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Justitia 4.0, AGOV and E-ID: What Law Firms Can Prepare Technically Now

The Swiss justice system is going digital, and for law firms the deadline is drawing closer. In conversations with our clients, three terms are regularly the center of discussion: Justitia 4.0, AGOV and the E-ID. How do they relate to each other, what does a firm need and when – and what does it mean for its own IT? An overview.


Three terms, three roles

  • Justitia 4.0 and justitia.swiss: Justitia 4.0 is the national project to digitalise the justice system; justitia.swiss is its central platform. Submissions, service of documents and access to case files between law firms, courts and authorities will run through it.
  • AGOV: The login service of the Swiss federal, cantonal and municipal authorities. You use AGOV to sign in to justitia.swiss.
  • E-ID: The state-issued digital identity on your smartphone. It is to be linked to AGOV in future, but it is not a prerequisite for justitia.swiss.


The timeline
The Federal Act on Platforms for Electronic Communication in the Judiciary (BEKJ) is expected to enter into force on 1 July 2027. From then on, courts and authorities must accept electronic submissions. The cantons decide when lawyers will be required to communicate electronically – at the earliest from July 2028. Some cantons are moving faster: in the canton of Zurich, contentious proceedings under the Administrative Procedure Act can be handled via justitia.swiss from 1 January 2027.
In June 2026, the federal government postponed the E-ID indefinitely. For law firms, this is no reason to wait. Signing in to justitia.swiss already works via AGOV today.


How access works today
Anyone registering with justitia.swiss first creates an AGOV account. Their identity is verified online using a passport or identity card. For signing in, AGOV recommends the “AGOV access” app on a smartphone, which works without a password. One detail has consequences: the AGOV account belongs to the person, not the firm. Anyone who sets it up with a business email address must change that address themselves when they change jobs – otherwise they lose access.


IT homework for law firms

  • Plan accounts and roles: Every person needs their own AGOV account; shared logins are off-limits. Record who holds which role and add AGOV to your joiner and leaver checklists.
  • Set rules for smartphones: If sign-in runs through an app, the smartphone becomes the key. Decide whether business devices will be used, how they are managed and what happens if one is lost.
  • Check your practice management software: Ask your software supplier whether and when your file management will work with justitia.swiss. Otherwise, documents will have to be uploaded and downloaded by hand.
  • Build a digital case file: Filing electronically requires a well-organised digital archive, a scanning process for incoming paper and sufficient storage. We have described where this data may be stored in our article on legal IT and data sovereignty.
  • Plan for outages: Deadlines keep running even when the internet in your office is down. A redundant internet connection and a short emergency plan are therefore part of the package.


And what about the e-ID?
Once it is available, the e-ID is likely to simplify identity verification for AGOV above all. But it will also be interesting for law firms elsewhere: when identifying new clients. Instead of ID copies by email, personal details can then be checked digitally and in a tamper-proof way. The federal government has yet to decide exactly how – we will report as soon as the details are known.


No law firm needs to wait for the e-ID to use justitia.swiss. Firms that set up AGOV accounts now, put rules for devices and processes in place and talk to their software supplier will be ready when electronic communication becomes mandatory – and can make use of the transition period instead of losing it.


Would you like to prepare your law firm for Justitia 4.0? We review your IT environment, set up devices and access, and support your team in moving to the digital case file. We are here for you. Fast. Agile. Reliable.