Communicating electronically with courts: After beA, beN and beBPO now comes eBO

E-mail is now part of everyday life. But can I also communicate with the courts or submit applications in the same way? Simple e-mail has a crucial weakness: it can be intercepted and spied on very easily. This means that confidential communication with the courts is not possible. Secondly, it is not possible to check whether the e-mail actually comes from the sender.

Secure electronic communication channels have therefore been developed for certain institutions: The beA (special electronic mailbox for lawyers) for lawyers, the beN (special electronic mailbox for notaries) for notaries and the beBPO (special electronic mailbox for public authorities) for public authorities.

The next interesting abbreviation in this series is eBO. It stands for the special electronic mailbox for citizens and organizations and enables secure electronic communication between every citizen and the courts.

"E-mail" instead of paper and signature

From January 1, 2022, all citizens, legal entities and other associations (under private law) will be able to send documents to and receive them from courts electronically. Documents no longer need to be signed by hand for court proceedings.

Identification and secure transmission

In order to ensure - as a substitute for a signature - that the document originates from the person concerned, the person must apply for a special mailbox, the eBO, and identify themselves as part of the application. This can be done on the basis of electronic identification (eID), a function of ID cards that has been automatically activated with every newly issued ID card since 2017, or via an identification procedure, for example with a notary.

Compared to traditional e-mail, messages sent via eBO not only verify the sender. The communication channel is also specially protected against spying.

For whom is an eBO worthwhile?

Although the name may suggest it, the eBO does not enable electronic communication with all public bodies. It is primarily used for communication with courts and

Software required

Special software is required to use the eBO. This is currently not yet available. For this reason, electronic communication with the courts has been legally possible since January 1, 2022, but not yet technically possible. However, this should be remedied in the 3rd quarter of 2022.

You can find further press releases from the media association on all topics related to the notary's office in the Press portal of the media association of the chambers of notaries.