The Courts are resorting more and more to computer technology in order to accelerate implementation of the various acts and procedures required to conduct a judicial proceeding. Use of technology by the Courts is not that recent and in the past few years many courts have been using computers as an alternative means to monitor the status of judicial proceedings. Online attachment of funds located in a debtor's bank account is nothing new, since for some years now this type of asset freezing has been used frequently by the Labor Courts.

It is undeniable, however, that the new amendments to the Code of Civil Procedure – which mostly focused on making proceedings faster and more effective – greatly encouraged the use of technology as a means to make procedures more dynamic and immediate, easing the course of judicial proceedings easier.

Law no. 11,382/2006, which establishes new rules for summary proceedings for enforcement of certain debt instruments, makes reference in some of its articles to the use of technology in procedural steps. Among the main amendments implemented by such law, the following deserve special attention: (i) article 655-A of the Code of Civil Procedure, which expressly provides for online attachment of funds in bank accounts and financial investments belonging to debtors and (ii) paragraph 6 of article 659 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which permits attachments of real property to be recorded electronically, provided the security rules, which are still to be created and made uniform by the courts, are complied with.

With Law no. 11,419/2006 - which specifically provides for the computerization of judicial proceedings - the use of technology by the Courts has become an issue of extreme relevance, as a law with a broad scope of application now expressly allows for procedural acts to be performed electronically, as well as the conduct of a proceeding, with all phases now being communicated and implemented electronically. The purpose of the law was to reduce the large number of paper court files in the court registry office and visits by attorneys and trainees to the courts in order to verify the status of the proceedings or to lodge motions.

The imminence of almost entirely computerized judicial proceedings, with documents being recorded and procedural acts being made via computers, demonstrates the degree of importance that technology has assumed in the courts' daily activities. Even the Supreme Federal Court has become greatly concerned in making the use of computers a routine matter for documenting, recording and performing acts inherent to a proceeding.

The use of technology has given judges the tools to conduct enforcement proceedings in a more efficient manner, such as the online attachments mentioned above and the recent possibility of judges having computer access to debtors' tax information of debtors, in compliance with legal formalities – in other words, without disrespecting fundamental guarantees.

Recent legislative modifications demonstrate, therefore, that technology has become an important ally to the Courts in their attempt to conduct speedier and more efficient judicial proceedings. It is easy to predict that this alliance will intensify over the following years – which, if due care is taken, will bring undeniable benefits to the daily business of attorneys and companies.

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