From the 1.1.2022 are Rechtsanwalt:innen according to § 130d ZPO n.F. obligated to send pleadings to courts exclusively as electronic documents. In order to carry out the dispatch in a legally secure manner, I would like to use this article to explain the main features of sending messages via beA step by step:
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1. Preliminary remarks
This article assumes the following basic requirements for sending messages via beA:
- Lawyers must already have their beA set up ready to receive messages. We therefore assume that you have basic knowledge of navigating in the beA.
- Messages are sent via the beA web interface. Unfortunately, we cannot take into account special features of law firm software solutions.
- Our comments apply irrespective of whether attorneys or employees write a beA message.
2. Message creation steps
You must follow these steps when creating a beA message:
2.1 Initiate message creation
In the first step, you must initiate the creation of a beA message by clicking on the "Create" button:
Tip: The message creation window opens in the browser mandatory In a new tab. For the browser, this is a "pop-up" window. Therefore, set your browser so that "pop-up windows" are allowed.
2.2 Add recipients
In the next step, you need to add a recipient. To do this, click on the "Add recipient" button:
Then you must select the recipient from your address book or from the entire directory. Meanwhile, the entire directory is selected by default:
Next, you need to specify the recipient. You must fill in at least two fields for this:
Tip: If you are looking for a court or an authority, you have to enter its name at "Name. If you use e. B. search for the district court Cologne, you have to enter the term district court in "Name" and the term Cologne in "City".
After you have filled in two fields and clicked on the "Search" button, the following search result appears in the example search (Cologne Regional Court):
Select the desired recipient and then click on the "Ok" button.
Tip 1: It is not possible to send a beA message to a court and at the same time to another recipient, z. B. Send to a lawyer. In this case, you must send two separate beA messages.
Tip 2: If you have professional:in as recipients, you may be shown several entries:
In this case, it is a beA and a special electronic Notary mailbox. Be sure to select the correct mailbox. You may also find that attorneys have several beA mailboxes. Select the correct mailbox here as well. You can often recognize the "correct" mailbox by a different postal code.
2.3 Add structure record
According to § 2 para. 3 of the Electronic Legal Traffic Ordinance (ERVV), a structure record should be attached to the electronic document. In future, the structure data record will be used by the courts for automated assignment of a beA message to the responsible recipient within the court.
Don’t worry, you don’t have to manually attach the structure record. The beA is set up to automatically attach the structure data set. This looks like this:
However, make sure that the structure record of the beA message is also attached at the end. This should look like this for the "test file" attached for testing purposes:
Tip: You can see the structure record for the first time when you have clicked on the "Save" button.
2.4 Delivery against acknowledgement of receipt
you can select whether the beA message should be sent with an electronic acknowledgement of receipt (eEB). Read more about the eEB here.
2.5 Subject and message type
To send a beA message, you must specify a subject and select a message type. There are no legal requirements for the subject. In practice, it has proven useful to indicate the abbreviation of the lawyer’s correspondence or the court in the subject line.
The message type is set to "General message" by default. This will apply in most cases. Use the message type "Dunning request" only for a dunning request. Please use the message type "Test message" only for test messages. You can safely send test messages to courts. These are ignored.
are of no importance for a beA message and can be ignored.
2.6 Uploading attachments in the beA
Attachments are an essential part of a beA message. The attachments contain the electronic documents and are the "heart" of every beA message. To do this, click on the "Upload attachment" button
A selection window then opens in which you can select the required file(s). In the present case I have chosen a file with the name "Test file.pdf" was chosen.
Please note the following legal requirements according to § 2 ERVV:
- files must be sent in PDF format or exceptionally in TIFF format (image format). In practice, 99 percent of messages are likely to be sent as PDF files.
- The documents must be printable, copyable and, as far as technically possible, searchable.
- The file name should describe the content of the electronic document in a keyword-like manner. Note that the file name must also meet the technical requirements of the beA. Please read the information provided by the BRAK.
Once you have selected the file(s) you are considering, the following window will appear:
- Assign a meaningful attachment designation, z. B. Statement of claim, reminder request, statement, reply, attachment XY.
- Choose a meaningful attachment type. you have the choice between "attachment" and "pleading. "Real" pleadings to the court must necessarily be marked as an attachment type "pleading". All other documents are attachments. ATTENTION: If you send a pleading to the court as an attachment type "Attachment" without a qualified electronic signature, your pleading is procedurally invalid!
- You can apply your qualified electronic signature (QES) during the upload process under "Signature". However, you can still do this during the message creation process.
- Pay attention to the size of your electronic documents (max. 60 MB!). If your documents are too large, you will need to reduce the size of the documents or send them in multiple messages.
Tip 1: When the "upload process" is finished, the attachment has not yet been saved in the beA. The document is not actually saved on the beA server until you click "Save" after completing the "Upload" process.
Tip 2: Please also read the official announcements of the BMJV according to § 5 ERVV on the requirements for electronic documents.
2.7 Applying the qualified electronic signature (QES)?
After you add the attachment, the beA message is almost ready and should look like this:
Click on the "sun symbol" to sign the document with a qualified electronic signature, if necessary. On the subject of QES, I recommend the following article on signatures when using the beA.
2.8 Final step: Sending
In the last step, you send the beA message by clicking on the "Send" button.
Whether attorneys send the beA message themselves or have their employees send it is a complex issue (similar to letter mail or faxes). B. Organizational issues, possibilities of reinstatement).
From a technical point of view, you must note that employees can only send electronic documents of the type pleading to courts can, if the electronic documents are qualified electronically signed. If a QES is not available, lawyers must send the beA message to the courts themselves.
3. Conclusion
Creating and sending a beA message is easier than it seems at the beginning. However, you should take the following to heart: