Electronic legal transactions; information on ordinary jurisdiction

Electronic legal transactions is the umbrella term for electronic communication options between courts, public prosecutors' offices, administrative authorities and party representatives (e.g. lawyers, notaries), citizens and companies.

For contact details of the responsible authoritiy and local valid information select under "Select location" a location.

Electronic legal transactions not only improve access to the courts and public prosecutor's offices. The integration of electronically received documents into the internal electronic procedures of the judiciary will also speed up procedures.

Background and objectives

Electronic legal transactions are intended to speed up proceedings and increase processing efficiency. It facilitates access to courts and authorities while maintaining legal certainty.

In addition to the authentication of the sender or recipient, an essential prerequisite for electronic legal transactions is the protection of the confidentiality and integrity of the transmitted messages. This means that an electronic message cannot be read or changed by third parties during transmission and that the recipient can reliably determine who the sender is.

Simple e-mail is therefore not permitted as an electronic transmission channel in court and investigation proceedings. Submissions by e-mail are not formally valid.

Electronic access channels

Electronic communication with the Bavarian judiciary is permitted in many, but not yet all areas. An up-to-date overview of the judicial authorities and procedural areas in which electronic access is already available can be found under "Further links" under "Digital communication with the judiciary".

Various transmission channels are available for citizens and organizations. Formal electronic transmission is possible in the following ways:

for lawyers via the special electronic lawyer's mailbox (beA)
for notaries via the special electronic notary mailbox (beN)
for tax advisors via the special electronic tax advisor mailbox (beSt)
for public authorities and legal entities under public law via the special electronic public authority mailbox (beBPo)
for citizens and organizations via the special electronic mailbox for citizens and organizations (eBO)
Further information can be found under "Further links".
with the BayernID mailbox and dispatch service
Further information can be found under "Further links" under "Digital communication with the justice system".
for citizens via the portal "My justice mailbox" (MJP)
with an electronic court and administrative mailbox (EGVP) if the attached document has been provided with a qualified electronic signature (qeS).

NOTE: In all cases, the pleading must always be submitted as an electronic document in PDF format.

Obligation to use electronic legal transactions for professional parties to proceedings

Since January 1, 2022, lawyers, authorities and legal entities under public law have been obliged to submit pleadings and their attachments as well as written applications and declarations to the judiciary exclusively electronically.

This regulation also applies to communication with bailiffs. Accordingly, enforcement orders can only be submitted electronically by the aforementioned group of persons from 2022.

Within the scope of application of the Act on Proceedings in Family Matters and in Matters of Non-Contentious Jurisdiction (FamFG), the obligation to communicate electronically also applies to notaries.

In criminal matters, defense lawyers and attorneys are to transmit their pleadings to the prosecuting authorities and courts as electronic documents. However, the appeal and its grounds, the appeal on points of law, its grounds and the counterstatement as well as the private action and the follow-up statement in the case of accessory prosecution must be transmitted by this group of persons as an electronic document.

From 1 January 2026, the following documents must be transmitted electronically by defense lawyers and attorneys at law:

the appeal, its grounds and its withdrawal,
the appeal, its grounds, its withdrawal and the counterstatement
the objection to the penalty order and its withdrawal,
the private prosecution and
the follow-up statement in the secondary action.

The statutory provisions stipulate in each case that electronic transmission can only be made in exceptional cases in accordance with the general provisions if electronic transmission is temporarily impossible (e.g. in the event of a server failure). This circumstance must be substantiated upon submission or immediately thereafter.

Processing instructions

When using electronic legal transactions, the technical standards in accordance with the Electronic Legal Transactions Ordinance (ERVV) and the Electronic Legal Transactions Announcement (ERVB) must be observed.

Current information on the applicable standards can be found on the website of the Bavarian State Ministry of Justice

Bailiffs

Applications and declarations to be submitted in writing by parties and information, statements, expert opinions, translations and third-party declarations to be submitted in writing, i.e. in particular the enforcement orders covered by the Ordinance on Forms for Enforcement and the documents required for enforcement in the simplified procedure for enforcement from an enforcement order for a monetary claim can also be submitted to bailiffs as electronic documents). Professional parties to proceedings may also be required to submit documents electronically when communicating with bailiffs (see above).