A controversy has recently erupted between historians and the restriction of access to certain archival documents. Between Kafka and the Office of Captions , trip to the classified "Secret" or "Confidential" funds of the National Archives. Interview with Emmanuel Rousseau, its director.
Example of a document classified as "secret" then "declassified", kept at the National Archives.
A controversy has recently erupted over the management of certain archival documents that have become inaccessible. An appeal has thus been filed with the Council of State by a group of archivists, historians and associations who demand the relaxation of an interministerial decree dating from 2011, limiting access to "classified" documents of over fifty years. In other words, "confidential" or "secret" documents kept in public archives. To understand these issues, we went to the National Archives on the site of Pierrefitte-sur-Seine (Seine-Saint-Denis), a vast ultra-modern building which preserves more than 450 linear km of archives, where we have met Emmanuel Rousseau, General Heritage Curator, Director of the National Archives Funds.
National Archives building in Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, in Seine-Saint-Denis. ©Bernadette Arnaud
Sciences et Avenir:At the same time as an appeal to the Council of State was presented, a group of researchers circulated a petition, collecting to date 15,000 signatures, denouncing "an unprecedented restriction in access to the contemporary archives of the Nation" and asking compliance with the law which provides access to classified documents prior to 1970 . What is it?
Emmanuel Rousseau: Contemporary historians have, in fact, expressed their concern. They are reacting to the non-accessibility of certain classified documents over 50 years old, which they consider to be contrary to the 2008 law, which stipulates that beyond these deadlines, these documents are accessible. This story is actually the culmination of a lack of coordination between different texts which, on the one hand, govern the citizen's access to administrative documents, namely the law of 1978, and the laws on archives which came superimposed on it in 1979 and then in 2008, now included in the framework of the heritage code, and an interministerial instruction published in 2011.
Why is this controversy breaking out now?
Because overnight, the General Secretariat of the Government - which is the head of the entire administration - recalled "the obligation to strictly apply the texts concerning secrecy" . This led to the misunderstanding of historians who no longer had access to certain documents previously available.
Could you elaborate?
You have to go back in time to fully understand the situation. The Archives Act of 1979, by rationalizing access to public archives, has encouraged the development of research in contemporary history. At the same time, the creation of a derogatory procedure for early access has allowed historians to access documents that are not yet freely accessible. On the other hand, the 2008 law on archives has significantly reduced the time required to widen access to contemporary archives. This is what has, for example, allowed the development of research in the archives of the Second World War (1939-1945) or in those of the Algerian War (1954-1962) which, for the most part, were inaccessible. . Thus, a researcher could, for valid reasons of historical or statistical research, request early access to these documents.
What happened to lead to the current misunderstanding?
A controversy has recently erupted over the management of certain archival documents that have become inaccessible. An appeal has thus been filed with the Council of State by a group of archivists, historians and associations who demand the relaxation of an interministerial decree dating from 2011, limiting access to "classified" documents of over fifty years. In other words, "confidential" or "secret" documents kept in public archives. To understand these issues, we went to the National Archives on the site of Pierrefitte-sur-Seine (Seine-Saint-Denis), a vast ultra-modern building which preserves more than 450 linear km of archives, where we have met Emmanuel Rousseau, General Heritage Curator, Director of the National Archives Funds.
National Archives building in Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, in Seine-Saint-Denis. ©Bernadette Arnaud
Sciences et Avenir:At the same time as an appeal to the Council of State was presented, a group of researchers circulated a petition, collecting to date 15,000 signatures, denouncing "an unprecedented restriction in access to the contemporary archives of the Nation" and asking compliance with the law which provides access to classified documents prior to 1970 . What is it?
Emmanuel Rousseau: Contemporary historians have, in fact, expressed their concern. They are reacting to the non-accessibility of certain classified documents over 50 years old, which they consider to be contrary to the 2008 law, which stipulates that beyond these deadlines, these documents are accessible. This story is actually the culmination of a lack of coordination between different texts which, on the one hand, govern the citizen's access to administrative documents, namely the law of 1978, and the laws on archives which came superimposed on it in 1979 and then in 2008, now included in the framework of the heritage code, and an interministerial instruction published in 2011.
"You have to go back in time to fully understand the situation"
Why is this controversy breaking out now?
Because overnight, the General Secretariat of the Government - which is the head of the entire administration - recalled "the obligation to strictly apply the texts concerning secrecy" . This led to the misunderstanding of historians who no longer had access to certain documents previously available.
Could you elaborate?
You have to go back in time to fully understand the situation. The Archives Act of 1979, by rationalizing access to public archives, has encouraged the development of research in contemporary history. At the same time, the creation of a derogatory procedure for early access has allowed historians to access documents that are not yet freely accessible. On the other hand, the 2008 law on archives has significantly reduced the time required to widen access to contemporary archives. This is what has, for example, allowed the development of research in the archives of the Second World War (1939-1945) or in those of the Algerian War (1954-1962) which, for the most part, were inaccessible. . Thus, a researcher could, for valid reasons of historical or statistical research, request early access to these documents.
What happened to lead to the current misunderstanding?
Until 2011, the instruction that managed the lifespan of a so-called classified document - that is to say, stamped "confidential" or "secret" - was in absolute phase with the 2008 law:the duration of non-free communicability being 25 or 50 years old. There was then no need for a formal "declassification" of these documents so that they could be freely consulted when they had reached this limit. However, in 2011, the "Interministerial General Instruction 1300" (IGI 1300) was adopted and established a formal declassification procedure for classified documents regardless of their date. Formal declassification consists of requesting the administration issuing the document (for example the Ministry of the Interior or the Ministry of the Armed Forces) to take a declassification decision by affixing a specific stamp to the said document. But, we must admit that the introduction of this formalism in the procedure escaped us a little... until 2015.
What happened in 2015?
In 2015, during the preparation of a decree liberalizing access to previously inaccessible World War II archives, the administrative authority that manages classified documents in France, i.e. the General Secretariat Defense and National Security (SGDSN) which depends on the services of the Prime Minister, reminded us of the need for the formal declassification of classified documents. To understand the complexity of things, you must also know that a so-called "Jospin" circular, in 1998, had liberalized access to certain archives of the Second World War. In 2015, we then drew the attention of the administrative authorities to the fact that, among those to which researchers had been able to have access since 1998, there were many documents classified as "secret". And in 1998, the IGI did not require formal declassification of documents. The practice had considered that the general exemption prevailed over the declassification...
The strict application of IGI 1300 was then requested?
Absolutely ! But as researchers had hitherto been able to consult some of these documents, it seemed difficult to us to close access to them. This is precisely what the General Secretariat for Defense and National Security (SGDSN) is formally asking us to do today, which insists on the strict application of the texts concerning the non-accessibility to classified documents, even more than 50 years, without a formal declassification. As a result, we had to remove from free consultation many documents requiring this declassification request, which was a real trauma for us archivists and a shock for historians. Wait times for these declassification decisions can be very long. Issuing administrations have no particular deadline to respect. But for a contemporary historian, or a doctoral student, these delays are incomprehensible.
A "confidential" document is less sensitive than a "secret" document
All of this has caused real trouble within the community of historians. Since 2015, we have implemented internal procedures to manage the shelving of classified documents and the consequent requests for declassification in order to comply as much as possible with the requirements of IGI 1300. More than forty authorities issuers are in regular contact with us, from the Élysée to the General Directorate of Civil Aviation, via the Ministries of the Armed Forces or of the Interior, or the intelligence services as well as the CEA. Since 2016, 8,349 documents have been declassified individually and nearly 2,300 boxes in full.
Historians who signed the petition also pointed out that there was "secret" and "secret"... Do not release the plans d-day landings of June 6, 1944 seventy-five years after the Second World War - which bear a "secret" era stamp - or General de Gaulle’s DS route between the Elysée and Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises - may no longer be essential… Who decides on privacy ratings?
It is the authorities issuing the documents who decide on the sensitivity of information at a given time. For example, anything related to state security, head of state security or nuclear secrets, etc.
Are there different classification levels for sensitive documents?
A "confidential" document is less sensitive than a "secret", "top secret", "secret defence", "top secret defence" document... There are other levels of classification but which do not concern the National Archives. Here, we are only authorized to keep documents up to the "secret defense" level. On the other hand, over time the classifications have changed names, which makes it all even more complex. Fortunately, since the beginning of 2020, a decree has simplified this situation:there will soon be only two levels of classification, "secret defense" and "very secret defense".
Do we know of even more restrictive classifications?
Yes, for the field of nuclear applications and armaments in particular, and for everything related to deterrence policy and nuclear strategy. These documents are not kept in the National Archives.
What is the risk of consulting a classified document without being authorized to do so?
This is called "compromise of secrecy" and is considered a misdemeanor in the Penal Code. An offense punishable by imprisonment.
Secret Classified Intelligence Notes, issued by the Community External Security Service (SSEC, Prime Minister) in January and March 1961. ©National Archives
ABOUT THE "NATIONAL ARCHIVES"
Created by decree of the Constituent Assembly in 1790, the National Archives preserve the archives of the central organs of the French State, excluding those of the Ministries of the Armed Forces, Finance or Foreign Affairs. The main headquarters of the National Archives is now located in Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, other funds are kept in other places such as Paris or Fontainebleau. All of these sites document the history of France since the 7th century.
LEGAL DEADLINES FOR ACCESS TO PUBLIC ARCHIVES
The Heritage Code in these articles L-213-1 to 213-8 regulates the system of communication of public archives. It recalls first of all that the archives can be communicated as of right but also defines the deadlines at the end of which their communication is free. These main deadlines are:
- 25 years for documents undermining the secrecy of Government deliberations;
- 50 years from the date of the document or the most recent document included in the file, for documents the disclosure of which infringes national defense secrecy, the fundamental interests of the State in the conduct of the foreign policy, state security, public safety, security of persons or protection of privacy;
- 75 years for documents relating to cases brought before the courts (100 years in the case of minors);
- Without time limit for public archives whose disclosure is likely to lead to the dissemination of information allowing the design, manufacture, use or location of nuclear, biological, chemical weapons or any other weapons having direct or indirect effects destruction of an analogous level.
CLASSIFIED "SECRET"
The protection of secrecy concerns all areas of activity relating to defense and national security:political, military, diplomatic, scientific, economic, industrial, etc. Information, the disclosure of which is likely to infringe defense and national security. France can also protect information exchanged with international organizations and foreign states. The protection of the secret is ensured by a chain of responsibility, which applies to the public and private domains. The General Secretariat for Defense and National Security (SGDSN) is the national security authority.
"SECRET" DOCUMENTS SINCE WHEN?
Documents considered highly sensitive have always existed. Under the Ancien Régime, there was what was called the "king's secret" which was formalized during the reign of Louis XV. During the French Revolution, these documents were made accessible since it was a question at the time of demonstrating the misdeeds of feudalism, religion, and the monarchy. Nevertheless, documents described as "secret" were produced during the Revolution, especially in the military field. The movement continued throughout the 19th century, until the end of the Second World War. The formalization of protected documents as we know it today dates back to the early 1950s, when clear texts were developed to define different levels of protection.