- Central BEKJ creates the legal basis for a joint federal and cantonal platform for the delivery and receipt of justice documents.
- BEKJ regulates organization, functionalities, authentication, electronic file management as well as delivery and receipt procedures including receipts.
- Mandatory use via process laws; signatures are omitted in favor of platform authentication and electronic seals.
On November 11, 2020, the Federal Council sent the preliminary draft of a federal law on the platform for electronic communication in the judiciary (BEKJ) for consultation. The consultation will last until February 26, 2021:
The Explanatory Report describes the BEKJ concept as follows:
The Federal Act on the Platform for Electronic Communication in the Judiciary (BEKJ) creates the legal prerequisites for a A central platform has been created through which authorities, courts, the legal profession, parties to proceedings, and other parties to proceedings can send and receive documents. The platform is operated jointly by the federal government and the cantons. For the operation, a corporation will be founded in which the Confederation and the cantons will participate. This body will be responsible for the actual construction, operation, further development and security of the platform.
The BEKJ regulates the basic organization of the body and the necessary functionalities of the platform to enable the exchange of documents and electronic file inspection. This concerns in particular the requirements for the authentication of users, the way in which users use the platform, the delivery and receipt of documents and which receipts are generated in the process. The obligation to use the platform, i.e. the actual obligation, is regulated in the respective process laws. For this purpose, a central block of provisions is inserted in most procedural laws, which contains that the BEKJ is declared applicable and that courts, authorities and professional users may only communicate with each other electronically. In addition, courts and authorities will be required to keep records electronically. Signature requirements that exist today will be abolished when using electronic communication. Signatures will be replaced by authentication on the platform and the automated affixing of regulated electronic seals.