1.2.2017
There are still some legal hurdles. The electronic data rooms for lawyers, which primarily enable the storage and transmission of legally protected e-mails, should be in operation long ago. Two lawyers have obtained an interim injunction, which delays the commissioning of the electronic law mailbox called „beA“.
Electronic law enforcement mailbox with start difficulties
The beA comes: The data rooms for e-mails are now mandatory for lawyers! The special electronic law enforcement mailroom (beA) allows lawyers to secure electronic communication with the judiciary and among themselves. Since last year, every lawyer registered in Germany should be available via such an electronic mailbox. The legal basis for the beA is the law for the promotion of electronic legal transactions with the courts of 10 October 2013 (ERV law). The Federal Chamber of Labor (BRAK), the operator of the platform, had to postpone the scheduled start date for several technical and legal reasons. Start date is still unclear.
The BRAK develops the beA data rooms
With a new § 31a BRAO the lawmaker has obligated the BRAK to set up a special electronic lawyer’s pocket for all lawyers admitted in the Federal Republic as of January 1, In addition, the BRAK was assigned the task of supporting the electronic communication of lawyers with courts, authorities and other third parties (§ 177 para. 2 no. 7 BRAO).
Safe and easy – mailbox data rooms for lawyers
The premise of the development of the beA is the security of the system. By using the latest authentication and encryption techniques, it is ensured that no unauthorized access to the mailbox can be obtained. Also the BRAK is not able to read the contents. The President of the BRAK, lawyer Ekkehart Schäfer said: „This will enable 165,000 professionals and their approximately 300,000 employees to participate in the electronic legal system and to develop it in the long term together with the federal government and the federal states.“ Schäfer Emphasizes the pioneering role played by German lawyers in the introduction of e-legal law. „Writings on paper will soon be a thing of the past,“ said the President of the Federal Chamber of Justice.
Data from dataroomX
The beA is mandatory for e-mail communication from 2018 onwards. The ideal addition to the beA is, however, the data room cloud dataroomX. There, lawyers can store and archive documents for their clients with corresponding access data, as well as provide access to documents with different authorization systems.