beA: The special electronic attorney mailbox and its functions simply explained
Every lawyer admitted in Germany has a special electronic attorney mailbox, abA for short. The system is intended to enable secure electronic communication between lawyers and other actors in the judiciary.
What is the special electronic attorney mailbox?
The special electronic attorney mailbox is an online means of communication that is structured like an e-mail program. It is reserved exclusively for lawyers and other actors from the judiciary. Participants in the beA communication network include:
- Lawyers
- courts
- authorities
- Notaries
- The protection register
- Bar associations
- EGVP citizens mailboxes
When will beA go online again?
- The mailbox can be reached at //bea-brak.de/ or via the law firm software.
- Every lawyer admitted in Germany has a passive obligation to use the beA - every lawyer should be able to communicate electronically with the judiciary and other lawyers.
- The beA is currently offline due to various security gaps. The Federal Chamber of Lawyers (BRAK) plans to put the special electronic attorney mailbox back into operation in early September 2018.
Features of the special electronic mailbox
- The beA has classic e-mail functions: inbox, outbox, drafts, sent, trash.
- BeA users can grant access rights for almost all individual functions of the mailbox to employees and colleagues. For example, it can be set up so that third parties can read or reply to messages.
- Received messages can be sorted and filtered. Among other things, users can have all messages from a specific recipient or a file number displayed.
- Users who have entered an email address will receive a notification email as soon as messages arrive in their special electronic attorney mailbox.
- Security is guaranteed by encrypting the entire communication path.
beA initial registration - how it works
Whoever registers with the mailbox for the first time needs a beA card. The Federal Chamber of Lawyers issues the card via the Federal Chamber of Notaries.
- Step 1: Authenticate yourself with your beA card and the associated PIN. You have to enter the data twice. Tip: You can set an individual PIN. You can read how to do this in this practical tip.
- Step 2: Then you set a security question. If you call beA user support in the future, you can authenticate yourself with the correct answer.
- Step 3: Now you can enter an email address. You will receive notifications on this when you have a new message in your electronic attorney mailbox.
Do you have problems with your beA? In the next practical tip we will show you how to find help.