The information system eNotary is computer software for the compilation of notarial deeds and simultaneously serving the basis for a digital archive, enabling communication with other registers, that guides and assists the notary upon obtaining and entering data necessary for the elaboration of a contract. For instance, by entering personal identification code (or the name of a person) into the box for the details of the party, eNotary finds the individual and completes, based on the data of the Population Register, the rest of the blank boxes – name, place of residence, data of the identification document, marital status. Upon the entry of a registered immovable number, eNotary finds and displays, based on the data of the electronic Land Register, other data related to the registered immovable – address, area, owner, encumbrances and restrictions, applications under procedure; finds and enables to add the plan of the registered immovable from the Land Cadastre’s website (the page also contains information on potential restrictions related to the heritage conservation, nature conservation or other restrictions) and the land use type data of the intended purpose of the cadastral unit; checks prohibitions on business and rights of representations from the Commercial Register etc.

Policy Context

Legal certainty – one of the fundamental principles of a modern democratic state – is ensured, among others, by notaries’ offices. Notaries’ offices came into being and were established so that governments could assign several of their functions, primarily maintaining legal peace by application of preventive methods, to an appropriate organisation in public law and its members. Therefore, the notary’s work and its development go hand in hand with the development of a country. Centuries ago, governments were satisfied, when a notary was literate, while further development required legal knowledge and advisory skills and notaries were also trusted with the role of an arbitrator. Today when the modern state has reached electronic dimension, the notaries’ offices performing the tasks assigned by the state also have to move in the same direction. The eNotary project described below is a step towards this goal.

Description of target users and groups

Notaries (+ staff)-Notaries wished to obtain information from state registers and information systems as fast and simply as possible through a so-called single point of contact. Citizens, entrepreneurs- Notary gives a service that is so called "Single point of contact" in communicating with government. There is no need to run from one gov. institution to another- notary will send all the documents. Government registers workers- officials who maintain different government registers like Land register and Commercial register. E-notary lessens their work by sending structured information from one information system to another.

Description of the way to implement the initiative

The eNotary project was initiated in 2004. It was commissioned by the Chamber of Notaries and executed by the Centre of Registers and Information Systems (RIK). The project organisation was formed of three parties, with co-ordinating and supervising tasks assigned to the Ministry of Justice. In addition to the steering group that consists of three parties, a working group was established. The latter comprises, in addition to the representatives of the Ministry of Justice and RIK, of notaries and other staff from several notary offices. The working group makes decisions concerning the functionality of the system and solves problems that have occurred in the course of the development process. These were namely the enthusiasm and sense of duty of the members of the working group and development team that led the project to a successful completion. Constant feedback and proposals together with their rapid realisation have been of critical importance for the development of the project. The goal of the project was to increase the efficiency of transactions for all parties, so everybody hoped to benefit from it. According to the estimations given by the representatives, this goal has been achieved.

Technology solution

We used Microsoft dot.net technology and MS SQL server solution. The solution is client-server solution with "fat" client. In addition we used Estonian national PKI ID-card authentication and digital signature solution. And for data transmission between national registers we used HTTPS and Estonian national secure data transmission system called X-Road.

Technology choice: Standards-based technology

Main results, benefits and impacts

eNotary has improved the quality, speed and security of the customer service. The user – a notary or an employee of a notary office – has the possibility to quickly and conveniently obtain information about a particular person or object. In order to obtain the same kind of information earlier, the notary hade to surf on different websites and necessary data (name, address etc.) had to be entered on every single one of them individually. In eNotary, however, authentication is national ID-card based and for search, one-off entry of personal identification code coupled with 6-7 clicks are sufficient to have all the necessary information for preparing a contract. Is the person making a transaction at the notary really the one he or she claims to be – there is nothing easier than to check it through eNotary. The validity of the client’s passport, passport picture and sample of signature all come directly from the Citizenship and Migration Board and the Population Register and comparing them with the physiognomy of the customer and the document he or she has presented makes the life of forged passport users and other rascals a hell. You are buying immovable, but how can you be sure that the seller is not ill-intentioned and has not just stepped out from another notary office, having already sold the immovable? Fortunately, the notary has eNotary, where he can check, practically in real-time, immediately before the conclusion of the contract for the purchase or sale of the immovable from the Land Register, whether any transactions have been performed with the given immovable or not. All kinds of cover letters, envelopes and postage stamps have also fallen into oblivion. Thus, eNotary does the job of many postmen as well. The citizen comes to the notary to register a succession. Instead of keeping him or her running between different state agencies and fetching necessary documents from the Vital Statistics Department, the notary receives the required information from the Population Register through eNotary. Within 30 seconds eNotary also enables to check whether a succession file has already been opened at some other notary and whether the bequeather has made a will or the succession will take place by law. There are no delays of several days in order to make enquiries to the register of wills. Neither is there any waste of notary’s or citizen’s time, but the customer can obtain operative information for his or her further steps. 600 (100% of notaries) users are using E-notary and they make 20000 secure inquiries to GOV registers every day.

Return on investment

Return on investment: €300-499,000

Track record of sharing

We have done lot of presentations in different conferences and for different guests all over the world: eJustice, eConveyancing, ...

Lessons learnt

Things that made this project successful: 1. Strong cooperation and communication between stakeholders! 2. Governmentally supported PKI and X-road platform that gave sufficient security 3. Professional and motivated developers.

Scope: National