Governance:

Information
Management Maers
mandates, as well as reect management pracces
and technological opons.
Legal Aspects of Records Management: The
Records Retenon Schedule
The Records Retenon Schedule

What are Records?

Records are recorded informaon regardless of
medium or characteriscs. Records can be dened
as Informaon created, received and maintained
as evidence and informaon by an organizaon or
person, in pursuance of legal obligaons or in the
transacon of business.
(ISO 15489-1, 2001)
The old adage, What I cannot see would not hurt
me has never before, in the history of the world,
been further away from the truth than it is today,
especially in government. In this Informaon Age,
the evidence of our acvies, present or past,
professional or private, is now also recorded in
electronic format. Even more signicant is the
pace at which the various plaorms and media
for the storage of electronic records is changing.
Are the people managing these electronic
records aware of the vulnerabilies associated
with these new technologies? Are policy makers
(including permanent secretaries) aware of their
responsibility to oversee the recordkeeping process
as the organizaons responsible ocer?

A records retenon schedule idenes the length

of me a records series must be retained in acve
and inacve storage before its nal disposion
to permanent storage, archival preservaon, or
destrucon.
When organizaons sancon the destrucon
of records in the normal course of business, the
employment of a retenon schedule should
provide evidence to show that the organizaon
has an ocial policy for disposing of its records
in compliance with any legislaon aecng the
organizaon. This can help the organizaon avoid
certain legal problems associated with illegal and
arbitrary disposal of records.
There are usually many outside regulaons that
oblige Records Managers to apply consistent,
structured management to their organizaons
documents. These apply equally to our electronic
documents. A sampling may include:

These are challenges that Barbadian policy-makers

and informaon professionals across the public
service are grappling with. Whatever the nature
of business, ministry or department, it must
be recognized as a vital underpinning, that the
development of a strategy for managing recorded
informaon across all plaorms (both tradional
paper-based and electronic) is paramount. That
strategy must conform to the prevailing legal

o Government legislaon which may require

employers to destroy sensive informaon
(such as personal employees/data) aer
a specied me or to keep certain legal
documents for a minimum period.
o Adhering to a consistent schedule of
retenon and destrucon will strengthen the
defence of an organizaons Connued on
records-keeping, should it

Challenge to Change
The Newsletter for Public Sector Reform

page 7

Technology Brings Change To

Foreign Ministry
IIn September
S
b 2008
2008, the
h Mi
Ministry
i
of Foreign Aairs and Foreign
Trade introduced a new video
conferencing system at its
New York Mission, to make
collaboraon between that oce
and Barbados
alot easier.
The inaugural video conferencing call,
from the new headquarters of the New York
Mission, saw Prime Minister David Thompson,
together with the former Minister of Foreign
Aairs, Christopher Sinckler, engaged in
dialogue with the then Minister of State,
Donville Inniss, via the new technology, which
cost government in the region of $40, 000 to
purchase and install.
Prime Minister Thompson disclosed that the
iniave is a venture that he would invite the
private sector to assist with. He added that
the technology would be installed at the other
nine Missions and it was expected to result in
a signicant reducon in the Ministrys overall
expenses.
be required to do so by any court acon.
Courts accept records as evidence if they
are managed according to corporately
sanconed policies and procedures.

o Records management helps us idenfy

those documents that should have a
formal cercaon process applied for
destrucon. In some cases, the CEO/
Permanent Secretary/ an archivists consent
may be required prior to destroying any
document.
o Legislaon may require that vital
documents (essenal to the connuaon

Hailing it as a posive development, Prime

Minister Thompson said it was heartening that
the Ministry and its Missions would be able
to communicate in real me, face to face at
virtually no cost, as the video streaming is done
via the Internet. He explained that the video
conferencing facility was intended to reduce the
me it takes for sound decision-making to occur
and to increase the ow of informaon across
borders.
Meanwhile, Manager Informaon Systems,
Rodney Taylor, said that during 2009 the
Ministry will connue to take advantage of
internet based technologies. He opined that
such technologies have the potenal to change
the way we interact with each other and the
internaonal community.
of the business in the event of a disaster)
be properly idened, handled, monitored
and protected.
o Access to Informaon/Privacy legislaon
may oblige an organizaon to produce
accurate and reliable informaon at
the right me. With sound records
management in place, it is less likely that
the organizaon may nd itself unable to
supply the requested informaon Connued on

Challenge to Change
The Newsletter for Public Sector Reform

page 20

Connued
from page 7

interests.

to the requester.

NB. A major legal objecve and

N
benet of a retenon scheduling programme is to
serve as evidence to indicate that the organizaon

5.

may wish to have in the development and

operaon of the organizaons recordsretenon programme.

does, in fact, observe an ocial policy for the

disposal of its business informaon, and that this
policy is implemented systemacally in the normal
course of business.

Examine what future roles the legal counsel

6.

Consideraon for the geographical areas

that the organizaon conducts its business.

A Legal Research Exercise

Documenng the Legal Research
A sure way of minimizing or eliminang potenal
legal threats to ones company/ organizaon would

It is the recommended route to document

be the development of a legal research plan with

the organizaons legal representave/ counsel.

the results of the legal research because the

organizaons aorneys should be provided with

This can be addressed by doing the following:-

complete legal research documentaon to enable

them to determine whether the law has been

1.

2.

Idenfy what general business acvies

may be subject to records-keeping statutes

reasonably and appropriately applied. Also, it

may be necessary to, at some me in the future,

and regulaons.

do a follow-up exercise or to provide evidence to

regulatory ocials or in cases of ligaon that the

Idenfy what products or services that

the organizaon may provide which

organizaons had done its best to comply fully

with all the applicable legal requirements. Some

could be subject to legal records-keeping

requirements. (e.g.; in the banking sector/
ulies companies which keep customers
personal data by law).

simple ways of doing this is to:x post the proper statutory or regulatory
citaon of all legal requirements on all
records inventory worksheets;

3.

Examine

which

of

the

organizaons

industries or business acvies is currently

or potenally regulated by the government,

x make copies of relevant laws and regulaons

and le them as supporng papers along

and may thus be or become subject to

records-keeping laws and regulaons. NB.

with the inventory worksheets or in a

separate le; or

This may be best approached by idenfying

which agency (ies) of government oversees

x post a summary of the legal requirements

the organizaons acvies.

4.

Research the organizaons ligaon history

and what this history suggests in terms of
developing future records- retenon policies
that would beer protect that organizaons

20

Challenge to Change
The Newsletter for Public Sector Reform

on the retenon schedule themselves or on

a separate supporng documentaon.