Justice Ministry Launches Private Notary Electronic Services

Manama, May 28 (BNA): In line with the directives of the Executive Committee - chaired by His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister – the Minister of Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments, Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa, announced the launch of the Private Notary Electronic Services. Among the developed features is the availability of the services around-the-clock without the restriction to a government entity location, in addition to improvement of the efficiency by partnering with the private sector, and measuring the performance indicators of the notary processes. In simple steps, the developed procedures of the Private Notary electronic system enables receiving and reviewing the notaries, then registering, printing the transactions and obtaining the stakeholders signatures, with the ability of online archiving for central database authentication, along with submitting completed transactions to notary services. HE the Minister stressed the Ministry’s commitment to further develop Bahrain’s legal system, particularly its judicial services, by integrating technological innovations to improve service delivery, enhancing overall public sector performance, and advancing the business environment in accordance with the principles of Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030 HE highlighted the Information & eGovernment Authority's (iGA) continuous support to the Private Notary Electronic Services project, which authorizes the Ministry of Justice to license qualified private notaries to conduct notarization services outside of established government working hours. HE the Minister went on to note that the introduction of advanced technological tools in legal practice ensures efficient service delivery, in addition to providing performance indicators that cultivate a culture of excellence. Information & eGovernment Authority Chief Executive Mohamed Ali Al Qaed praised the advancements made to Bahrain’s legal system that further reinforce the government’s role as a regulator. The CE affirmed that Bahrain is one of the leading of countries to provide electronic notarization services, and highlighted the Kingdom’s strides in developing electronic government services. The CE underlined iGA’s contribution towards enhancing the overall public sector performance by further improving public service delivery in according with best global practices. The CE went on to note that, following the 2018 Government Forum, the iGA has worked closely with other public entities to achieve the highest level of customer satisfaction. Al Qaed also noted that the Private Notary Services project has passed several stages, which includes: studying the system’s functional requirements, reengineering the business process, developing the software, and assuring quality. The CE concluded by underlining iGA’s efforts in developing an integrated system that enables the Ministry of Justice to centrally control the issuance of notary transaction numbers, in addition to improving the security standards by printing a two-dimensional barcode that allows for the verification of notarized documents. Last June, the Ministry of Justice has signed an MOU with iGA to train accredited notaries on the newly launched electronic system.