In this section, we will review the concept of notification from a legal point of view, and we will see what are the specific characteristics of notification when it is practiced by electronic means, that is, when we make an electronic notification. We will also look at the regulatory framework governing electronic notification, and analyze the benefits and potential savings for administrations, citizens and businesses in using electronic media.
The general regulation of notifications is contained in articles 40 to 46 of Law 39/2015, of 1 October, on common administrative procedure of public administrations.
It contains: the concept of notification, the conditions of validity and content, the relationship between effectiveness and notification, cases in which it is mandatory to practice it by electronic means, the deadline for submission, its minimum content and the effects of defective notifications.
It establishes that the interested parties must be notified of the resolutions and administrative acts that affect their rights and interests, and practice them within 10 days from the date on which the act is issued (article 40.2 of the same law).
All notifications must include at least:
- The full text of the resolution.
- Footnote: with an indication of whether or not it is final in the administrative procedure, the expression of the appeals that are appropriate, the body before which the possible appeals must be presented and the deadline for filing the appeals (without prejudice that the interested parties may exercise, as the case may be, any other they deem appropriate).
The items for the validity of the notification are listed in the next section.
We can define electronic notification as the practice of electronic notification, with the same legal effects as traditional paper notification.
Its specific characteristics are:
| Electronic media preference | All notifications made on paper must be made available to those interested in the body's electronic headquarters, so that they can access them voluntarily (Article 42.3 of Law 39/2015). |
| Mandatory | Article 14.2 Law 39/2015 lists the subjects obliged to interact electronically with the Public Administrations. In the same sense, it provides that, by regulation, they may oblige other groups to communicate using only electronic means (due to their economic or technical capacity or other accredited reasons have guaranteed access and availability of necessary technological means). |
| Consent | The non-obligated interested party is required to indicate this means as preferential or to have consented to its use. |
| Reliable accreditation | The notification system must allow proof of the sending or making available, the receipt or access by the interested party (or his representative), of the dates and times, of the complete content and of the trustworthy identity of the sender and the recipient. . The accreditation of the notification, which will include all these elements, will form part of the administrative file. |
| Sending notices | A notice must be sent to the interested party informing him that he has a notification in his electronic office. This will be an sms or email, as long as this data is known. -Practice of the notification: The notification is understood to be practiced for all legal purposes at the time when access to its content occurs. |
| Rejection of notification | Once the notification has been made available, 10 calendar days have elapsed without the content being accessed, it must be understood that it has been rejected, unless it is verified ex officio or at the request of the addressee. technical or material impossibility to access it. The effects of considering that the notification has been rejected are in accordance with the provisions of article 41.5 of Law 39/2015, which will be recorded in the file (specifying the circumstances of the attempted notification) , the procedure will be considered completed and the procedure can be continued. |
From a legal point of view, electronic notification - as well as its characteristics - are regulated in the following regulatory framework:
- Law 39/2015, of 1 October, on common administrative procedure of public administrations
- Articles 41 and 43 → Regulation of the general conditions for the practice of notifications and the practice of notifications by electronic means
- Article 42.1 → Making all paper notifications available to the electronic office
- Law 26/2010, of 3 August, on the legal and procedural regime of public administrations in Catalonia
- Articles 43, 56 and 57 → Regulation of electronic communications, the practice of notification and the necessary technical requirements
- Law 29/2010, of 3 August, on the use of electronic media in the public sector of Catalonia
- Article 13 → Right of citizens and companies to a personalized space where to access the communications and notifications sent by the administration
- Law 9/2017, of 8 November, on Public Sector Contracts
- Article 151 → Regulation of the resolution and notification of awards
- Additional Provision 15a. → Regulation of the media that can be used in the procedures regulated by law
- Royal Legislative Decree 6/2015, of 30 October, approving the revised text of the Law on Traffic, Motor Vehicle Traffic and Road Safety
- Article 60 → Address and Electronic Address (DEV) of the holders of an administrative authorization
- Article 90 → Practice of notification of complaint
- Royal Decree 203/2021, of 30 March, approving the Regulations for the action and operation of the public sector by electronic means
- Article 41 - Specifies the core of procedural information to be sent in administrative communications to interested parties by electronic means.
- Article 42 - Aspects of the practice of notifications through electronic means are detailed.
- Article 43 - Complete the regulation of the notice of making available the notification enabling the creation of electronic contact databases.
- Articles 44 and 45 - Material and operational aspects are specified in relation to the practice of notification through the DEHU and its associated notification or e-notification, both in relation to the procedure and the effects and validity of the same.
Electronic notification gives us the opportunity to gain in efficiency and effectiveness over traditional paper notification.
The problems with the efficiency of paper notification, and the fact that the deadlines for practicing notification have been extended beyond what would be desirable, are as follows:
- The interested party is not always at home
- When the interested party is not at home, the notification must be retried at a different time, during the 3 days following the first attempt.
- If the notification cannot be made, it must be published on the corresponding notice board and Official Gazette.
With regard to the problems of the effectiveness of the notification on paper, in many cases it is not possible to inform the interested party of the notified act, because despite the publication on the notice board or Official Gazette it serves the administrative procedure to consider notification as a matter of fact, the reality is that many interested parties will not be aware of the existence of the notification and, therefore, the content of the notification will not be known by the interested parties.
In this section we will look at how electronic notification allows us to improve efficiency - saving time and money - and gain greater notification efficiency.
4.1. Improving efficiency and effectiveness
Electronic notification enables public administrations to gain in efficiency and effectiveness when it comes to making notifications, as they get more people interested in learning about the content of the notification and at the same time save time and money in the process. as we explain below.
Save time
Substantial reduction in the resolution time of administrative procedures
- Immediacy in the notification, and also in its acceptance or rejection, because the interested party can access its content from any place and at any time
- Temporary limitation to a maximum of 10 days for the time of acceptance or rejection of a notification. It is no longer necessary to make retries or subsequent publications in official newsletters in case of not being able to practice the notification
Direct and indirect cost savings
- Approximate savings of between 3 and 6 euros per notification
- Office supplies (paper, printer, ink, etc.) are eliminated
- Expenses associated with certified mail are eliminated
- It saves time for people in the organization
- When the e-NOTUM service is used to make electronic notifications, the Catalan public administrations save the cost of maintaining the system, since the AOC Consortium bears this expense.
Greater notification effectiveness
The administration manages to practice notification in a greater number of cases than traditional paper notification
- The interested party receives informal notices by e-mail and SMS informing him that he has an electronic notification
- Easy access to the content of the notification, because the interested party can access it from anywhere at any time
4.2. Savings for citizens and businesses
While electronic notification represents an opportunity for public administrations to save time and money by increasing their efficiency and effectiveness in the practice of notifications, as we have seen in the previous point, we must also keep in mind that the use of the electronic channel to access the notifications involves a number of benefits for citizens and businesses, which are as follows:
Reduction of the time in which the citizen and / or the company finds out the content of the notification
This is because at the time the administration generates the electronic notification, the citizen is informed by means of an e-mail and / or SMS notice, which allows him to access the notification almost immediately after it. has been generated. This is especially interesting in the case of traffic fines, as bonuses of up to 50% are usually set if paid within a relatively short period of time from the time it is notified.
Save time and money on travel
In paper notification, it is common not to find the recipient of the notification at their usual address, and the postman often leaves a paper in his mailbox to pick up the notification at the Post Office within a certain time slot. This involves a waste of time on the part of the citizen, who has to look for time in or out of working hours to be able to pick it up, and it can also involve an economic cost if the trip to the post office has to do so. do by car or public transport. With electronic notification, on the other hand, the citizen can access its content from anywhere and in any time slot from the moment the notification is generated, without having to make any travel.
