REMEMBRANCE IN TIME - Index of

1. Introduction
8 th AMENDMENT TO THE STASI
RECORDS ACT OF 2011
Jens BIENERT 1
The Stasi Records Act of 1991 provides the legal framework for granting the various
forms of access to the records of the Stasi. In accordance with strict legal regulations it
allows private individuals, institutions, researchers and media representatives the
access to the records for various purposes. The Stasi Records Act defines the legal
requirements for granting access to the records for potential victims of the Stasi or for
near relatives of affected persons. The Department of the Federal Commissioner for
the Stasi Archives preserves and protects the archives of the Stasi, the secret police
and intelligence organisation of the German Democratic Republic. This department is
a federal agency of the reunified Germany. In 2011, conflict occurred on the matter
that there were almost 50 ex-Stasi-employees among the staff at the office of the
Federal Commissioner. This conflict was addressed by the 8th Amendment to the Stasi
Records Act of 2011. Essential contents of this amendment law are: easier access to
Stasi records for near relatives of affected persons, expansion of the group of civil
servants subject to examination of past Stasi-activities and removal of former Stasiemployees
from the office of the Federal Commissioner. The conflict between the
interests of potential victims of the Stasi and personal rights of ex-Stasi-employees
among the staff at the office of the Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Archives is
highlighted in this article.
2. Historical Background
The first freely elected parliament of the German Democratic Republic paved the
way for the protection and the controlled access to the archives of the Stasi. Since
1991, the Department of the Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Archives preserves
and protects the archives of the Ministry for State Security of the former GDR, clears
the past crimes of the former Stasi, and provides for public access to the Stasi files. In
addition, the Department of the Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Archives preserves
documents concerning the history of the GDR-opposition and the victims of Stasi
activities.
The Department of the Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Archives is a federal
agency of the reunified Germany. The Stasi was the Ministry for State Security of the
former German Democratic Republic, the intelligence service and secret police of the
GDR.
1 Law Institute, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg.