A proposal that transactions in notarial form can be concluded remotely and signed by electronic signature has been submitted to the Parliament. In addition, on 22 April 2020 the Government approved a project on changing the Law on Notaries, with the aim of legalising notarial acts using modern information technologies. It is envisaged that notaries will be able to carry out all notarial acts remotely (also for persons abroad), except for some cases related to certification of wills and testifying to the fact that a natural person is alive and is in a certain area. Currently all notarial acts have to be carried out strictly at a notary’s office (with only a few exceptions mostly related to the client’s health).
Under the draft amendments, notarised electronic documents will have to be signed with a qualified electronic signature. A notary performing a notarial act remotely will be required to properly identify the person and ascertain their true intentions, which will be confirmed by that person‘s qualified electronic signature. The plan is that all these measures will be ensured through the common information technology platform of the Chamber of Notaries. Notaries will also have to ensure the security and cyber security of electronic information.
These changes have not yet been discussed in the Parliament but, if approved, remote services of notaries would likely come into effect in October 2020.
