printable version | August 2021
On August 4, 2021, the Decree adding and amending articles of the Civil Code for the Federal District (the “Civil Code”) and the Notarial Law for Mexico City (the “Notary Law”) was published in the Official Gazette of Mexico City.
These reforms introduce various figures to the Civil Code that will help to provide greater certainty to acts carried out through electronic means. To this end, the following modifications were made, among others:
- Sale. When an offer is made by electronic, optical or any other technological means that allows the expression of the offer and its acceptance, and when there is no deadline for acceptance, if the offer is not accepted immediately, the offeror will be released from it.
- FormalityWhen the written form is required for the contract, the relevant documents must be signed by all persons to whom this obligation is imposed, and this may be done using the Advanced Electronic Signature or the Electronic Signature of Mexico City.
In cases where the law establishes as a requirement that a legal act must be granted before a notary, said granting may also be done in the digital protocol that the notary is in charge of within the scope of Digital Notarial Action in the terms established in the Notarial Law.
Along with the reform of the Civil Code, the Notarial Law was reformed to incorporate figures that will allow notarial action remotely by digital means.
Thus, the figure of Digital Notarial Action was incorporated into the Notarial Law, which should be understood as the exercise of the notarial function through electronic, optical or any other technological means.
In addition, Electronic Certificates, Notarial Electronic Signature and Electronic Instruments were introduced, meaning electronically signed deeds or documents issued by Notaries Public in the exercise of their functions.
This reform revolutionizes and updates the notarial function, allowing the use of said means for the formalization of contracts that require a Notary, such as real estate purchase and sale contracts and some real estate lease contracts, among others.
One of the main benefits will be a probable reduction in response times for locating information thanks to the implementation of electronic indexes and computer systems for storing Electronic Instruments. Consequently, response times for the registration of notarial instruments in the Public Registry of Property and Commerce could be expedited.
The reforms came into force on August 5, 2021, except for matters related to Digital Notarial Performance and related concepts such as Digital Protocol, Electronic Instrument, Appendix of the Electronic Instrument, Book of Extracts, Electronic Signature for Digital Notarial Performance and any other analogous or related to said performance, which will come into force two years from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette of Mexico City.
If you require additional information, please contact the partner responsible for your matters or one of the lawyers mentioned below:
