If you have activated your electronic mailbox for delivery, public authorities may deliver electronic official decisions to it, including attachments, with the same legal effects as the delivery of a decision in paper form. Under the e-Government Act, unless special legislation provides otherwise, documents are delivered either in a mode that does not require personal delivery (ordinary delivery) or by delivery into the recipient’s own hands with a presumption of delivery.
Which official decisions public authorities deliver into the recipient’s own hands and which are delivered ordinarily is determined directly by the relevant special legislation under which the public authority proceeds in a particular matter.
Public authorities may deliver decisions to you using three basic forms available in their electronic mailbox, or through individually created decision forms.
When delivering a decision into the recipient’s own hands, a presumption of delivery always applies pursuant to Section 32(5)(b)Opens in a new window of the e-Government Act.
An electronic message is considered delivered if you confirm the delivery notification (the day, hour, minute, and second of delivery are recorded on the electronic delivery confirmation), but also if the storage period (15 days) expires and you have not confirmed the delivery notification within that period.
If a public authority does not deliver a decision into your own hands, the message is considered delivered pursuant to Section 32(5)(c)Opens in a new window of the e-Government Act on the day immediately following the day on which it was stored (i.e. the moment from which the decision is objectively available in your electronic mailbox).
If a public authority delivers a decision into your own hands pursuant to special legislation under Section 29(1)Opens in a new window of the e-Government Act, it may use a form entitled “General Agenda – Decision to Be Delivered into the Recipient’s Own Hands.” The content of the decision will likewise only become accessible after you confirm (authorise) the delivery notification.
However, if the storage period (15 days) expires and you have not confirmed the delivery notification within that period, the message is considered undelivered. If special legislation establishes different conditions for delivery, storage periods, or the effects of the expiry of the storage period, the decision must be delivered using an individually created decision form.
The legislator has also taken into account situations where, for objective reasons beyond your control, you are unable to receive electronic official decisions and familiarise yourself with their content. For this purpose, Section 33(1)Opens in a new window of the e-Government Act establishes the legal institute of the ineffectiveness of electronic delivery. Instructions on how to submit a request for a declaration of the ineffectiveness of delivery can be found in the Guides Opens in a new windowsection, under the section intended for individuals or legal entities.
