Using New Technology for Remote Witnessing of Legal Documents in Victoria

Abstract

Current legal requirements concerning the witnessing of affidavits and statutory declaration require the physical presence of both the authorised witness and the deponent. This can be time consuming process and seriously disadvantages people in remote rural areas and even those in urban areas with transport problems. Countries such as Australia with a low average population density and limited access to authorised witnesses will feel the effects of these limited laws to a greater degree. The current laws governing this process were developed for good reason, but recent technology advancements allow us to implement a witnessing method that does not require the physical proximity of either the deponent nor the witness. Current laws will not at this time permit this process, however, in this paper we outline a strategy for remote witnessing of documents that could be considered both secure and transparent for the legal process. This paper additionally presents the results of a survey undertaken to obtain comments from legal practitioners on this proposed method of remote witnessing.