Is the possibility for all parties to a trial and for the court itself to carry out certain procedural actions online now finally within reach? This will naturally include full access to case files while also providing a platform for communication with the court.

Going digital will accelerate justice administration and improve its quality, transparency and predictability.  This is important in the context of judicial reform, but also in the context of economic development.

The new system comprises two main environments – external (or the Single e-Justice Portal, eJP) and internal (Single Court Information System, CIS), which are intended to interact and facilitate both the parties to proceedings and court staff. It is planned that the eJP will enable citizens/parties to file documents, perform other procedural actions, make inquiries relating to cases, etc. online.

The internal information system CIS will, in turn, be used by court staff and magistrates. The CIS will enable e-filing and contain all documents created or submitted by the parties to the proceedings. The successful alignment of the eJP and the CIS will enable courts and their staff to receive real-time information about the actions of the parties to proceedings.

The third element and pillar of the e-Justice concept, the so-called e-summons, is intended to above all ensure the desired flexibility and dynamism of the process. The recently enacted legal framework in this area provides that all public authorities, financial institutions, utility companies and lawyers, as well as any party that explicitly requests it, are to be summoned only electronically. The efficient operation of the system will see a gradual reduction of delays in cases, with bad faith chicanery in the courtroom expected to be gradually stamped out.

However, in order to ensure the robust use of these systems in the judiciary, certain technical gaps, including access to information by software specialists, to ensure that the independence of the judiciary is not jeopardised, need to be further addressed.

In practice, the parties currently registered in the eJP do not have the possibility to look up cases and review the content of acts issued by the court in specific cases (even with a qualified e-signature).

This is a serious hindrance to the work of legal advisors as prior to the introduction of the new system a significant number of courts had their own platforms (websites) where they maintained up-to-date information on cases with the possibility to carry out online searches. With the adoption of the amendments in question, the ‘autonomy’ of courts in this respect was terminated and their platforms have either been deleted or are no longer maintained and updated. 

It is imperative, in the first place, to provide a possibility for making detailed online case searches and reviewing the content of judgments and other court documents.  At present, without access to specific cases, only the dates of a particular court decision are visible, without the option of opening the document.

An added benefit will be providing online access to all the case materials (evidence, etc.), which would relieve court staff of the burden of daily telephone inquiries.

It will also be important to develop further the document templates module, which has already been planned and will enable the parties to submit the relevant documents (applications, requests for enforcement orders, etc.) to court using the correct forms.

Such an innovation would be of great benefit to those litigants without legal background and would therefore ensure accessible and visible justice for citizens.

The issue of parallel proceedings in a ‘physical’ and online environment should also be addressed. The potential for gaps in the simultaneous use of electronic and ‘paper’ models exists due to the different summons regime (at present) for the different categories of subjects/participants in the process. For example, for certain persons – credit and financial institutions, notaries, etc., the summons is now done only electronically – by eJP or electronic registered mail.

For lawyers, however, the new model for summons will only apply from June 2022, which means that the ‘old’ regime is still in force for them. For other persons, service by electronic means is currently an option but not an obligation, i.e. a ‘physical’ address may still be specified in the pleadings to receive paper notices and summonses.

We recommend that a uniform regime for summoning the participants in proceedings be established as soon as practicable to reduce the risk of procedural missteps. At this stage, this is planned to happen by 30 June 2022.

It should also be possible to register in the system using the QES in order to avoid the generation of paper forms and unnecessary visits to court. This would greatly facilitate the procedure and motivate individuals to start using the system, as it would avoid confronting ambiguities of various kinds, for example, which institution (which court) and how the application has to be submitted in order for the individual to become a registered ‘user’ of the eJP.

Finding efficient solutions to the above issues is essential for the successful operation of the ‘three pillars’ of e-Justice, which will inevitably speed up court proceedings, ensure easier traceability of cases, respectively provide the necessary guarantees for citizens and businesses in terms of protecting their legitimate rights and interests.

 Pavel Tsanov     Boris Strijlev