Blockchain and smart contract architecture for notaries services under civil law: a Brazilian experience

Abstract

This paper proposes a blockchain solution for some activities currently performed by notary offices under the Civil Law judiciary that is technically viable. The architecture is also planned to accommodate Brazil’s legal, political, and economic requirements. Notaries are responsible for providing various intermediation services for civil transactions, where their primary role is to be the trusted party capable of guaranteeing the authenticity of these transactions. This type of intermediation is common and demanded in Latin American countries, such as Brazil, which is regulated by a Civil Law judiciary. The lack of adequate technology to meet such legal demands leads to an excess of bureaucracy, dependence on manual document and signature checks, and centralized and face-to-face actions in the physical dependence of the notary. To deal with this scenario, this work presents a blockchain-based solution to make some of the activities performed by notaries automatic, guaranteeing non-modification and adherence to civil laws. Thus, the suggested framework was evaluated in accordance with Brazilian legislation and provides an economic evaluation of the proposed solution.

Regulating the validity of notarial deeds through teleconference

“…An important thing related to the suitability of electronic technology for the office of notary is that in Indonesia, it will refer to the cyber notary approach which is in accordance with the provisions of Article 15 paragraph (3) of the Notary Position Law which explains that the cyber notary is explained as another authority for Notary in carrying out certification of transactions carried out electronically, or later using the Continental European approach, namely the concept of E-Notary and later the concept is enacted as an additional provision or completeness in the existing provisions, namely the cyber notary provision which occupies as another authority for Notary or includes a change in the provisions relating to the office of notary in the meaning of a change or shifting in the aspect of Electronic Notary (E-Notary) in the meaning of digitizing notary services to the products produced [9] . In relation to the principle of legal presumption, a notarial deed will always be considered valid and perfect in its evidentiary value before any party denies it before the court [8] .…”