Notarization Seals That Blot Out Contracts’ Details

Dr. Bahaa Helmy Writes:

There is no doubt that stamping documents or instruments with the seal of (the state), the emblem of the Republic, gives them an official character, both domestically and internationally.

Every state has a banner (flag) and an emblem with which laws, decrees, treaties, credentials and various official documents are stamped, in accordance with the established customs and traditions that they be stamped with the state seal.

In Egypt.. the seal of the emblem of the Republic is a symbol of the official character of notarized documents or instruments, especially in the services provided by the Real Estate Registration and Notarization Authority, such as various contracts, including the articles of incorporation of companies concluded at the General Authority for Investment, powers of attorney and other important documents needed by citizens or foreigners in accordance with domestic legislation and the rules governing work in the offices and institutions of the state.

However, the regulations and instructions may not have set standards or controls specifying the number of times the seal is to be stamped on each page or paragraph.

You notice that the company contracts issued by the one-stop shop at the Investment Authority are a forest of seals. Each page carries between four and eight seals, in addition to the other emblems and stamps.

To the point that it is impossible to read or decipher some of the sentences and words blotted out by the blue and black inks. The matter calls for reflection in order to understand the philosophy of placing the seal in this way.

What is striking is that the performance of the Investment Authority has been developed and its procedures automated, and the contracts have become standard forms on the administrative computers in front of the lawyers working at the Authority, who fill in their details after the data have been reviewed and checked. They are then printed to be taken into the dark seal room, where their pages are blotted out dozens of times without any clear justification.

At a time when world trade relies on the methods, means and mechanisms of electronic commerce and electronic signatures, including in Egypt, without the need for such antiquated seals and their blotting and environmentally polluting inks.

What prevents the company contracts at the General Authority for Investment from being printed and notarized electronically on high-quality, secure paper with protective watermarks, like the cheques printed in Egypt, or like secured birth certificates and civil registry extracts, with the possibility of collecting the cost of those secured printed forms as part of the company incorporation fees?

Or relying on embossed printing on the paper to preserve the writing on it, or any other means, with the possibility of issuing a certificate (a single page) certified with the seal of the emblem of the Republic attesting to the issuance of these contracts, powers of attorney and other documents, if necessary.

The transition to digital, or digitization, does not mean merely putting data on computers or in databases; it means developing performance, speed of completion, accuracy of work and data, raising the efficiency of employees and changing their mindsets in line with the hoped-for goals, and combating corruption.

And not reprinting and stamping the papers dozens of times with the seal of the emblem of the Republic so as to blot out their features.

Placing security marks on documents makes them safe, able to be kept for long periods without damage, clean, efficient and of acceptable appearance, and if this requires a legislative amendment, what prevents it?