Special Workshop Abstract

The social problem of reference is comprised of possible conflicts that may arise in the future related to putting into action the European regulation on legal notifications and communications referring to the transmission of the same using electronic mail. The (CE) regulation number 1348/2000 of the Council of 29 May 2000, related to the notification and transfer of judicial and extra-judicial documents in civil or mercantile matters in member states, especially deals with this. The paper will firstly present the problem and then the solutions that the communicative theory can give to it. The problem or question is, what regulation is required for judicial communications by e-mail in the countries where this is foreseen, to be able to take place with the greatest possible legal guarantees? The solution from the communicative theory of law would be the nextly summarized four tasks.

One of the tasks is to study what are the regulatory problems that the execution of judicial notification and communication activities made with the help of information and communication technologies through the use of electronic mail would involve. The typical modus operandi of the theory would be firstly to study what characteristics are involved in the activity of making judicial and extrajudicial notifications and communications, observing in depth: between whom it takes place, how they take place, how the notifications and communications are carried out related to the rest of the elements of the processes. This forces it to require the use of sociological tools, at least the theory of social systems.

Secondly, after delimiting the problem with minimum precision, it would bear in mind the regulation on notifications and communications enacted by the European Union and the countries between which the notifications and communications take place. Insofar as in the hypothetical object of study, these notifications take place by digital means, the existing regulation would be studied in this respect. That is, the rules on safety of communications, encrypting, limitations to the export of material of double use, electronic signature, data protection, rules on services of the information society.

Thirdly, it should study the technical standards involved and referred to by the previous rules: those referring to the transmission of communications. These standards are organisational and technical type rules, established by institutions devoted to industrial standardisation and which are activated by virtue of norms established by the same organisations and not by the organisations whose function this is in the Rule of Law.

In the fourth place, it would observe specific experiences related to judicial transmissions made by electronic mail. It would refer to the rules, in a broad sense (rules and standards), which are effectively put into practice in these experiences, bearing in mind the characteristics of the procedures and critically verifying which values are put into action therein: if the efficacy or utility, the impartiality, safety or justice understand as participation or equity for the specific case.