The Greens did not find a majority in the Bundestag on Friday for their request to postpone the obligation to actively use the special electronic lawyer’s mailbox (beA) until 2025. Apparently, many lawyers still have reservations about the digital process or there are other problems with commissioning, say the Greens. With them, however, only the AfD voted for the application. CDU / CSU, SPD and FDP were against it, the left abstained.

Since 2018 there is a passive usage obligation to receive documents and messages about the beA, which has been controversial for years. The Greens argued that technical difficulties and security loopholes kept cropping up. Nevertheless, it is provided that the active obligation to use from 2022 takes effect. Lawyers would then also have to send documents electronically to the courts.

The Greens wanted the federal government to enable the legal profession to switch to electronic legal transactions in a practicable and functioning manner. A postponement of three years is appropriate, since the federal government wants to achieve nationwide broadband expansion in Germany up to 2025. In addition, the voluntary period of use of the beA has been massively shortened due to its later introduction and several failures.

Unclear security It will Lawyers forbidden to put briefs in the mailboxes of the courts in an emergency if the internet fails, explained the Green Katja Keul. In the event of technical problems, they might even be liable with their personal assets.

“The security issues have not yet been finally clarified, and end-to-end encryption is not guaranteed,” emphasized Keul. It cannot even be ruled out that the former private contractor Atos still has the keys to spy on the entire legal profession. Citizens are also allowed to continue to submit court documents in the traditional way in trials without the need to use a lawyer, so that the paperless judicial authority is still a long way off.

State Secretary Christian Lange (SPD), on the other hand, declared in the Legal Committee on Wednesday that the use of the beA was accepted be very high. The rate of first-time registrations is 77 percent. The quota of resident lawyers alone is 81 percent, of in-house lawyers 54 percent. Christoph Sandkühler, Chairman of the User Advisory Board of the Federal Bar Association, admitted that there were sometimes problems with transfers. But these are mainly to be found in the judiciary. He is not aware of any significant difficulties in the beA system itself.

(anw)