PROCEDURAL ACTS – A PERSPECTIVE ON THE NEW ELECTRONIC MEANS OF COMMUNICATION, THE FEASIBILITY OF NOTICES VIA WHATSAPP APPLICATION AND THE DIFFICULTIES OVERCOME BY THE JUDICIARY POWER

Abstract

In a highly technological scenario it is extremely important that everyone seeks to adapt to new technologies so that society does not become backward, especially with regard to new means of communication. This article seeks to understand the positive impacts brought to the legal world with the use of new technological tools that bring speed, efficiency, cost reduction, etc. to the judicial process. To this end, the use of means for the computerization of the procedural legal system has been a concern of the Judiciary, with a strong tendency to use the instant messaging application WhatsApp for the practice of certain procedural acts, especially subpoenas, a possibility already accepted by Brazilian case law. Thus, the questioning of this article arises with respect to the suitability of the use of this new tool in procedural matters and to what extent the due process of law, a fundamental principle of our legal system, is being observed in its use. To this end, this research will address relevant jurisprudential understandings on the subject as well as the Senate Bill No. 176 of 2018, which regulates the subject, the result of an important decision of the National Council of Justice (CNJ). With that in mind, the notes made for this study are the fruit of reflections on the mechanisms of access to justice, especially the communication of procedural conducts and the viability of using the WhatsApp app as a suitable means of procedural communication.