Digital notary and notarial electronic signature
From November, some notarial documents can be signed digitally. This strengthens the notarial service, and it begins to operate in some areas as a Digital Notary. Thus, in practically all notarial documents involving companies, all procedures can be managed digitally with the online notary.
How does electronic signature work in notarial documents?
The electronic signing of notarial documents is a topic that greatly interests us at JLA Notarios – Notaría Barcelona – Notaria Digital. Although our notary office is physically located on Avenida Diagonal, we can digitally authorise some notarial documents, with the client being anywhere in Spain. It was about time that the law allowed notaries to make life easier for citizens and provide a more modern and digital service.
The digital authorisation of documents in the digital notary is permitted under the Law 11/2023, of 8 May, which comes into force in November this year. If you want to know which documents can be authorised with the notarial electronic signature, you can consult the following post we wrote:
Notarial electronic signature process
Until digital authorisation of notarial documents begins in November, we want to provide information on how the electronic signing process of notarial documents will work.
The centre through which the electronic notarial signing will be managed is the Citizen's Notarial Portal. We will explain the procedure in general terms.
The first step is for the citizen to access the Citizen's Notarial Portal and make a request to the digital notary of their choice to be able to sign notarial documents via videoconference.
This request is sent to the notary from the Citizen's Notarial Portal. After that, the notary verifies the data and documents of the digital notarial signing request. If everything is correct, an appointment is scheduled for the client, who receives the document. Finally, the document will be signed via videoconference with the chosen digital Notary.
What do I need if I want to make an electronic signature of a notarial document before a Notary?
The first thing the client must do is register on the Citizen Notarial Portal. Additionally, to sign a notarial document online, it will be necessary: either a certified electronic certificate, the PIN code of the electronic DNI or that the client has attended in person once at any notary office in Spain to register on the Citizen Notarial Portal.
Therefore, at the time of the electronic notarial signature, it will be necessary to verify from the digital notary office that the signer is in possession of an electronic certificate and that they can use it. For this reason, the user must know the password of their certificate and enter the password on the Citizen Notarial Portal.
If one of the parties involved in an electronic notarial document does not have a certificate to sign, the law provides that they be offered a digital certificate for electronic signature of notarial documents for one-time use.
Regarding the signature of the notarial document, the citizen will do it from the viewer of the platform on the mobile or PC they are using. Once all parties involved in a document have signed, the Notary will electronically sign the digital notarial document.
What new provisions does Law 11/2023, of 8 May, introduce in relation to the electronic protocol and authorised electronic copies?
Law 11/2023 introduces the electronic protocol. Therefore, there will be a single original in notarial documents. The original is something like the essence of the document and this single original will have a dual format, one on paper and the other digital.
Regarding electronic authorised copies, verification of the authenticity of these copies is allowed by the document grantor themselves or whoever is in possession of the CSV (Secure Verification Code). The verification of the CSV is done through the Notarial Citizen Portal and allows obtaining a watermark that certifies that the document is authentic.
It is important to know that the electronic protocol will be considered a living protocol. This provides greater legal security, as when verifying the notarial document there will be visibility of what has occurred after the initial granting of the document.
Thus, when verifying a notarial document, all notes, diligences and actions subsequent to the signing will appear. This can be as important in some cases as providing full certainty as to whether a power of attorney has been revoked or not.
JLA Notaries, power of attorney with digital certificate
The reform in the notarial world brought by Law 11/2023 is very important and brings higher quality service for citizens. From JLA Notarios, Notary in Barcelona we will keep you informed about the latest developments regarding the new concept of digital notary and online notary, as well as notarial electronic signature. We aim to be at the forefront of digital notarial services and bring new technologies closer to our clients. Hopefully, this post provides you with value and helps bring the public notarial service closer to the citizens.
If you are looking for a digital notary, do not hesitate to contact us via our email bcn@jlanotarios.com. You can also use the contact form on our website. We will be happy to answer all your questions.
