The catalogue of legal actions forms defined in the Civil Code will be expanded starting from September 2016. Under the new provisions of the Civil Code, in order to meet the criteria of the new document form of legal action, it is sufficient to make a declaration of will in the form of a document in such a way that makes possible the identification of the individual making that declaration.
Until now, the primary form for effective legal action was an ordinary written form. However, in the practice of business dealings, contracts are frequently negotiated and concluded by e-mail correspondence or using other modern forms of communication, without formalising them by signing a paper copy of the agreed contract text. The decision to introduce the document form of legal action into the Civil Code addresses the changing needs of the present, while taking into account the dynamic development of new technologies.
As explained in the grounds to this amendment, the document form is to require a lesser degree of formality than the written form, since affixing personal signatures will not be required. It will be sufficient for the person making the declaration of will to be identified either in the text of such document or on the data storage medium or the device used to make the declaration. The drafters of the proposed amendment believe that the documentary form, by being easy to use, will help to streamline legal transactions while it can still be used for evidentiary purposes.
At the same time, “document” is now formally defined in the Civil Code as “information storage medium that allows its information content to be retrieved.” This new definition of “document” is truly revolutionary, given that this term traditionally meant information fixed in writing. The new definition is very broad and covers declarations made using not only text but also sound or image. The fundamental feature of a document is its intellectual content, that is the information or content containing various types of declarations, including declarations of will. The manner in which such content is fixed should allow for it to be stored and reconstructed so that it is capable of performing the evidentiary function of a document. As mentioned before, whether or not such a document is signed has no legal significance for legal transactions made in this format.
In the absence of indications to the contrary either in statute or in contract, the document form will be reserved only for evidentiary purposes (ad probationem). Accordingly, if the requirements for this form are not complied with, the legal action will still be valid, but no evidence from witness testimony or hearing of the parties regarding the existence of such action will be allowed. The Civil Code provides an exception to this rule for business-to-business relations between economic operators—in professional relations such evidence will be admissible regardless of the failure to comply with the document form ad probationem. This reservation for evidentiary purposes only will not apply to the other party if the documentary form requirements are not met in case of a unilateral legal action.
It should be stressed that the legal measures introduced are dispositive in nature, and hence they can be modified by agreement between the parties.