Notarial Documents in Electronic Format as a Means of Proof in the Field of Marital and Family Relations
Authors: Kaplunova Natalia 
Published: November 2024

Introduction: in a contemporary context, a notary is not conceivable without electronic documents; notary practice is immersed in electronic document management. Notarized evidence in electronic form is a multifaceted and widely used means of proof. The proof provided by a notary in electronic format can be fully used by participants in marriage and family relations, wherein, in addition to the legal aspect, there are many moral and ethical situations. The norms of the current legislation of the Russian Federation enshrine a mention of the procedure for providing electronic proof by a notary, but there is no detailed regulation of it. This type of proof is grouped separately in normative legal acts and is only mentioned in the explanations of the higher courts. The doctrine has not developed a unified approach to the provision of electronic proof by a notary. In notarial practice, there are cases of refusal on the part of notaries to inspect information in electronic form. Considering the above, the author formulated the purpose of the study: the identification, analysis, and formulation of signs of notarial documents in electronic format, allowing them to be recognized as a means of proof in the field of marital and family relations. The purpose setting led to the solution of the following tasks: the consideration of the legal possibilities of notaries to create electronic proof in a broad and narrow sense; the analysis of the norms of existing legal acts, the explanations of judicial practice and the work of civil lawyers dedicated to providing electronic proof by a notary; the identification and establishment of the fundamental signs of electronic proof provided by a notary as a means of judicial protection; the definition of the concept and types of electronic proof provided by a notary, their classification; the consideration of examples of the use of electronic proof provided by a notary in the field of marital and family relations and the identification of technical and legal advantages of such use. Methods of the research of phenomena and processes: dialectical, formal legal (dogmatic), the method of comparative jurisprudence, and concrete social and comparative law methods. The research is based on the method of analyzing current Russian legislation and law enforcement practice. Results: the substantiation of the technical and legal advantages of using notarial documents in electronic format as a means of proof in the field of marital and family relations. The present study is based on: 1) determining the legal nature of proof and its essential characteristics; 2) the projection of these characteristics onto evidentiary information in electronic form; 3) the identification of legal and software-technical signs of electronic proof and the establishment of types of electronic proof; 4) the particularization of using electronic proof; 5) the justification of using a notarial document in electronic format as a means of proof; 6) the analysis of the procedure for providing electronic proof by a notary and the identification of the legal features of such a procedure; 7) the classification of electronic proof that can be provided by a notary; 8) the illustration of the advantages of using proof provided by a notary in electronic form through the example of marital and family relations. Conclusions: as a result of the research done: 1) the absence of legal norms regulating the activities of notaries to provide electronic proof is established; 2) the legal and practical need to group electronic proof provided by a notary into a separate type is identified, as well as the establishment of signs that allow identifying this proof; 3) a number of advantages associated with the use of electronic (digital) proof provided by a notary are identified, including their prejudicial value as well as their lack of validity; 4) the definitions of electronic proof and electronic proof provided by a notary are disclosed, and the classifications are proposed; 5) examples of the use of electronic proof in the fields of marriage and family relations are shown.