The increasing use of the Internet in international commerce has created opportunities for British solicitors.

But there are also dangers if they fail to keep pace with technological change.A growing number of 'cybernotaries' are being employed.

These are notaries in civil law jurisdictions who execute international legal transactions carried out in 'cyberspace', the theoretical realm in which computers communicate with one another.The cybernotary is the counterpart of the paper-based notary but he or she operates in a world where perfect copies of documents can be transmitted via telephone lines in seconds.

Cybernotaries are operating -- under laws that recognise electronic transactions -- in Quebec, Canada, several states of the USA and in Germany.In civil law systems, the notary is a professional who has a monopoly on executing and authenticating a range of legal documents.

In the common law system, most of this work is performed by solicitors and attorneys because witnessed signatures carry executory force in common law.

For international transactions, there are some 1200 notaries across Britain -- most of them solicitors --and 29 specialist Scrivener notaries in the City of London (see Comment, p 14).

Civil law notaries have been eager to promote the electronic execution of documents.

'We want there to be someone legally and technologically competent to authenticate and certificate documents sent electronically everywhere,' says Dr Mario Miccoli, an Italian notary who is closely involved in negotiations between his European counterparts and US lawyers.The American Bar Association agrees that cybernotaries are essential to electronic commerce and is leading moves towards their international accreditation.

The ABA is known to be keen to take the opportunity to up-rate the lowly status of US notaries.

Their international reputation, with some exceptions, is so poor that they are not recognised by notaries elsewhere.

In August 1994, the ABA resolved to develop a system of specialist certification for cybernotaries.

Soon afterwards, the ABA's cybernotary committee was formed under the chairmanship of Theodore S Barassi.

It was envisaged that the cybernotary would be highly qualified in information technology.There are few technical barriers to a cybernotarial system, with new encryption technologies providing secure means of transmission.

Data can be encoded by an encryption programme that uses a 'private key'.

This is a phrase or series of letters and numbers, which is decided upon by the encoder.

Only a recipient with the corresponding 'public key' can decipher the data.It is here that the cybernotaries see their niche: as the most appropriate agents to certify the bona fides of public key-holders.

'Notaries have been recognised as trusted third parties for centuries and are used to the concept of authentication and certification,' said Bill Kennair, a Scrivener notary at John Venn & Sons and an expert in the cybernotarial field.The cybernotarial system can only work on a global scale once prejudices against technology break down.

Michael Winwood, a solicitor notary at Martineau Johnson in Birmingham, says: 'Many countries are rigid in insisting on paper originals.

Whether you could persuade, say, West Indian conveyancers to accept electronic property transfers, I rather doubt.'The Law Society has several concerns of its own about cybernotaries.

It recently agreed to set up a working party on cybernotaries under the aegis of the international committee.

Jonathan Goldsmith, secretary to the committee, says: 'This issue is crucial to the profession's well-being.

We must do whatever is necessary to make sure solicitors are geared up for the cyberage.'Mr Goldsmith is worried about the impact Roman law might have on the common law if civil law notaries were to achieve a monopoly on transactions in cyberspace and that the notion of notarial authentication might become established in the common law.

He recommends that even the term 'cybernotary' is r eplaced by a neutral alternative, such as 'cybertrustee'.Ken Byass, the Society's representative to the joint cybernotary working party of the ABA and the International Latin Notaries Union (UINL), believes the electronic execution of documents within the UK is inevitable, particularly in property transactions.

Solicitors, after specialist training, are well-suited to meet the new demand, he believes.

'The job should be within the capacity of all solicitors,' he explains.

So far, discussions between the US and British lawyers and the civil and common law notaries have been good-natured.

Civil law notaries insist that they have no intention of interfering with the common law and want only to find common ground between the two systems.

A common belief is that cyberspace will generate enough work to keep everybody happy.