Nowdays when technology can help us to significantly improve the efficiency in all fields of the business, the legal system of the Republic of Serbia must not remain of closed eyes on the benefits provided by electronic business. The possibility of filing the submissions to the court by using e-mail is an excellent way to upgrade communication with authorities. However, although this possibility has existed for some time, it still could not be stated that electronic filing in litigations is fully in use, nor that it has overpower over the regular filing the submissions to the court (at the court office or by certified mail post).
Namely, The Civil Procedure Law (“CPL“), which regulates litigations and accordingly applies to other proceedings, provided the possibility to file the submissions to the court by e-mail and clearly prescribes that such submissions also meet the condition of written form. In other words, it has the same procedural effect as all other written submissions.
In this respect, the CLP also refers to a special law that provides additional conditions in order to be considered duly filed to the court, i.e. to the Law on Electronic Documents, Electronic Identification and Trust Services in Electronic Business (“Special Law”). The Special Law prescribes that in communication with the authority, the submitter can be identified by using the electronic identification scheme which implies that the identity of the submitter is confirmed by electronic scheme metaphorically named – qualified electronic signature.
In other words, the condition for electronic communication with the court i.e. electronic filing the submissions to the court is the obtaining of a qualified electronic signature.
If you still do not have your qualified electronic signature, you can find instructions regarding the procedure for issuing the qualified electronic signature on the website of the electronic administration service provider.
After you obtain an electronic signature for filing the electronic submission, you should follow the court procedures defined in the Court Rules of Procedure to ensure proper filing.
The Court Rules of Procedure regulate in more detailed manner that electronic submissions in the form of an original electronic document with an appropriate electronic signature and integrated time stamp can be received in court on the email address determined by the court for receiving electronic submissions or by other electronic manner, in accordance with the law.
How to file a submission?
1. The submission must be in the form of an original electronic document and contain an electronic signature and an integrated time stamp,
2. The submission should be filed to the correct e-mail address specified by the court,
3. The court receives the submission using a special program that inspects the electronic signature and time stamp,
4. The court should deliver a Confirmation of Receipt by e-mail, no later than within 6 working hours,
5. Received electronic submissions are entered into the case management program and transferred by printing into written form and are treated like any other submissions,
6. In any case, the received electronic submissions are stored in the information system or the corresponding program that enable the durability of the electronic record for the determined storage time.
After the submission is drafted in the electronic program, with fulfilling the basic procedural conditions for any submission, the electronic document should be signed in a special program by entering the code for the electronic signature, and it should be selected the place on the document where the electronic signature will appear together with the integrated time stamp, which is actually the exact time of signing.
The e-mail address of the submitter is not relevant in this respect, but it is certainly recommended for companies to always use for electronic communication the address registered in the Serbian Business Register Agency.
On the other hand, the e-mail address of the court as the recipient should be precisely determined for the filing of electronic submissions. In practice, some number of courts have a specific e-mail address where electronic submissions can be submitted, as prescribed in the Court Rules of Procedure, while there are still courts that still do not have a specific e-mail address for these purposes.
However, it does not mean that the court will automatically refuse to receive your electronic submission, from our experience you can file it to any court email address which is intended for general communication, but the orderliness of filing may be disputed without a Confirmation of Receipt.
The filing by electronic mail is considered completed under condition that this method of filing can provide the confirmation that the court has received the letter.
Is it possible to modify an electronic document?
In this respect, the Court Rules of Procedure provide that an electronic document can be modified if it cannot be read or does not fulfill the technical conditions, therefor the court informs the submitter without delay and invites him to modify the submission within the deadline and informs of the consequences of such failure.
On the other hand, as the electronic submission is regulated by the same rules as any other submissions meaning that the court has all the procedural powers to assess the fulfillment of the conditions for acting according the submission.
Difficulties in practice – necessity of use the seal?
The special problem is the inconsistency between the laws that regulate the performing a profession of attorneys and court experts with the Special Law. This is for the reason that court experts and attorneys still use the seal, meaning only stamping the seal on the paper form of the document.
On the other hand, the Law on Advocacy still prescribes that the attorney is obliged to put his signature and seal on every document, letter or submission, however there is still no possibility to obtain electronic stamp in this field of business.
In other words, in order to make an electronic document, but at the same time fulfil the required form, the document actually should be physically printed, stamped, and only then electronically signed. It certainly happens that colleagues attorneys submit their submissions without either an electronic signature or a seal, but in that manner they risk the consequences of the rejection of such a submission.
As we stated, there are still courts that still do not have a specially determined e-mail address for these purposes, and therefore the question of the regularity of filing in this circumstances is disputed, while there is no safety that from such e-mail address the court will deliver the necessary Confirmation of Reception.
In the end, no significant progress was made in this field, because despite possibility of the electronic filing the submission, the result is that the court must really print such a submission and deliver it to the other party or parties, so in fact this process can even extend the duration of the submission contrary to the initial intention.
Finally, without the possibility of electronic access to case files, i.e. access to the court’s electronic portal and direct deliver submission to the other litigant party by the court’s electronic portal, electronic communication cannot be expected to be significantly applied in this respect. The fact is that in our judiciary there are already significant conditions for the creation of such a electronic system, because the entire case files are scanned and kept in electronic form and we expect the progress in this respect as well. It is also certain that for commence, even small amendments in the Law on Advocacy would enable faster electronic communication.
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