Electronic document

By the provisions of the Law on electronic document, electronic identification and trust services in electronic business (“Official Gazette of the RS”, No 94/2017 and 52/21) shall be regulated electronic document, electronic identification and trust services in electronic business.

For the purposes of the Law on electronic document, electronic identification and trust services in electronic business (“Official Gazette of the RS”, No 94/2017 and 52/21) electronic document means a set of data consisting of letters, numbers, symbols, graphic, audio and video materials, in electronic form.

Legal effects and probative force of electronic document

An electronic document shall not be denied legal effect, probative force, and written form solely on the grounds that it is in electronic form.

Creating an electronic document

An electronic document shall be created using one of the available and usable information and communication technologies, unless otherwise provided by law.

An electronic document representing archival material shall be produced in a form that meets the requirements prescribed by Law on electronic document, electronic identification and trust services in electronic business (“Official Gazette of the RS”, No 94/2017 and 52/21) for reliable preparation for electronic storage.

Electronic document display form

An electronic document shall contain an internal and external display form.

The internal display form shall consist of a technical and program form of recording the content of the electronic document.

The external display form shall consist of a visual or other understandable display of the content of the electronic document.

If the document contains an electronic signature or an electronic seal, this fact should be clearly stated in the external form of the electronic document.

If the electronic document contains an electronic signature or seal of a natural person or an authorized person of a legal entity, any other form of the signature or seal of the same natural person or authorized person of a legal entity is unnecessary.

Original and copy

An electronic document originally created in electronic form as well as an electronic document that has the same digital signature as an original electronic document shall be considered to be an original.

A paper copy of an electronic document shall be made by printing the external form of the electronic document.

An electronic document created by digitizing a source document whose form is not electronic shall be considered to be a copy of the source document.

Certification of a digitized act

A digitized act shall have the same probative force as the original act, if the following conditions are cumulatively fulfilled:

the digitization of the act was carried out in one of the following ways, and/or under the supervision of:
– a natural person or an authorized person of a natural person in the capacity of a registered entity, or an authorized person of a legal entity whose act this is, or
– a person authorized to verify signatures, manuscripts and transcripts in accordance with the law governing certification of signatures, manuscripts and transcripts, or
– a person authorized by a special law to verify a digitized act;
the identity of the digitized act with the original was confirmed with a qualified electronic seal or a qualified electronic signature of the persons as follows:
– a natural person or an authorized person of a natural person in the capacity of a registered entity, or an authorized person of a legal entity whose act this is, or
– a person authorized to verify signatures, manuscripts and transcripts in accordance with the law governing certification of signatures, manuscripts and transcripts, or
– a person authorized by a special law to verify a digitized act, or
– the person to whom the competencies, under which the act was adopted, were transferred.

An authorized person of the public sector body may, in the procedures conducted in the exercise of public authority, digitize the act and certify it with the qualified electronic seal of the body or with their qualified electronic signature, which confirms the identity of the digitized act with the original document.

A digitized act certified by the public sector body shall have the same probative force as the original in the course of the implementation of that procedure.

Certification of a printed copy of an electronic document

A printed copy of an electronic document shall have the same probative force as the original act, if the following conditions are cumulatively fulfilled:

printing of an electronic document was carried out under the supervision of:
– a natural person, an authorized person of a natural person representing a legal person, and/or an authorized person of a legal entity whose act this is, or
– a person authorized to verify signatures, manuscripts and transcripts in accordance with the law governing certification of signatures, manuscripts and transcripts;
the identity of the electronic document printed copy with the original was confirmed, indicating that it is a printed copy of the electronic document by:
– personal signature of a natural person, or
– personal signature of an authorized person of a natural person representing a legal person, or an authorized person of a legal person, as well as by a seal of a natural person representing a registered entity or a legal person, if there is a legal obligation for the act to contain a seal;
– a person authorized to verify signatures, manuscripts and transcripts in accordance with the law governing certification of signatures, manuscripts and transcripts.

An authorized person of a public sector body may, in the procedures conducted in the exercise of public authority, print an electronic document on paper and certify the printed copy of the electronic document in the manner referred to in paragraph 1, item 2), sub-item (2) of the Article 12. of the Law on electronic document, electronic identification and trust services in electronic business (“Official Gazette of the RS”, No 94/2017 and 52/21), whereby the printed copy of an electronic document must contain a seal determined by the law regulating the seal of state and other bodies.

A printed copy of an electronic document, certified by the public sector body, shall have the same probative force as the original in the course of the implementation of that procedure.

Certificate of receipt of an electronic document

The certificate of receipt of an electronic document shall be a proof that the document was received by the recipient. The certificate of receipt of an electronic document shall be issued by the recipient of an electronic document or the provider of the electronic registered delivery service.

The obligation to issue the certificate of receipt of an electronic document, and the elements of the content of the certificate shall be regulated by regulations or by the will of the parties, unless otherwise provided by law.

Duplication of electronic documents

Each received electronic document shall be considered a separate document, unless the identical document has been received multiple times and the recipient knew or had to know that it was an identical document.

Electronic communication and electronic delivery between public authorities and parties

Electronic communication and electronic delivery between public authorities and parties is performed in accordance with the law governing the general administrative procedure, the law governing the electronic administration and other regulation, as well as via the service of qualified electronic delivery.

Delivery of electronic documents between public sector bodies

The delivery of electronic documents between the public sector bodies shall be performed by e-mail, service bus of the body, qualified electronic registered delivery service, or other electronic means, in accordance with the regulation.