Public Records Act 1967

The Public Records Act 1967^[1] (c. 44) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed during Harold Wilson's Labour government.

Public Records Act 1967^[1]

Act of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to reduce the period of fifty years specified in section 5(1) of the Public Records Act 1958 as that for which certain public records must have been in existence for them to be available for public inspection.
Citation	1967 c. 44
Dates
Royal assent	14 July 1967
Commencement	1 January 1968[2]
Status: Current legislation
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended

The Act amended the Public Records Act 1958 by reducing the period whereby public records (apart from those deemed "sensitive" by the Lord Chancellor) were closed to the public from fifty years to thirty years, the "thirty-year rule". It took effect on 1 January 1968.^[3][4]

The effect of the Act was to make the public records of the First World War available, but the records from the Second World War did not become available until 1972.^[5]

See also

• Public Record Office