The recent publication of Royal Decree-Law 11/2018 of 31 August, amending the seventh of the final dispositions of Law 39/2015, establishes that the development of regulations required for several technical and procedural frameworks to function, such as electronic notifications in Spain and the registration of powers of attorney, must be finalised by 2 October 2020, upon which date it becomes mandatory.
Specifically, article 43 of Law 39/2015 of 1 October on the Common Administrative Procedure of Public Administration regulates electronic notifications in Spain.
Notifications via electronic means shall be made directly to parties accessing the Electronic Office of any state agency or authority involved, or via the single authorised email address, or both, as may be determined by each agency or authority.
Direct notification via the Electronic Office is understood to take place when the interested party (or his or her duly identified representative) accesses the content of the notification, at which time the notification in question shall be considered made.
When the identities of interested parties in a procedure are unknown, the place where they receive notification is unknown, or where it has been attempted and not been made, the notification shall be made by means of a notice published in the Official State Gazette.
The adaptation of administrative procedures and the design of optimal management processes require technological and judicial developments to be sufficiently advanced to accommodate this new stage of development of Public Administration activity.
In this regard, the following assorted channels have been implemented in order to centralise information:
Authorised Email Address 060
The Authorised Email Address (DEH in Spanish) gives any natural person or legal entity access to an email address to receive administrative notifications that are made online by the different Public Administrations.
General Electronic Access Point
The Citizen File of the General Electronic Access Point enables, among its most noteworthy features, users to access cases open in the assorted agencies, as well as to receive and download notifications and to upload powers of attorney.
Electronic Offices of each Official Body
These are the electronic offices of the various official bodies (DGT, AEAT, TGSS, TEU, Gencat, Lexnet, councils, autonomous communities, courts) where the interested party can receive notifications online.
In this regard, users – both natural persons and legal entities – are required to check the different information channels in order to stay up-to-date with the Public Administrations.
Arintass, attentive to the needs of users and the impending requirements of the Administrations, has a highly specialised team that, on behalf of the client, can receive, analyse and evaluate the content of the communications; assess the associated risks; advise on the procedures to follow; and monitor the deadlines for electronic notifications in Spain, fully guaranteeing security and data protection.
Peter Spiller
