Draft bill 221.

Summary.

The draft bill defines the notarial offices within its scope and refers their functions to Book V of the Civil Code (Código Civil) and Title XVI of the Administrative Code (Código Administrativo). It proposes a biometric identification procedure for parties and other participants in notarial acts throughout the Republic of Panama (República de Panamá). The procedure would apply to people legally capable of entering into those acts, except where special laws regulate its application. Identification would include fingerprints, qualified electronic signatures and facial recognition. Officials would have to use and safeguard the systems properly; notarial acts would require the parties’ free will, consent and good faith. The text defines legal capacity, public deeds, public instruments, identity, biometric identification, forgery, fraud and identity verification, among other terms.

The State would provide notarial offices and municipal council secretariats with the necessary equipment and tools, including sensors, software and devices for the proposed identification methods. The Electoral Tribunal (Tribunal Electoral) would train officials, maintain the systems and update their platforms and software. The Executive Branch (Poder Ejecutivo), in coordination with the Electoral Tribunal, would supervise implementation in notarial offices. If an internet outage prevents use of the system before a notary, the notary would seek the Tribunal’s assistance, request the personal identity card and submit a verification request. The Tribunal would send a positive identity-card confirmation as a record, and photographs would be taken during the act, from signing through delivery of the deed.

Once the systems are installed, interested persons could visit any notarial office in person to complete their procedures. The notary would attest to knowing the appearing parties; if the notary does not know them, two reputable persons who do know them would participate and meet the Civil Code requirements for instrumental witnesses. The notary would decline to officiate a contract when a party discloses an incapacity to assume obligations, when the notary observes such an incapacity, or when the notary has official notice of it. A person unable to sign could use an eligible witness to sign at that person’s request, provided the witness is not a family member. A person over 85 years of age would have to present a psychiatric certificate to undertake a notarial act.

A lawyer preparing a draft notarial document would have to endorse it, email it to the notarial office and attend in person for the electronic signature, fingerprint and facial recognition procedure. Once the requirements are met, the participants would receive printed documents bearing the corresponding seals. Witnesses required for public instruments would undergo the same identification procedure as the parties. Notarial offices would keep digital and manual records with an index, date, document classification, numbered folios, a qualified electronic signature and the fingerprints of the notary and two instrumental witnesses. The bill retains the application of the Civil Code and Administrative Code while establishing biometric identification for participants.

Misuse of the system would be prohibited and could be sanctioned; a repeated violation could result in dismissal. A notary could not authenticate an act involving violence, intimidation or fraud, accept gifts or benefits favoring a party, officiate outside the notary’s jurisdiction or circuit, or hold other administrative or judicial functions while in office, except teaching. Acts performed outside the jurisdiction or circuit would be void. Acts completed before the bill takes effect would remain valid. Private documents requiring notarized signature authentication would follow the identification procedure, and the notary would record the parties’ personal appearance. The bill modifies articles 1735 and 1745 of the Civil Code, authorizes the Executive Branch to issue implementing regulations and provides for commencement forty-five days after promulgation.

The proposal concerns the Electoral Tribunal, the Executive Branch, notarial offices and municipal council secretariats. It could also affect lawyers, parties, witnesses, and individuals or businesses formalizing acts, contracts and private documents in the Republic of Panama.