The Judicial Council may adopt rules permitting the filing of papers by facsimile transmission, both directly with the courts and through third parties. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the rules may provide that the facsimile transmitted document shall constitute an original document, and that notwithstanding Section 6159 of the Government Code or Title 1.3 (commencing with Section 1747) of Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code, any court authorized to accept a credit card as payment pursuant to this section may add a surcharge to the amount of the transaction to be borne by the litigant to cover charges imposed on credit card transactions regarding fax filings between a litigant and the court.
If the Judicial Council adopts rules permitting the filing of papers by facsimile transmission, the consent of the Judicial Council shall not be necessary to permit the use of credit cards to pay fees for the filing of papers by facsimile transmission directly with the court, provided that the court charges a processing fee to the filing party sufficient to cover the cost to the court of processing payment by credit card.
(Amended by Stats. 2001, Ch. 824, Sec. 10. Effective January 1, 2002.)