CNUE Position Paper on E-justice ( 10 October 2008 ) PDF

Conseil des Notariats de l’Union EuropéenneCouncil of the Notariats of the European Union<strong>CNUE</strong> <strong>Position</strong> <strong>Paper</strong> on E-justiceThe <strong>CNUE</strong> welcomes the fact that the European institutions are focusing increasingly on theissue of E-Justice. Modern information and communication technologies help to promote theeffectiveness of justice and facilitate access to law for interested parties. This is particularlyimportant, especially in a European space of freedom, security and justice within which citizens,businesses, public services and legal practitioners are using electronic means of communication,increasingly in a cross-border context.The <strong>CNUE</strong> attaches particular importance to the area of e-Justice. Civil law notaries have longexperience of dealing with issues concerning the practical use of E-Justice both at national andCommunity levels. In a large number of Member States, civil law notaries have already drawnup, in close collaboration with Justice Ministries, practical solutions with a view to adaptingprogressively the administration of preventive justice to the challenges posed by newtechnologies; thanks to this work, they have acquired practical expertise in the area of E-Justice.In the field of E-Justice, civil law notaries have shown their commitment:- nationally:• by putting in place national electronic registers for storing authentic acts and/or electronicauthentic acts,• through the development of qualified electronic signatures in order to ensure the legalvalidity and security of electronic communications between civil law notaries and thecourts and administrations with responsibility for keeping registers,- at European level:• by putting in place a platform for verification of civil law notaries’ electronic signatures,• by developing the interconnection of online registers of wills• by establishing an online European notarial network (intranet) intended to promotecoordinated cooperation between member notariats at European level when dealing withcross-border legal cases.The <strong>CNUE</strong> considers that the following aspects are particularly important in order to pursuesuccessfully work in the area of E-Justice.1. E-Justice, a horizontal issueQuestions relating to E-Justice are not restricted to specific legal areas, but concern numerousareas of civil, criminal and administrative law. E-Justice is therefore a horizontal issue which willhave an impact on all judicial procedures having a cross-border dimension. That is why, in ourview, it is preferable to adopt a progressive approach, focusing on the problems posed in differentcases, rather than developing an abstract Pan-European E-Justice strategy.Allemagne < Autriche < Belgique < Bulgarie < Espagne < Estonie < France < Grèce < Hongrie < Italie < LettonieLituanie < Luxembourg

Conseil des Notariats de l’Union EuropéenneCouncil of the Notariats of the European Union2. A bottom-up approach: promoting examples of best practicesThe Community work initiated in the field of E-Justice should not in principle require theMember States to introduce new electronic systems at national level or to make fundamentalchanges to the elements that they have put in place at national level. Consequently, the <strong>CNUE</strong>agrees with the Commission and considers that there is no need to introduce new Communitymeasures in this area for now. On the contrary, it is more a question of facilitating and above allpromoting effective cross-border communication between the Justice bodies and, if applicable,citizens, in compliance with national and Community provisions in force.To that end, it is important, in our view, to study national and European E-Justice applicationswhich have already proved their practical worth and, if applicable, to promote and develop themin a targeted way at Community level as examples of best practices. In this context, the <strong>CNUE</strong>wishes to refer in particular to European notarial projects aimed at interconnecting nationalregisters of wills as well as those concerning the verification of electronic signatures.In addition, this will involve defining interfaces with national systems and developingcommunication standards. This definition could help and guide above all the Member Stateswhich in any event intend to modernise their systems and which, to that end, want to availthemselves straightaway of European possibilities.3. Scope of application of E-Justicea) Cross-border casesCommunity work in the area of E-Justice should cover only cross-border cases. Purely internalprocedures should not fall within the immediate scope of application of European E-Justiceinitiatives.b) Material scope of applicationaa) European Judicial PortalThe <strong>CNUE</strong> welcomes the efforts made to establish a single, central judicial portal at Communitylevel. For numerous national E-Justice projects, such a judicial portal would at the same timeserve as a basis for successful cross-border communication between the registers and/or betweenMember States relying on modern information technologies. The solutions found or that need tobe found in this context (for example, as regards problems relating to identification, technicalstandards, linguistic diversity, etc.) may then be applied to other questions to be examinedsubsequently. Thus, experiments conducted on servers for verification of electronic signaturesand on the European network of registers of wills, presented to the Council, the Commission andto E-Justice conferences, may enable progress to be made.As regards the design of the portal’s content, the <strong>CNUE</strong> proposes to integrate the work of thoseinvolved in preventive justice, such as civil law notaries, and in particular the European NotarialNetwork.Allemagne < Autriche < Belgique < Bulgarie < Espagne < Estonie < France < Grèce < Hongrie < Italie < LettonieLituanie < Luxembourg

Conseil des Notariats de l’Union EuropéenneCouncil of the Notariats of the European Unionbb) Networking of public registersPublic registers are increasingly kept in electronic form, such as for example criminal records,land registers, trade registers, registers of levies of execution, insolvency registers and registers ofwills. In this context, it is necessary to take into account the extent to which the data stored insuch registers are considered as sensitive data and the conditions of access to which they aresubject because of various stipulations of the law of the Member States.In criminal matters, the pilot project for the networking of national criminal records is of utmostimportance, as noted by the Commission. In civil matters, the pilot project for networkingregisters of wills is essential for European citizens who find themselves moving increasinglywithin the European Union, which is not without problems relating to succession. These twoprojects which, meanwhile, are now in the operational phase with the exchange of electronic data,demonstrate that European information systems on justice can operate on the basis of anagreement relative to national interfaces and common arrangements with regard tocommunication standards, without changing fundamentally national computer systems. It isimportant therefore to capitalise on the experience gained from these projects for future projectsinvolving electronic communication between other national registers.The work on E-Justice could also cover the networking of trade registers, business directories andland registers.c) Data securityThe correct working of registers involves precise controls over the content of entries in theregister. In this regard, in most EU countries, civil law notaries, in their capacity as anintermediary between the registers and interested parties, ensure that documents intended for theregister are correctly prepared. During these procedures, civil law notaries check the identity ofparties wanting to make an entry as well as the legality of their declarations, thus protecting theparties concerned from erroneous entries. Long and costly research into the accuracy andreliability of publications in the registers is thus avoided. In this way, civil law notaries make asubstantial contrition to relieving congestion in the courts.In order to avoid seriously undermining the working of the system of registers, it is important toprotect and ensure the security of data. This applies not only as regards the creation of electronicaccess to the content of registers, so that only authorised parties have access to the relevant data,but also and above all as regards the electronic transfer of information to the services responsiblefor keeping registers. In this regard, it is a matter of making exchange platforms secure. To dothat, it is necessary to apply appropriate identification technologies.A major challenge to be met in order to ensure the efficient use of E-Justice beyond nationalfrontiers is therefore to develop standards or standard interfaces in order to be able to applyidentification technologies and the components of electronic signatures.The aim would be to determine, on the basis of the results and experience acquired, how toexchange in concrete terms electronic information between countries. This exchange must beaccomplished so as to ensure maximum efficiency and data security. By way of example, theAllemagne < Autriche < Belgique < Bulgarie < Espagne < Estonie < France < Grèce < Hongrie < Italie < LettonieLituanie < Luxembourg

Conseil des Notariats de l’Union EuropéenneCouncil of the Notariats of the European Union<strong>CNUE</strong> wishes to draw attention to the European project on the verification of electronicsignatures used in a cross-border framework.E-Justice will only be able to create real added value for citizens, businesses and legalpractitioners if the possibilities of modern communications technologies can be combined withneeds concerning legal certainty in the area of transactions and the protection of the authenticityand integrity of information transmitted. European civil law notaries are committed to making anactive contribution to E-Justice and therefore stress their availability to share the experience theyhave acquired in this area.***Council of the Notariats of the European UnionBrussels, 10 October 2008Allemagne < Autriche < Belgique < Bulgarie < Espagne < Estonie < France < Grèce < Hongrie < Italie < LettonieLituanie < Luxembourg