Supreme Court’s Orders 11/2020 and 12/2020: electronic signature, virtual agreements and remote filings among Federal and National Courts.
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Litigation and Public Law Departments joint report | Supreme Court’s Orders 11/2020 and 12/2020: electronic signature, virtual agreements and remote filings among Federal and National Courts
Dear Sir or Madam,
Due to the public health emergency that Argentina is going through, caused by the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) and, the process of improvement of the provision of justice service, the Supreme Court (the “Court”) issued the Order 11/2020 and Order 12/2020.
Through Order 11/2020, the Court ordered: (i) the use of the electronic and digital signature regarding the jurisdictional decisions and administrative acts signed by the Ministers and Clerks of the Court, (ii) that is not necessary the use of paper support in the acts in which the electronic and/or digital signature can be applied, (iii) the possibility of issuing Court Agreements between the Ministers by remote and/or virtual means in the cases it is not possible to issue them in person, only in exceptional and/or emergency situations and, (iv) that the National Commission of Judicial Management and the System Office of the Court take action in the necessary measures for the implementation of what is established in Order 11/2020, including the development of systems for: (a) remote filing of writs in general, of complaints remedies for denial of the extraordinary appeal and file of lawsuits that shall be initiated in the Original Trial’s Secretary of the Court, and (b) the digital circulation of the court files in process before the Court.
In similar sense, by Order 12/2020 the Court set forth the following measures for the remaining courts and offices that are part of the National Judicial Power/Justice Sector: (i) the use of electronic and digital signature for all the judges and officials of lower courts that carry out their activities with the Judicial Management System (without being necessary the use of paper support), authorizing the replacement of the digital signature by the electronic signature, due that the process of obtaining the digital signature has to be done in presential way, which is inconvenient and difficult to apply in this moment, (ii) the settlement of agreements by virtual or remote means, in the cases in which is not possible to carry them out in presential ways and only in exceptional or emergency situations, (iii) the possibility for the judges to comply with their obligation to attend to their offices by virtual and/or remote means, during the actual circumstances, and (iv) the approval of the “Procedure for reception of claims, direct appeals and appeals of complaint remedies before Chamber”, which is integrated as an annex to the Order 12/2020 and that will be in force from the day 20/4/2020 in all National and Federal Chambers (with the exception of those that have jurisdiction in criminal issues).
Please do not hesitate to contact us should you require any further information on this matter.
Sincerely,
Federico Sosa
Martín Gastaldi
Gonzalo García Delatour
Juan Antonio Stupenengo