What does legally-valid archiving mean?
A document kept digitally only has value if you can prove it wasn't altered after registration.
Răspuns scurt
- Legally-valid archiving means the digitally kept document can be used as evidence, just like the original.
- The reference framework in Romania is Law 135/2007 on archiving documents in electronic form.
- The basic conditions are document integrity, source identification, an access record and retention throughout the full legal period.
- The law also provides for the role of an accredited electronic archive administrator, for situations where it is expressly required.
Careful phrasing matters here: check, for each document type, whether the law requires keeping the paper original or filing with an accredited electronic archive administrator.
What the law says (in brief)
- Law 135/2007 (republished) establishes the regime for a document archived in electronic form and the role of the electronic archive administrator.
- Law 16/1996 imposes the document creator's obligations regardless of the medium used.
- Law 82/1991 and OMFP Order 2634/2015 set the periods for financial-accounting documents, which must also be respected in the digital archive.
- Regulation (EU) 2016/679, Art. 5(1)(e): retention stays limited to the stated purpose, even if the document has evidentiary value.
Practical examples
- A scanned acceptance report only remains useful as evidence if you can show the file wasn't replaced after registration.
- In a dispute, the first practical question is "who had access to the document, and when" — the answer comes from the access log.
- An internal decision approved in 2019 must be retrievable in 2026 in exactly the same form, with its approval history attached.
- A permit whose validity has expired stays in the archive until its retention period is met — it isn't deleted on expiry.
Common mistakes
- "Scanned" is confused with "archived with legal value".
- The document sits in a folder where anyone can overwrite the file with a new version.
- The paper original is destroyed without first checking the rules for that type of document.
- There's no log showing the document's history at all.
- The backup is kept on the same server as the archive.
How 4docs helps
- The registered version is locked: later changes become new versions, they don't overwrite the original.
- A complete access log, exportable for an inspection or a dispute.
- A structure by fund and inventory, following the records retention schedule.
- Export of the complete file, with documents and history, into a single archive.
Electronic signing under the eIDAS Regulation 910/2014 is not a 4docs feature. For contracts and digital signing, use the dedicated product: 4mycontracts.net