According to Decree No. 10.278/2020, published on March 18, 2020, Brazil now establishes techniques and requirements for the digitization of public and private documents, so that they produce the same legal effects as the original documents.
The current Decree has the function of regulating provisions of laws already existing in the Brazilian legal system, such as in the case of article 3 of Law No. 13.874/2019, namely:
“Art. 3º The rights of every person, whether natural or legal, are essential for the economic development and growth of the Country, in accordance with the provisions of the sole paragraph of art. 170 of the Federal Constitution.
X – file any document by means of microfilm or digital means, in accordance with the technique and requirements established in the regulation, in which case it will be equivalent to a physical document for all legal purposes and for the proof of any act of public law”;
As well as regulating Article 2-A of Law No. 12.682/2012, which is: "Art. 2-A. The storage, in electronic, optical or equivalent media, of public or private documents, composed of data or images, is authorized, in compliance with the provisions of this Law, specific legislation and the regulations." The new Decree was intended to facilitate the administration and management of public and private documents, offering agility and ease in viewing documents and advantages regarding the storage and preservation of the document itself.
It's worth noting that Decree No. 10.278/2020 introduced new mandatory requirements for digitized documents to be considered originals. In this case, we highlight the following articles:
When digitization involves public entities: “Art. 5 The digitized document intended to be equivalent to a physical document for all legal purposes and for the proof of any act before a legal entity under internal public law must:
I – be digitally signed with digital certification in the Brazilian Public Key Infrastructure – ICP-Brasil standard, in order to guarantee the authorship of the digitization and the integrity of the document and its metadata;
II – follow the minimum technical standards set out in Annex I; and
III – contain, at least, the metadata specified in Annex II.” When digitization involves private entities:
“Art. 6 In the case of a document involving relationships between individuals, any means of proving the authorship, integrity and, if necessary, confidentiality of digitized documents will be valid, provided it is chosen by mutual agreement between the parties or accepted by the person to whom the document is presented.
Sole paragraph. In the event that there has been no prior agreement between the parties, the provisions of Article 5 shall apply.”
Furthermore, we draw attention to the new Decree and other positive results that replacing physical paper with digital means can bring in a social and economic sphere.
In organizational terms, the accumulation of papers and documents in the workplace ends up limiting the available space, as such accumulation frees up space for other activities.
A more harmonious and organized work environment positively affects employee development, contributing to better productivity.
Printed documents are subject to loss, mishandling and other accidents.
By transferring this material to digital platforms, you can generate security backups, provide remote access to those involved in each process, and apply advanced data protection features to ensure your company's assets are well protected.
Between 3% and 8% of your company's budget could be wasted due to paper misuse, and this damage is also felt by the environment. Therefore, environmentally speaking, producing without pollution is an emerging necessity. Among the world's five biggest environmental problems, deforestation is one of the most concerning, caused by the improper harvesting of trees whose primary function is to keep carbon out of the atmosphere and oceans, highlighting the importance of using natural resources correctly.
