Legal Holds

A legal hold freezes a folder or document so that nobody can delete, archive, move, or purge it until the hold is explicitly released — even a Super Admin. Use holds when content is subject to litigation, a regulatory investigation, or an audit and must be preserved exactly as it is.

In DocLock this screen is the Governance & Compliance workspace. Besides placing and releasing holds, it also shows certified Official Records, a Disposition Queue for documents whose retention has expired, and an immutable Audit Vault.

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How to open this page

From the left navigation, open Management → Legal Hold Management.

• Route: management/legal-holds
• Access required: the View Configuration permission (CONFIGURATION.VIEW). If you don't have it, the page won't appear in your menu — contact an administrator.

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What you see on this page

Header and stats

The header reads Governance & Compliance. When you're on the Legal Holds tab, a New Legal Hold button appears on the right.

Below it is a row of four stat tiles that double as tab shortcuts. Clicking a tile switches to that tab:

Tile	What it counts
Active Holds	Holds currently freezing content.
Official Records	Documents permanently certified as official records.
Awaiting Disposition	Documents whose retention period has expired and need a decision.
Audit Events	Entries recorded in the Audit Vault.

A matching tab bar sits under the stats: Legal Holds, Official Records, Disposition Queue, and Audit Vault.

The Legal Holds tab

This tab lists every Active Hold as a card showing:

• The hold name and a scope chip — Folder or Document.
• The workspace / target name it applies to.
• Who placed it and when, plus the Responsible Officer.
• The reason / justification for the hold.
• A Release Hold button (red).

If any holds have already been lifted, a Released Holds — Audit History table appears underneath. It is described as immutable and lists the hold name, scope/target, who placed it, who released it, when, and the release note.

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Placing a new legal hold

1. Click New Legal Hold in the top-right.
2. Fill in the dialog:
   • Hold Name (required) — e.g. Litigation Hold – Acme Dispute.
   • Reason / Justification (required) — the legal or regulatory basis.
   • Scope — Folder (all current and future documents inside) or Single Document.
   • Responsible Officer (required) — the person accountable for the hold.
   • Target Folder / Document Name (required) — the label changes with the scope you picked.
   • Workspace — choose the workspace (or All Workspaces).
3. A warning box reminds you that once active, no user — including Super Admins — can delete, archive, move, or purge anything under the hold until it is released.
4. Click Place Legal Hold.

The button stays disabled until Hold Name, Reason, Target Name, and Responsible Officer are all filled in. After saving, the new hold appears in the Active Holds list and the Active Holds count goes up.

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Releasing a legal hold

1. On a hold card, click Release Hold.
2. The dialog shows the hold's details for confirmation.
3. Enter a Release Note (required) — it's saved for the audit log.
4. Click Release Hold.

A note explains that releasing the hold allows the affected documents to be deleted, archived, or moved again, and that the action is recorded in the immutable audit log. The released hold then moves into the Released Holds — Audit History table.

The Release Hold button stays disabled until you type a release note.

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The Disposition Queue tab

This tab lists documents whose retention period has expired (today is on or past their expiry date). Each row shows the document, workspace, expiry date, the policy that applied, and a Legal Hold status:

• LOCKED — the document is under an active hold and cannot be destroyed.
• Clear — no hold blocks disposition.

For each document you can either:

• Destroy — opens a confirmation dialog requiring an Authorisation Note; on approval the document and all versions are permanently deleted and a Certificate of Destruction is logged. The Destroy button is disabled while the document is under a legal hold.
• Extend… — pick +1 / +2 / +3 Years to push the retention date out and remove the document from the queue.

When nothing has expired, the tab shows an "All Clear" message.

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The Audit Vault tab

The Audit Vault is an append-only, read-only governance log. A notice states the records cannot be modified or deleted by any user (including Super Admins) and that each entry carries a SHA-256 hash of the document state. Each row shows the timestamp, actor, action, target document, a shortened hash (hover for the full value), and a Verified badge.

Use Export Audit Bundle to download a signed CSV of every entry — handy for lawyers, auditors, and regulators.

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About Official Records

The Official Records tab lists documents that have been permanently certified as official records — they're marked Immutable and cannot be edited, moved, archived, or deleted. You declare a record from a document's own actions menu (Declare as Record), not from this page; the empty state here reminds you of that. See Official Records for the dedicated records view.

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Tips

• Prefer folder scope when you need to capture everything in an area, including files added later — folder holds cover current and future documents inside.
• Write a clear reason and release note. Both are preserved in the audit history and are what an auditor reads first.
• A hold beats retention. Even if a document's retention expires, an active hold keeps it in the queue as LOCKED and blocks destruction.

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Troubleshooting

Problem	Likely cause / fix
Legal Hold Management isn't in my menu.	You lack the CONFIGURATION.VIEW permission. Ask an administrator.
The "Place Legal Hold" button is greyed out.	Hold Name, Reason, Target Name, or Responsible Officer is empty. Fill all required fields.
The "Release Hold" button is greyed out.	A release note is required — type one first.
The "Destroy" button is disabled in the Disposition Queue.	The document is under an active legal hold (shows LOCKED). Release the hold first.
I can't find where to certify an official record.	Declaring a record happens from the document's own actions menu (Declare as Record), not from this page.