Entrust Customers

Québec Ministry of Justice - The Register of personal and movable real rights

In the province of Québec, there are more than 110 different natures of rights that individuals can register in a single source - the Register of personal and movable real rights (RPMRR). The Register was created on January 1, 1994 as part of the Civil Code of Québec. This is a public register listing mainly the rights creditors hold with regard to personal property. From the very beginning, the Québec Ministry of Justice has striven to make the RPMRR's services accessible to all individuals.

Registration in the Register allows all rights to be rendered effective against third persons. In order to do this, rights must by law be published. Due to the fact that the RPMRR is an authentic document, its contents serve as legal proof and can stand up in court. To make this process more efficient as well as cut costs, RPMRR decided to develop an e-business solution that would transform the existing paper-based method into an online solution.

Registration in the RPMRR constitutes reliable protection for anyone holding rights on movable property, as well as for anyone wanting to acquire this property or to secure a right. For all these reasons, it is extremely important for the Québec Ministry of Justice to make sure that applications for registration in the Register not be repudiated. Therefore, the person filling out the application for registration is required to sign each application. When registration applications are prepared on paper, a handwritten signature is not a problem. However, applying this rule would be more complicated for applications transmitted electronically.

Easy Access for Anyone
The Ministry of Justice worked in conjunction with leading international information technology and management-consulting firm, LGS Group, to develop an online solution that would better meet its needs. Using public-key infrastructure technology provided by Entrust, the Ministry of Justice made its application available over the Internet.

In order to mitigate drawbacks associated with printed forms, the office of the Register of personal and movable real rights decided to offer its clients free, downloadable software from its website (http://www.rdprm.gouv.qc.ca). Downloading the application, known as Formul-RDPRM form generation software, enables clients to prepare an application for registration and send it electronically. Because the Ministry of Justice had to quickly educate clients about how to use the new online format, it was imperative that it be both easy to learn and easy to use. Formul-RDPRM, which was developed according to legislated security requirements, is user-friendly and is equipped with an intuitive graphic interface. The solution is the first of its kind to be implemented in a government organization.

Using the new software, customers can fill out their applications for registration online using a straightforward Web interface. Documents are submitted over the Web and are digitally signed by each applicant. Dual key pairs and digital certificates secure each electronic transmission, confirming the identity of the person signing the application and ensuring the integrity of the transmitted message. This also allows for confidentiality during transmission and non-repudiation. The Ministry of Justice has issued over 1000 certificates to date.

"Implementing this new process is completely in line with the new reality of e-commerce," explains Suzanne Potvin Plamondon, Director of the RPMRR. "We have clients who have been anxiously awaiting the ability to file applications for registration electronically. Now it is possible for them to file applications quickly and securely.

"In addition to being easier for our clients, the new system will mean time and cost savings as people won't have to travel to our office or send information by mail or courier," she adds.

The Ministry of Justice now transmits more than 80 per cent of its registration applications electronically, resulting in an $8 savings per application. The Ministry has also noticed a sharp decrease in the registration refusal rate - it has decreased from 16 per cent for the printed forms to now only 1 per cent with electronic transmissions. The overall registry operating costs have been reduced by 50 per cent since the implementation of the online administration system and the RPMRR has seen a tremendous increase in productivity.

RPMRR Sees Tremendous Return on Investment

	Before Entrust	After Entrust
# of forms processed	3000/week	15,000/week
# of full-time employees supporting printed form process	100	60
Length of time to process applications	24-96 hours	2-4 hours
Percentage of applications with errors	10%	1%

The RPMRR project recently earned a prestigious award at Hommages 2000 in Québec City, Canada. Hommages 2000 recognizes excellence in information technology and communication within the Government of Québec. This recognition is great validation for PKI technology, demonstrating that public-key infrastructure can indeed deliver the security layer required to make e-government a reality.