By Marcio Martins Bonilha Filho
The national system of Public Registries, due to technological advances, in clear development, has been revealing considerable progress, in the fulfillment of the respective functional activities, especially in the scope of notary services.
As it is known, "notarial and registry services are those of technical and administrative organization destined to guarantee the publicity, authenticity, security and efficacy of legal acts" (article 1 of Law 8.935/94, of November 18, 1994), and consist of drafting, formalizing and authenticating, with public faith, instruments that consolidate extrajudicial legal acts of the interest of the applicants, also being allowed to Brazilian consular authorities, pursuant to special legislation" (Walter Ceneviva, 'in' Lei dos Notários e dos Registradores Comentada, 6th ed, Saraiva, 2007, pg. 22).
For this very reason, the advent of digital authentication, which has had a positive impact on the aforementioned service provision, was favourably received in the country, and was celebrated in forensic and extrajudicial circles, always concerned with legal security.
In essence, the certified copy is the reproduction of a document, in which the Notary Public certifies that it is a true copy of the original document, that it preserves all the characteristic signs necessary for its identification. The meaning is related to conferring validity and veracity. The Notary provides a kind of declaration of trustworthiness, attesting that the certified copy is faithful and identical to the original document, and therefore, has the same validity.
The new resource, which, by the way, allows the materialization and dematerialization of authentications in different registries, enabling the faster delivery of the certified document to people or agencies, and verifies the authenticity of the digital file, must strictly observe the technical standards edited by the National Council of Justice, from Provimento CNJ nº 100/2020.
In this context, the importance of the matter submitted to the decision of the referred National Council of Justice stands out, whose sovereign deliberation will solve the pending matter, substantiated in the request for measures regarding the functional conduct of the holder of the 1º Ofício de Registro Civil das Pessoas Naturais e de Interdições e Tutelas da Comarca de João Pessoa, State of Paraíba, who allegedly breached the aforementioned Ruling, by using his own technological support, and not the e-Notariado system, a platform provided by the Brazilian Notarial College, failing to observe the principle of territoriality and authenticating documents electronically without first analyzing the original.
Regarding the relevance of the matter, it is worth noting that the above case, submitted to the CNJ, was highlighted in a recent article published in Valor Econômico, in detailed news coverage published on June 3, 2021, authored by Beatriz Oliveira.
The issue is of utmost importance, highlighting the theme of document digitalization without the exhibition of the original title, which, "if it is originally physical, the user must present it to the Notary Public for digitalization, and if it is digital, it may be sent digitally for authentication", as clarified by the worthy President of the Brazilian Notary College, Giselle Oliveira de Barros, on December 29, 2020.
Document authentication by electronic means, therefore, is ensured by system in the 'Blockchain' network. The module of the National Digital Authentication Center (CENAD), available in e-Notary, which is the platform regulated by the CNJ, is managed by the Colégio Notarial do Brasil - Federal Council (CNB/CF), class entity that institutionally represents the Brazilian Notaries and brings together the 24 Sectionals of the States. The CNB/CF is affiliated to the International Union of Notarial Latin America, which gathers 89 countries and represents the notarial world existing in more than 100 nations, corresponding to 2/3 of the global population and 60% of the world GDP.
This Central Notary Office for Digital Authentication (CENAD) was defined by the National Council of Justice as the only valid national means for digital authentication of documents.
Strictly speaking, CNJ Ruling 100 constitutes one of the greatest positive advances in eliminating bureaucracy and rationalising work, making life easier for users, without prejudice to the maintenance of public faith, a circumstance that represents a revolutionary advantage, by regulating the use of technological instruments.
The efficiency of the service, which was already a legal obligation, will undoubtedly be improved with the adoption of technological tools, described in detail in the aforementioned Ruling. The creation of the CENAD - Central Notarial Center of Digital Authentication, destined to notaries for the authentication of digital documents, represents an important milestone in breaking the paradigm, enabling the digital authentication of documents based on their originals, which can be paper-based or nondigital.
In practice, the user will present the original document to the Notary Public, who will convert the information to a digital copy and, after checking its integrity, will authenticate it through the CENAD, delivering to the service taker a pen-drive, or other media with the authenticated digital document, with the same value as the original document.
The act must be done from the original title, that is, if it is originally physical, the user must present it to the Notary Public, delivering the printed document for scanning and authentication. Upon receiving the physical document, the Notary Public verifies the authenticity and integrity of the document, followed by its digitalization and authentication, and then authenticates the document. If the document is digital, the user can send the document by e-mail, requesting the respective digital authentication.
The new tool, consistent in the notary digital authentication will generate a record on the platform, which will contain data from the notary or responsible who has signed it, the date and time of signature, and verification code. The user, then, will receive a PDF file digitally signed by the Notary. The file can be sent by e-mail, WhatsApp or other electronic means. The operation is secured and validated by 'Notarchain', a Blockchain network exclusive to the notary public.
The definition of the controversy, which is pending examination by the CNJ, is therefore of great importance, due to its repercussion on the provision of notarial services in the country, which values public faith and legal security.
