Is it possible to collect an electronic promissory note or bill of exchange?

For those who had the opportunity to read the two previous articles (and if not, the link is here), you will remember that we are already clear that in Costa Rica, it is valid to issue electronic promissory notes or bills of exchange (whether “electronified” 1or dematerialized), and that the Law on Electronic Bill of Exchange and Promissory Notes, No. 10069, came to fill all the gaps left by Law No 8454, Law on Certificates, Digital Signatures and Electronic Documents about the possibility of issuing such securities electronically. 

We also saw that Costa Rica is not alone in this new frontier, but on the contrary, is part of a global movement that seeks modernization and agility in commercial traffic, which requires laying the foundation for new technologies to apply to figures that were once captured physically, with discussions and reforms similar to those of our country debated previously in countries such as Spain, Colombia, and Mexico, among others. 

Now, assuming that it is valid to issue bills of exchange and electronic promissory notes (complying with the requirements established in Law 10069, registered before a Central Registry and recorded in an account), what about the possibility of collecting them through judicial means? 

Let us remember that in Costa Rica, under Article 111 of the Civil Procedure Code, the method of enforcement (seizure) requires the presentation of an original document contained in a medium in which it appears undeniable and identifies the debtor by his signature or any equivalent sign. 

In the same sense, Article 111.2, paragraph 7) of the Civil Procedure Code requires that for a creditor to be able to appeal to a judge and propose a monetary monitoring process to collect a debt by judicial means through seizure (execution), he must have a document that confers the character of an executive title under the law– precisely as article 16 of Law 10069 created, since said rule confers through electronic certification issued by an authorized Centralized Registry the character of an executive title.  

So, how is an electronic promissory note or bill of exchange collected? Article 16 of the “Law on Electronic Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes” establishes that exercising the rights conferred by these documents requires their exhibition, achieved with the presentation of the electronic certification issued by the authorized Centralized Registry, which also establishes that this certification will have the character of an executive title, implying, of course, that a bill of exchange or promissory note, not registered in a Centralized Registry, could not be collected by executive means or, in other words, it does not have the status of an executive title. 

Thus, it is now a reality to be able to issue a bill of exchange or electronic promissory note and refer to it in case of non-compliance, as long as it is registered in a Registration Center, extending the certification for collection through judicial means, closing the cycle of the electronic bill of exchange or promissory note, from its creation to its collection in the event of default by the debtor. 

Still, there is the challenge of seeing how the Registration Centers authorized by SUGEVAL will perform the registration process and actions to finalize the practical mechanisms to exploit these securities. The truth is that the lack of regulation is no longer an excuse. We only have to wait to create judicial precedents using these documents. 

In that sense, we are facing a stark reality in our country. Registration Centers must begin to provide services openly so that any interested party with an electronic promissory note or bill of exchange can benefit from this regulation, earnestly conceived to provide financial agility in Costa Rica.