The Certified E-Mail System (Italian acronym PEC) provides senders with legally valid electronic documentation of the sending and delivery of electronic documents. “Certifying” both these key steps in the transmission of electronic files provides the sender with a receipt for any messages and attachments, if any, they have sent. This receipt is provided by the sender’s email service operator and constitutes legal proof that the message was sent.
When the message reaches the addressee, the operator sends a time-stamped receipt back to the sender. This receipt indicates whether the message was delivered or not. If the sender loses the receipt a duplicate can be produced from the electronic trail that records all operations carried out. By law, this record must be retained for 30 months. The duplicate receipt has the same legal value as the original.
For further information see the website of the national Centre for Information Technology in the Public Administration (CNIPA)
PLEASE NOTE: The use of the Certified E-Mail System is reserved for authorised subscribers to the service only.
MFA institutional and certified e-mail address: ministero.affariesteri@cert.esteri.it