The E-Justice is introduced in order to facilitate the judiciary and the citizens

On 3 August 2017 the Plenum of the Supreme Judicial Council adopted Ordinance No. 6 on the Procedure for Carrying out Procedural Acts and Authentication Statements in Electronic Form which is coordinated with the Director of the State e-Government Agency and the Minister of Justice. This act provides for the setting-up of an Unified e-Justice Portal which will make it possible the taking of procedural and legal actions and submission of statements electronically in an accessible manner, including for persons with disabilities. According to the ordinance, this will take place through an user-friendly dialogue mode. The Unified e-Justice Portal will also enable the access to a register of the е- actions of the judicial authorities.

The judicial authorities will provide the parties and their legal representatives with a direct access to the electronic cases, related acts and statements made electronically. In case of need, the parties and their legal representatives will be able to turn to the employees of the administrations of the judiciary for assistance in providing access to information on the current status of the respective proceedings and to acts issued thereunder.

The submission of electronic documents will take place in a specific form and will be carried out through the Unified e-Justice Portal by means of personal user profiles of the applicants. However, in order to be able to accept electronic statements and electronic documents from judicial authorities, applicants will have to give an explicit written consent, which can be withdrawn at any time.

The amendments to the legislation aim to facilitate the manner of payment of different state fees and envisage that the judicial authorities will accept payments of fees, expenses and other debts to them through electronic payment instruments, including bank cards, as well as in an electronic way through the Unified e-Justice Portal.

All lawsuits filed in a paper form within three years from the date of entry into force of the new changes will be closed according to the former order. The parties will not be able to take procedural e-actions under these lawsuits. Until then, the judicial authorities will be able to perform procedural actions in an electronic form if the plenum of the Supreme Judicial Council has determined by a decision which of these may be handled in this way.

Within three years, the setting-up Unified Centralized Information System for the Public Prosecutor’s Office is also envisaged.