Czynności notarialne online : podstawy de lege lata i uwagi de lege ferenda

Abstract

The text attempts to conceptualize the possible reform of the procedure of making notarial deeds in Poland. It examines the feasibility of drafting and signing these deeds in the course of online communication between parties. The analysis builds on the significant constraints for the classic notarial procedure (based on paper documents and on the physical presence of a notary and parties) that were triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Its aim reaches, however, further beyond the present-day realities and seeks possible ways to generally modernize provisions on notarial deeds and to adjust them to the growing proliferation of online communication in the society. The text ascertains that the existing structure of provisions on notarial deeds already allows for making notarial deeds online, without profound legislative changes. It can be achieved predominantly by altering the attitude towards interpretation of these rules, especially through a more profound insight into the function of these provisions and the interrelation between their rationale and the features of the online communication. In the latter regards, the text makes an in-depth scrutiny of possible guarantees for communicational efficacy and for authenticity of notarial deeds that are provided by the advanced methods of transmitting and storing data online.