Modern legal solutions in Estonia's judicial land registers as an example of effective use of IT instruments as well as IT and legal cooperation

Abstract

In search of interesting legal solutions related to the modern and effective functioning of legal land registers, the author draws attention to IT solutions used in Estonia, which has been one of the most technologically advanced countries in Europe for over fifteen years. This solution can be treated as an exemplary solution in the search for an idea for the organizational and legal strategy of the next stages of informatization of court registers. The study briefly describes the history of the development of land e-registers, with particular emphasis on legislative and technical solutions that allow for the comprehensive digitization of the application process for entry, the use of digital documents and e-archives, with an emphasis on the elimination of the paper form of land and mortgage registers. In the further part of the study, reference was made to the e-Notariat and Immovable Portal solutions, using the X-Road as operating system, which helps to exchange, check and update data. These innovations in Estonian land register translate, among others, into for regular ex officio updating of entries including factual data on real estate and data included in the population register (e.g. change of the surname of the owner in a legal event such as a marriage). The summary of the analysis is the assessment which shows that Estonia is a very good model in searching for ideas to improve the functioning of land register in Poland, however, one should take into account the differences related to the level of technological advancement or the area of the state. The susceptibility to cyber-attacks, which also target e-Estonia, is not without significance, which follows computerization and Internet addiction in the public sphere. Therefore, the harmonious development of cybersecurity is also important. It is necessary to balance the proportions between following the registers with the expectations of society and the spirit of the times, and the security of public data.