Formation and Storage of the Moscow City Duma Documentary Fond: 1993-2009
The legislative and other activities of the Moscow City Duma (Duma) are associated with intensive document flow. The entire array of documents created and received in the course of the Duma’s activities forms its documentary fond, the most important part of which goes for archival storage to the fond no. R-3303 “The Moscow City Duma.” The procedure for submitting draft city laws and Duma resolutions to the Duma is regulated by the City Law of Moscow no. 70 “On Laws of Moscow and Resolutions of the Moscow City Duma” and Articles 44 and 45 of the Duma Regulations. Initially, the drafts are submitted to the Organizational Department (OD). The Commission for Organizing the Work of the Duma makes its decision on the draft document’s compliance with the requirements for the design of projects. In case of a positive decision, the OD places the draft document in the information system for legislative support. The accompanying materials are also submitted: conclusions of the State Legal Department, Prosecutor’s Office, Mayor of Moscow, Duma Commission, Chamber of Control and Accounts of Moscow, independent anti-corruption expertise, as well as list of amendments. The Duma’s documentary fond is formed in accordance with consolidated nomenclature of files. The nomenclature of files is developed and approved by the Duma to ensure the order of formation and accounting of files, to determine terms of their storage and basis for compiling series for transfer to archival storage. According to the Federal Law no. 125-FZ of October 22, 2004 “On Archiving in the Russian Federation,” the Duma is an acquisition source of the Archival Fond of the Russian Federation. The documents are transferred to the Archive Fond after examination of the documents’ value. The examination is carried out with participation of the Duma Apparatus. The documents transfer for permanent state storage is carried out by the Department of the Duma Archival Fond of the Directorate for Documentation Support. For the Duma, a ten-year period of documents temporary storage in the Archive Fond is established, after which the documents are to be transferred to the Central State Archive of the Moscow City for permanent storage. Recently, documents dating from 1993 to 2009, that is, for the period of the 1st to 4th Duma convocations, have been submitted to fond no. R-3303. The article describes this archival fond for the first time and concludes that it is of great importance for studying modern history of the Moscow city administration.