Summonses and subpoenas via WhatsApp messages in civil litigation

Abstract

The summonses and calls are the procedural acts intended to inform the defendant of the process that is pending against him and to communicate parties about acts practiced during civil litigation, respectively. These procedural communication acts are provided for in the civil procedural law, however, there is a trend to use WhatsApp messaging to practice these procedural communication acts, under the argument of making procedure faster and more economical, combating the slowness. Thus, the question arose: are procedural communications made through WhatsApp messaging valid in civil procedures? To answer this question, doctrines and legislation relevant to the topic were analyzed, including resolutions and internal ordinances of the Santa Catarina Court of Justice. The research used the deductive approach method, starting from the theory of civil procedural basis on citations and subpoenas, to then analyze the specific case of carrying out such procedural communications through WhatsApp. The research techniques used consist of bibliographic and documentary research. Finally, it was concluded that the subpoena of the parties carried out by WhatsApp is valid, provided that the requirements established by the CNJ and / or others are met, if there is specific regulation by the state Judiciary, however, the same does not apply to the summons. Therefore, the formality of the summons in civil procedure must prevail, even if within the scope of the Special Court.