Legal Alert | Electronic services of process and notifications to citizens and companies: new developments (Decree-Law 91/2024)

On 22 November, Decree-Law 91/2024 was published in the Diário da República [Official Gazette] (which will enter into force on 14 January 2025), which, following the publication of Law 38-A/2024 of 27 September and Decree-Law 87/2024 of 7 November – which implemented the electronic services of process and notification to individuals and legal entities – regulates the technological implementation of these legislative changes, allowing their practical implementation.

The key developments in Decree-Law 91/2024 are:

• Definition of the reserved access digital areas provided for in Article 230-A(3) of the Code of Civil Procedure (CCP), the entity responsible for their management and the rules for access to them;
• Definition of how individuals and legal entities register the email address they wish to associate with the digital area to which access is reserved;
• Regulation of the use by the judicial system of the public electronic notification service associated with the unique digital address, created by Decree-Law 93/2017 of 1 August, to send notices to the recipient, alongside the availability of the service of process in the reserved digital area.

The following should be highlighted in the Court Digital Services Area: 

• Services of process, notifications and other communications sent by courts, the Public Prosecutor's Office, judicial officers, enforcement agents, judicial administrators or other court assistants to their addressees by electronic means, in accordance with the CCP, are made available in a digital reserved access area located in the digital services area of the courts, accessible through https://tribunais.org.pt;
• Only individuals may access their reserved area, without prejudice to the powers to consult services of process and notifications granted to a judicial representative;
• Access to the reserved area for legal persons is provided by those who have the corporate accreditation as the representative of the company, or who have the status and powers of a certified attorney, in accordance with Article 546 of the Commercial Companies Code and the ordinance regulating it.

Registration of an email address consists of the following:

• Registration of the email address to be associated with the Court Digital Services Area is done on the public electronic notifications service, pursuant to Decree-Law 93/2017, by registering it; 
• The email address becomes the recipient’s unique digital address and is equivalent to the domicile for individuals or the registered office for legal entities;
• Signing up for this service requires verifying and validating the identity of the person who is becoming a member of the service;
• When signing up for the public electronic notification service, neither individuals nor legal entities may opt out of receiving any electronic notification sent by member entities; 
• Email addresses can be registered: (i) in the computer system supporting the public electronic notification service; (ii) in the Citizen Portal; (iii) in Citizen Shops and Spaces; (iv) in the services of the Tax and Customs Authority; (v) in the services of the Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado, I.P. [Portuguese Registry and Notary Institute]; (vi) or through other entities within whom agreements may be made by the public entity who provides the public electronic notification service;
• The association between the email address that constitutes the recipient’s unique digital address and the Court Digital Services Area is made by interoperability between both systems, through an individual’s tax identification number or a legal entity’s identification number, provided that they are Portuguese;
• If the recipient does not have these identification numbers or if the information is not contained in the case file or it is not possible for the court registry to obtain it, the electronic services of process, notification or communication is considered impossible and the provisions of Article 246(13) of the CCP apply.

Using the public electronic notification service works as follows: 

• The notice sent to the recipient which accompanies making the service of process available is sent through the public electronic notification service associated with the unique digital address, created by Decree-Law 93/2017;
• Under Decree-Law 93/2017, everyone has the right to register a single email address, which becomes their unique digital address;
• The public electronic notification service associated with the unique digital address is equivalent to the domicile or registered office of individuals and legal entities respectively;
• If the recipient has registered their email address, the court support information system sends the notice to the recipient via interoperability – immediately after making the service of process, the notification or the communication available in the reserved area – to the computer system that supports the public electronic notification service, which is sent to the recipient's unique digital address, does not require a signature, and its authenticity is guaranteed by the authentication mechanisms of the court support information system or certified by affixing a qualified electronic seal;
• Services of process, notifications and other communications sent before registration of the email address by the addressee are received by post, and are not sent electronically.

Regarding the use of the Electronic Platform for the Registration and Transmission of Official Letters by the judicial system (PERTO), the following should be noted:

• Notifications and other communications sent by the courts, the Public Prosecutor's Office, judicial officers and administrators to institutions supervised by the Banco de Portugal, in connection with actions to which they are not party, are made available in their reserved digital area, located at PERTO;
• This solution will only take effect six months after Decree-Law 91/2024 comes into force.

With regard to data protection, it should be noted that: 

• The Court Digital Services Area, the court support information system, guarantees the security and privacy of information, in accordance with the legislation in force on the protection of personal data, keeping services of process, notifications and communications available until the expiry of a period of 30 days after issue of the corrected review in the case to which they relate.