The electronic notarial deed - a big step towards the fully digital notary's office

In May of this year, the government draft of a law on the introduction of electronic notarization in person was published. Now that electronic minutes can be drawn up as part of notarial online procedures since 2022, this option will also be available in the future for face-to-face procedures - i.e. when the parties are present in the notary's office. This will close digitization gaps, avoid media disruptions and relieve the burden on notary's offices, courts and other document offices.

Reduction of media discontinuities

Notarial deeds have been digitized for electronic legal transactions since 2007 and have been stored digitally in the electronic document archive since 2022. "However, this means that the paper documents have to be scanned in after the notarization hearing. This is not only time-consuming and labor-intensive, but also involves costly media transfers," reports Clemens Neuschwender, Managing Director of the Palatinate Chamber of Notaries. Now that electronic transcripts can already be drawn up in the area of application of notarial online procedures since 2022, this option is also to be introduced in the tried-and-tested face-to-face procedure in future. "Deeds drawn up digitally in this way can then be entered into the electronic collection of deeds without any media discontinuity and sent to the registry courts or land registry offices for further execution," explains Neuschwender.

Practical implementation

In the course of the notarization procedure, the process of signing by the parties involved and the notary will change in particular as a result of the minutes being drawn up in electronic form. "However, the notarization will continue to take place in person," emphasizes Neuschwender. The draft law stipulates that the parties involved can sign in the presence of the notary in person on an aid suitable for electronic recording - for example, on a signature pad. The notary then signs the document electronically in a qualified manner, thereby creating a so-called original electronic deed. "This procedure transfers the tried and tested act of a handwritten signature as an expression of approval of the minutes into the electronic world. The full protection of authenticity and integrity is also guaranteed by the qualified electronic signature of the notary, which is always required," says Neuschwender. The decision as to whether an original electronic record is drawn up should be left to the notary. There is only an exception for dispositions upon death. These must still be drawn up in paper form.

Provision of a signature system by the Federal Chamber of Notaries

The Federal Chamber of Notaries will provide technical support for the introduction of the electronic certificate of authenticity and will also provide notaries with the required signature application. "This ensures that the necessary software equipment is available across the board and in an uncomplicated manner," emphasizes Neuschwender. The Federal Chamber of Notaries has already successfully developed a prototype for this purpose, which is being used to test the electronic notarization procedure in person.

Significance also beyond the notarial field

With the introduction of electronic notarization, other document offices, such as probate courts, will also be able to create digital documents. "This means that the introduction of original electronic deeds will also make a significant contribution to the digitalization of the justice system and is therefore of great importance beyond the notarial sector," Neuschwender is certain. This is because the electronic deed also avoids media disruptions in the courts and accelerates the further expansion of the e-file.

Digitalization of communication between the notary's office and authorities

In addition to the introduction of electronic notarial deeds, the Federal Chamber of Notaries is also aiming to comprehensively digitize the notarial profession with other projects. For example, the "electronic notary administration exchange" project - eNoVA for short - aims to fully digitize the communication between notary's offices and public authorities in the course of processing real estate contracts. To implement electronic execution, eNoVA has been offering the option of transmitting notifications to the expert committees in its first expansion stage since spring 2024. In the future, further execution steps, in particular the tax notification obligations including obtaining a clearance certificate from the tax office as well as obtaining official approvals and pre-emption right requests, will be digitized and integrated into eNoVA in staggered stages. Notaries will then be able to work completely paperless. "This is not only sustainable and saves resources, but also significantly reduces the workload in the notary's office," says Neuschwender happily.