E-mail (electronic mail), as a way of making submissions of briefs to court in civil proceeding, shall be valid if they fulfill the conditions laid down in Article 98, paragraph 2 and Article 129 of the Civil Procedure Code (“Official Gazette RS”, no. 72/2011, 49/2013 and 55/2014), and the conditions prescribed by the Law on electronic document (’’Official. Gazette RS’’, no. 51/09) and the Law on electronic signature (“Official Gazette RS”, no. 135/2004).
E-mail – conditions for validity according to provisions of the Civile Procedure Code
The Civil Procedure Code (“Official Gazette RS”, no. 72/2011, 49/2013 and 55/2014), introduced in civil proceeding modern technology such as e-mail by the provisions of Article 98, paragraph 2 and Article 129.
E-mail can be used in civil proceeding as a way of making submissions of briefs starting from 01.02.2012., ie from the date of entry into force of the Civil Procedure Code.
According to the provisions of Article 98. paragraph 2 of The Civil Procedure Code (“Official Gazette RS”, no. 72/2011, 49/2013 and 55/2014) requirements for written form also are fulfilling the filings directed to the court by telegram and electronic mail in accordance with special law.
An important novelty is contained in Article 129 of the Civil Procedure Code (“Official Gazette RS”, no. 72/2011, 49/2013 and 55/2014), by which e-mail was introduced as a way of delivering, under condition that it is in accordance with special regulations and that it is possible to provide feedback information that the person has received the document.
Notice of receipt of the document submitted in electronic form represents the printed electronic record about the day and hour when the device for electronic transfer of data recorded that the document has been sent to the recipient, name of the sender and recipient name and title of the document.
The requirement that the e-mail as a mean of delivery in the civil procedure be valid, also are fulfilling of delivery in accordance with the conditions stipulated in special regulations: the Law on electronic document (’’Official Gazette RS’’, no. 51/09) and the Law on electronic signature (“Official Gazette RS”, no 135/2004).
E-mail – conditions for validity according to provisions of the Law on Electronic Document
This Law on Electronic Document (’’Official Gazette RS’’, no. 51/09) shall regulate the conditions and manner of handling of electronic document in legal transactions, administrative, court and other procedures, as well as the rights, obligations and responsibilities of companies and other legal entities, entrepreneurs and physical persons (hereinafter: the legal and physical persons), state bodies, territorial autonomous provinces’ bodies and local self-government units’ bodies, firms, institutions, organizations and individuals entrusted with tasks of state administration, that is, public authorizations (hereinafter: government bodies) in relation to this document.
According to provisions of Article 4 of the Law on Electronic Document (’’Official Gazette RS’’, no. 51/09) electronic document will be effective and will have probative value only if it is signed by electronic signature or by a qualified electronic signature, if the regulation laid down the written form as a condition of validity of legal act, legal transaction or other legal action.
Provisions from Article 4 paragraph 1 and 2 of the Law on Electronic Document (’’Official Gazette RS’’, no. 51/09), which are regulating the conditions for validity and probative value of electronic document, shall not be applied to the following:
- Legal matters involving the transfer of property rights over immovable property or those establishing other rights over immovable property
- Declarations of parties and other participants in the succession procedure, testaments, contracts on cession and assignment of property during the assignor’s life, pactum successorium and agreements on inheritance, as well as other contracts in the
law of descent and distribution - Contracts specifying ownership of property between spouses
- Contracts on disposal of property owned by persons divested of business capacity
- Deeds of gift
- Other legal matters or procedures, for which the use of own hand signature in documents made on paper or own signature stamping has explicitly been prescribed with a special law or legal regulations adopted on the basis of a law.
Electronic documents’ delivery among government bodies and users shall be realized by e-mail to the e-mail address that was specified by the government body for receipt of briefs in the electronic form or through some other electronic channel, in accordance with law.
The government body that received the brief, through electronic channel, shall immediately confirm the receipt of the brief to the user.
Briefs, decisions, identification documents or any other documents that were created by government bodies shall be delivered to users, upon their request, in the electronic form. The electronic document shall be delivered to the user by the government body to the electronic mail address that was specified by the user for the receipt of electronic documents or through a public post operator.
E-mail – conditions for validity according to provisions of the Law on Electronic Signature
The Law on Electronic Signature (“Official Gazette RS”, no 135/2004) shall govern the use of the electronic signature in legal transactions and other legal deeds and in the conduct of business, as well as the rights, duties and liabilities associated with the electronic certificates, unless otherwise provided by other laws. The provisions of the present Law shall also apply to the communications between authorities, communications between authorities and parties and presentation and drawing up of decisions of the authorities in electronic form in the administrative, court and other proceedings before a government agency, if the law governing such proceedings provides for the use of electronic signature.
The Law on Electronic Signature (“Official Gazette RS”, no 135/2004) Article 2 paragraph 1 item 3 define a electronic signature as a set of data in the electronic form which are joined to or logically connected with an electronic document and the purpose of which is to identify the signatory.
An electronic signature may produce legal effect and may be used as evidence in legal proceedings, except when under a special law, only a manually affixed signature can produce legal effect and probative force.
In relation to the data in the electronic form, a qualified electronic signature shall produce the same legal effect and probative force as a manually affixed signature and as a manually affixed signature and stamp, in relation to the data in paper form.
According to provisions of Article 7 of the Law on Electronic Signature (“Official Gazette RS”, no. 135/2004) a qualified electronic signature shall meet the following requirements:
- That it is associated with the signatory exclusively
- That it identifies the signatory unambiguously
- That it comes into being using the means which the signatory can control independently and which are kept under the signatory’s exclusive supervision
- That it is directly associated with the data it relates to in a way which unambiguously allows any change made in the original data to be inspected
- That it has been formed on the basis of the signatory’s qualified electronic signature
- That it can be verified on the basis of the signatory’s qualified electronic certificate.