E-Justice / Economical informatics

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Page modified: Friday, June 23, 2006 21:06:34

Under E-Justice (English electronics justice; also electronic right traffic) one understands the simplification and execution from processes to the information, communication and transaction within and between institutions of the Judikative, as well as between these institutions and citizens, enterprises and further national institutions by the employment about information and communication technologies.

E-Justice is thereby a counter and a minor to E-Government, which defines same projects on a superordinate level.

Electronic communication

Is to differentiate between communication, the certain formal legal bases to be sufficient has and other, informal communication.

Form-bound communication

In Germany by the "law for the adjustment of the formal requirements of private law and other regulations to modern right traffic" from 13 July 2001 the individual process orders were already changed and thus the foundation-stone for the form-bound E-Justice was put. At form-bound communication a further partitioning between communication from the right user has to take place to the court and communication of the court to the right user.

Form-bound communication to the court

Citizens and attorneys can submit their writs and other explanations also in electronic form with the responsible court. An additional subsequent filng on paper is not then necessary. However electronic communication with the individual court must be permitted still by a special statutory order, what happened so far only for some few courts. This regulation systematics permit to provide first for the necessary technical equipment of the courts. Besides in the statutory order defaults are made for attaching of X-law-data and the like the transmission method, file formats, mark, coding procedures.

The current pilot projects of federation and countries set on very different transmission methods:

E-Mail,
Upload on a special web page or
the special transmission method according to OSCI minutes.

The receipt mechanism of the court is called thereby in each case electronic court p.o. box. An automatically generated answer confirms the entrance of the document with court.

The high range of variation of the transmission methods still supplemental by differences in the other defaults mentioned in the statutory orders. This makes electronic right traffic more difficult with courts substantially and leads medium-term to a Partikularisierung of the right nature. Around in the context of the Bund-Laender-Commission (BLK) uniform suggestions for the regulation givers will work against developed. Although the organizational and technical guidelines for electronic right traffic (OT-lead-ERV), developed from it, already exist since the year 2003, uniform statutory orders still are in far distance. First importance is attached to the collection by experiences in the pilot projects. The BLK continues to work however, so that in the distant future a standardization of the requirements is to be expected.

Also the acceptance prepares problems by the right users and in particular attorneys. They are disconcerted by the multiplicity of requirements and practical problems with the use of E-Justice. The manufacturers of lawyer software are besides extremely reservedly in the conversion of electronic right traffic to their products. Partly the courts require besides a previous registration to their service. To some extent successfully therefore so far only electronic right traffic at the Federal High Court (BGH) is. This is on the one hand by the early start of the project in November 2001 and on the other hand by the anyway small number of certified attorneys at the Federal High Court (insg. it causes only 31 lawyers, about which a one-digit number of attorneys constantly submits writs electronically with the BGH).

Practical problems during the submission of electronic documents with courts did not lead so far (so far evidently) to appropriate prozessualen resolutions or decisions. The scientific penetration of the topic leaves to besides still be desired. Mainly disputed it is due to the unclear wording of the law so far whether by an electronic signature authenticity and integrity of the writ are to be guaranteed.

Of the court outgoing form-bound communication

The court is to be set after the law obligated certain kinds of documents formally or can this after obligation-in accordance with-eaten discretion for other documents arrange. The feed can take place after "§ 174 exp. 3 ZPO also on electronic way.

For the "electronic" feed above all E-Mail is possible. Besides there - similarly to already so far the court subjects led by attorneys at its master court - are also concepts of electronic court subjects over web pages or OSCI servers.

In particular with E-Mail communication that places itself problem that the court is obligated electronic signature procedures and coding to begin. In addition it needs a public key of the receiver, whom it received for example during the registration of the attorney for electronic communication with this court. In practice courts can set therefore only documents on electronic way for a infinitesimal small number of right users.

Form-free communication

Documents or messages by no rights or obligations to be justified, can be communicated usually form-free. Into this category date arrangements and the like fall.

Within this range in particular E-Mail is already far more frequently used, than this is in the form-bound range the case.

Special kinds of procedure

In a small subrange of the E-Justice there is already its long functional electronic procedure. This concerns reminder procedures after "§"§ 688 FF. ZPO. This procedure for the asserting of requirements on cash payments is standardized and with courts is already worked on to a large extent by machine in Papierform by forms. Thus it was substantially more simply possible to illustrate the procedure electronically.

Law-internal procedures

The range of communication described so far is only one aspect of E-Justice. E-Justice law-internally seizes in particular also the electronic document guidance with the subsequent problems of the long-term archiving of electronic documents. So far however an exclusive electronic document guidance of the law is not possible. The process orders plan only one document guidance on paper. The electronically which are received documents must be so far printed out therefore. At some courts this leads to parallel document guidance with the expression of detailed electronic documents and the a scanning of detailed paper documents. Legally obligatorily thereby only the paper document is.

View into the future

Since 28 July 2004 a bill of the Federal Government is present, the E-Justice on law-internal procedures extended (in particular electronic document guidance). At the same time in particular the regulations are to be changed for electronic communication with Administrative Courts, revenue courts and social courts, the so far uniform wording of the process orders are thus given up. The bill (BT-Drs. 15/4067) were referred in November 2004 first to the legal committee of the federal daily. In December 2004 took place besides an additional reference to the committee for health and social safety device. The law became to 18. March 2005 discharges and to 29. March 2005 in the federal law gazette announces. It came into force on 1 April 2005.