Following the judgement of the ultimate Administrative Court of December 2023, access to the alleged evidence envelopes – documentation containing, among others, photographs and signatures of the holders of old identity cards – was almost completely blocked. Is it possible to change the situation?
The NSA found that the cult of memory of the deceased (Article 23 of the civilian Code) does not fulfil the legal interest. And this is essential to get the alleged kevidence operationwhich is stored in the Archives of the City Hall or the Municipality.
So far, the Genealogies have widely utilized this interpretation, which had previously been confirmed by various Provincial Administrative Courts. However, as a consequence of the NSA judgement since December 2023, successive voivodes have issued orders prohibiting access to evidence envelopes under Article 23 of the civilian Code. Access to the evidence envelopes was almost completely blocked.
Evidence envelopes: activities of the Ministry of abroad Affairs following the intervention of the RPO
The Ministry of Interior and Administration is preparing amendments to the individual Evidence Act. The aim is to make it easier for families to access the individual papers of their deceased ancestors. This is simply a reaction to the speech of the Ombudsman, Prof. Marcin Wiąck. He pointed out the inconsistent and unclear rules for access to the alleged evidence envelopes.
According to the Ombudsman, the current rules do not warrant a clear way of obtaining papers of the deceased by their relatives. As a result, the authorities frequently refuse to make the papers available, citing the deficiency of legal interest of the applicant. These problems have been reported repeatedly by genealogies, for which evidence envelopes are an crucial origin of information on household history.
Deputy Minister Tomasz Szymański announced that the draft amendment would be included in the Act amending the laws in order to optimize certain civilian affairs processes. According to the announcements, the closest household members, without having to show a legal interest, will be able to consult the papers related to the issue of the identity card.
Evidence envelopes: legislative initiative
In parallel, the citizens' legislative initiative "Evidence of Memory” whose originators are Patricia Boulder and Sebastian Jędry. Its aim is to amend government to a akin degree – so that families can access evidence envelopes from their deceased relatives without having to conduct complex administrative proceedings.
Organizers emphasize that the evidence envelopes contain not only authoritative data, but besides photographs and signatures of their own hand, which are valuable souvenirs for families. Currently, after the ultimate Administrative Court judgement of 13 December 2023 (II OSK 1762/22), many offices refuse to look into these documents, recognising that the cult of memory of the dead is not a adequate legal interest.
The bill prepared by the initiators provides that, within a period of 10 years from the death of the holder of the identity card, spouses, initials, conjunctivities, siblings, persons who are married or in a common life, as well as side relatives to the 4th degree of kinship, would have the right to review the documentation.
The bill is in Here..
Two parallel directions of change
Both the proposals of the Ministry of abroad Affairs and the Evidence of Memory initiative aim at the same goal – to simplify the rules on access to papers for the deceased. However, the detailed proposals for changes to the Ministry are not known. The hotel carries out legislative work under a government project.
In turn, signatures are collected under the draft bill prepared by the citizens' initiative "Providence of Memory".
Read more about the Evidence of Memory initiative Here..
