Temporary corona law will largely expire on February 1, 2023

Most provisions of the Temporary COVID-19 Justice and Security Act (emergency law) will not be extended again as of February 1, 2023. This was announced yesterday by the Minister for Legal Protection, Franc Weerwind. Among other things, the remote execution of notarial deeds will no longer be possible as of February 1, 2023.

The emergency law was introduced in 2020 in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Article 26 of the emergency law stipulates that if the parties to a deed cannot appear in person before the civil-law notary and a private power of attorney is insufficient for the execution of the deed, the civil-law notary may execute the deed using audiovisual communication. Although Weerwind argues that several articles will remain unchanged, Article 26 will be repealed.

Changed circumstances
The emergency law was recently extended again until February 1, 2023. According to Weerwind, the fact that most of the provisions of the emergency law will not be extended again is due to the changed circumstances. However, he is still cautious: if circumstances change significantly, a further extension may still be decided. This could include situations where, for example, mutations of the virus would lead to much greater contagiousness or more severe symptoms than currently exist.