In short

On April 21, 2021, the official newspaper El Peruano published Law No. 31370 on the implementation of admission counters and electronic notifications (“law”). Under this law, information and communication technologies will continue to be implemented within the framework of public administration.

The law entered into force on April 22, 2021 and is applicable to all public administration entities.

Content

1. Digital reception desk and electronic notification
   1. Digital reception desk
   2. Electronic notifications
2. Digital signatures

Digital reception desk and electronic notification

• Within 12 months of the enactment of the law, all administrative entities must implement the Digital Intake Desk and corresponding electronic notifications – digital services that the entities must develop while respecting the principles, rights and guarantees of a due process without affecting the right to defense and equality of parties and digital services regulated by Legislative Decree No. 1412, Digital Government Act (LGD in Spanish).
• Once the entity has issued the corresponding directives to implement the aforementioned digital services, the non-compliance will constitute disciplinary misconduct by the official or responsible official.

Digital reception desk

• The 12-month period granted to each entity to set up its own digital reception desk has no relation to the objectives and deadlines provided for by the regulation of the law on digital administration (LDG) recently approved by the Supreme Decree No. 029-2021-PCM. According to this regulation, the Peruvian State’s single documentary receipt platform (“Intake Desk Peru”) should be implemented, on average, for a period of one year, which should allow all entities to the public administration to receive documents and requests submitted by citizens. Therefore, digital reception desks or similar platforms that each public entity has established or that are established in accordance with Law 31170 will have to temporarily coexist with the aforementioned single platform until the Peru reception desk. is fully implemented and that all public entities have been integrated into it.
• Therefore, the digital reception desks implemented by each entity of the public administration will remain until their integration into Intake Desk Peru, which will gradually consolidate the reception of documents for all the entities of the Peruvian public administration.
• During a state of emergency, entities that do not have a digital reception desk or similar will use the Peruvian state’s integrated digital applications platform, Facilita Peru, to implement the reception desk. digital standard.

Electronic notifications

• Electronic notifications are sent through electronic mailboxes or other technological means that comply with the characteristics set out in article 20 of the ordained single text of Law 27444, the Law on General Administrative Procedure (LGAP) and with the specification of the digital address of citizens in the digital environment, as established in Article 22 of Legislative Decree No. 1412 which approved the Digital Government Act.
• Be warned that Law 31170 does not comply with the objectives and deadlines of the LGD Regulation since, according to this last rule, all notifications and / or communications made by the entities of the Peruvian public administration must be directed to the mailbox. notification letters which is part of the unique electronic mailbox assigned to each citizen and person in general, which in turn facilitates access to the aforementioned notifications and / or communications, instead of having to tick the boxes that each entity of the public administration can assign it.
• The law also establishes that the entity implementing an electronic notification service can define this service as first in the order of priority of notifications and can qualify it as mandatory, with the exception of those administered in their locality which does not. do not have the appropriate technical means. However, the obligation for the recipient to receive electronic notifications according to what is available in each administrative entity does not comply with the LGAP. Thus, in accordance with paragraph 20.1 of the Revised Single Text of the LGAP, the mandatory nature of the notification service by electronic mailbox could only be arranged by supreme decree of the sector, with a prior favorable opinion from the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.
• Taking into account what is established in the revised single text of the LGAP, in principle, an electronic notification should only be carried out if it is requested in favor of the applicant and not a remedy which exclusively benefits the public administration, keeping the order of precedence in accordance with the provisions of 20.2 of the Revised Single Text of the LGAP, under penalty of nullity of the notification. The only exception to this rule is that this requirement is established by the supreme decree of the sector.
• Consequently, as for the provisions relating to the establishment of digital reception desks, it is noted that in terms of digital complaints, the provisions of Law 31170 do not comply with the objectives of the LGD and its regulations. , considering that this last rule establishes the establishment of a single electronic mailbox for each citizen. In addition, under the revised single text of the LGAP, the mandatory nature of electronic notifications means that they should only be eliminated by supreme decree of the corresponding sector and with the favorable opinion of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Justice and Human Affairs. Rights.

Digital signatures

• Entities will implement digital signatures on a mandatory basis and adopt internal rules to this effect. Digitally signed electronic documents have the same value, as well as the same legal and probative effect, as physical documents printed and signed in handwritten form by the civil servant and public official.
• At the end of the implementation period of the digital reception desk service, regulated by this law, public administration entities can only exchange electronic documents if they have the respective digital signatures of the senders.
• The National Identification and Civil Status Register (RENIEC in Spanish) provides public entities with digital certificates for the creation of signatures of public officials and civil servants.
• The law also does not mention the national digital signature platform, Firma Peru, provided for in the LGD regulation, which allows the creation and validation of digital signatures as part of the official electronic signature infrastructure (IOFE in Spanish), for the provision of digital services provided by public administration entities.

In conclusion, although Law 31170 provides for the establishment of digital services in favor of citizens, we note that the provisions of this rule have not been consistent with the provisions recently established in the LGD regulation which are of a more comprehensive nature. and technical. However, we believe that the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, through the Digital Government Secretariat, should clarify the scope of the integration of these platforms in the relevant rules.