It is the governing body of the National Archival System, which manages Costa Rica's documentary heritage and collaborates in the control of the country's notarial activities.
In 1902, the "Primer Reglamento de los Archivos Nacionales" ("First Regulation of the National Archives") was enacted, providing technical guidelines for the classification and organization of the documents.
Act 5574 on September 17, 1974 created a board of directors for the Archives and finally established a source of permanent funding.
It also established the Comisión Nacional de Selección y Eliminación de Documentos (CNSED) ("National Commission for the Selection and Elimination of Documents"), as an advisory body to the Directorate General of the National Archives in order to establish regulations concerning the assessment and preservation or elimination of documents.
[5] One of the spaces attended most by the public is the José Luis Coto Conde Consulting Room, where it's possible to access over 7 linear kilometres of documents.
[citation needed] The Notarial Archive contains legal documents that have been declared to be of scientific and cultural value by the CNSED and which date from 1960 onwards.
[7] The Revista del Archivo Nacional (RAN) ("National Archive Magazine") is a double-blind, peer-reviewed academic journal.