to hear disputes over refusal of disclosure, excessive redaction, delay, and improper fees.
Article 20 [Judicial Remedy] An applicant dissatisfied with a review decision may seek judicial review from a court in accordance with law.
VI. Coordination with Other Laws
Article 21 [Priority Cooperation with Truth Investigations] The national archives institution shall support investigations under the Truth Commission Act in accordance with law, while continuing to protect criminal proceedings, witness safety, and other lawful rights.
Article 22 [Reparations Evidence] Verified archives may be used as evidence under the Transitional Justice and Victim Reparation Act.
Article 23 [Annual Commemorative Disclosure] Each October 1, the national archives institution shall, pursuant to the October 1 Memorial Day Act, publish a catalogue of important newly declassified archives for the year and its digitization progress.
VII. Liability, Oversight, and Implementation
Article 24 [Liability for Archive Destruction] Whoever intentionally destroys, alters, conceals, or unlawfully transfers archives legally required to be preserved shall bear administrative, civil, or criminal liability according to the individual act, subjective intent, resulting harm, and due process.
Article 25 [Whistleblower Protection] Persons who in good faith report the destruction, concealment, or alteration of archives shall receive anti-retaliation protection.
Article 26 [Annual Audit] The budget, preservation, disclosure, restriction, and digitization work of the national archives institution shall be subject to independent audit and legislative oversight.
Article 27 [Implementation] The implementation date of this Act, transfer deadlines, institutional transitions, and the list of exceptions shall be determined by a future lawfully constituted legislature.
Back to: Third Republic transitional justice legal package
Comparative practice note
ROC (Taiwan) comparison: Transitional Justice, Victim Remedies & Political Archives — comparative implementation evidence. The statistics and case-flow data on that companion page concern ROC (Taiwan), not mainland China; they are used only to test institutional design, sequencing, safeguards and measurable delivery.
Languages: English · 简体中文 · 繁體中文 · Français · Deutsch · Español