Mandatory use of electronic processes suspended.

Conjur - The National Council of Justice suspended, last Friday (1), the mandatory use of exclusive electronic process in petitions in the state of Pernambuco. “The impediment of lawyers' access to the forum by means other than electronic means can cause damage that is difficult, serious or impossible to repair, insofar as numerous conflicts require urgent and unavoidable judicial analysis,” said rapporteur Emmanoel Cameplo when accepting a request for an injunction from the Pernambuco section of the OAB.

In their request for action, the lawyers state that there are technical problems with the system, poor internet coverage, impediments to the practice of law for lawyers without electronic certification or with little familiarity with electronic means, and insufficient time to file documents.

"There is a well-founded fear that access to the Judiciary through exclusively electronic means may harm access to justice, because the system may not yet be ready for its full operation, and professionals may not yet be able to access the PJE (Electronic Judicial Process) adequately," said the rapporteur.

Lawyers in Pernambuco are not the only ones questioning the way the electronic process is being implemented in the country's courts. Upon taking office as the new president of the Bar Association, Marcus Vinícius Furtado Coelho said that the innovation is being adopted hastily, which could harm lawyers who are not yet prepared to meet the demands of the new system.

In São Paulo, electronic filing became mandatory on Friday (February 1st) in the 45 civil courts of the João Mendes Forum, despite attempts by legal entities — including the OAB-SP and AASP — to postpone the start of the exclusive use of the virtual method.