• Source: Electronic signatures and law

Worldwide, legislation concerning the effect and validity of electronic signatures, including, but not limited to, cryptographic digital signatures, includes:




Argentina


Ley Nº 25.506 (B.O. 14/12/2001).
Decreto Nº 2628/02 (B.O. 20/12/2002).
Decreto N° 724/06 (B.O. 13/06/06).
Decisión Administrativa N° 927/14 (B.O. 03/11/14).




Bermuda


Electronic Transactions Act 1999
Certification Service Providers (Relevant Criteria and Security Guidelines) Regulations 2002




Brazil


Medida provisória 2.200-2 (Portuguese) - Brazilian law states that any digital document is valid for the law if it is certified by ICP-Brasil (the official Brazilian PKI) or if it is certified by other PKI and the concerned parties agree as to the validity of the document.




Canada


PIPEDA - Canadian law distinguishes between the generic "electronic signature" and the "secure electronic signature". Federal secure electronic signature regulations make it clear that a secure electronic signature is a digital signature created and verified in a specific manner. Canada's Evidence Act contains evidentiary presumptions about both the integrity and validity of electronic documents with attached secure electronic signatures, and of the authenticity of the secure electronic signatures themselves.




China


Electronic Signature Law of the People's Republic of China (Chinese/English) - The stated purposes include standardizing the conduct of electronic signatures, confirming the legal validity of electronic signatures and safeguarding the legal interests of parties involved in such matters. This law was revised on 23 April 2019 with immediate effect. The revision involves the deletion of the reference to land conveyancing transactions in Article 3, which provides for types of transaction exempted from the law. Accordingly, land conveyancing agreements can now be executed electronically.




Colombia


LEY 527 DE 1999 (agosto 18) por medio de la cual se define y reglamenta el acceso y uso de los mensajes de datos, del comercio electrónico y de las firmas digitales, y se establecen las entidades de certificación y se dictan otras disposiciones.
DECRETO 2364 DE 2012 (Noviembre 22) por medio del cual se reglamenta el artículo 7° de la Ley 527 de 1999, sobre la firma electrónica y se dictan otras disposiciones.
Decree 333 of 2014, regulates accreditation procedures for Certification Entities, who certify digital signatures.




European Union and the European Economic Area



The eIDAS regulation.
In the EU, electronic signatures and related trust services are regulated by the Regulation (EU) N°910/2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market (eIDAS Regulation). This regulation was adopted by the Council of the European Union on 23 July 2014. It became effective on 1 July and repealed the Electronic Signatures Directive 1999/93/EC. At the same date, any laws of EU member states that were inconsistent with eIDAS were also automatically repealed, replaced or modified. In contract to the aforementioned directive (which allowed the EU member states to interpret it and transpose it to their own law) the eIDAS Regulation is directly effective in all member states.




= Before eIDAS

=
European Union Directive establishing the framework for electronic signatures:

Directive 1999/93/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 1999 on a Community framework for electronic signatures. This Directive was repealed on 1 July 2016 and superseded by the eIDAS regulation (see its article 48).
Commission Decision 2003/511/EC adopting three CEN Workshop Agreements as technical standards presumed to be in accordance with the Directive
Implementing laws: Several countries have already implemented the Directive 1999/93/EC.
Austria
Signature Law, 2000
Belgium
Signature Law, 2001
Czech Republic
Act on Electronic Signatures, 227/2000
Denmark
Lov om elektroniske signaturer
England, Scotland and Wales
Electronic Communications Act, 2000
The Electronic Signatures Regulations 2002
Estonia
Digital signature in Estonia
Digital Signature Law, 2000 (in Estonian).
Digital Signatures Act (consolidated text Dec 2003)
Finland
Laki vahvasta sähköisestä tunnistamisesta ja sähköisistä allekirjoituksista, 2009 (in Finnish)
France
Articles 1363-1368 of the Civil Code (French)
Germany
German Signature Law of 2001, changed in 2005 Archived 2 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
Greece
Presidential Decree 150/2001 (in Greek)
Hungary
Hungarian Act on Electronic Signatures 2001
Iceland
Lög um rafrænar undirskriftir nr. 28/2001
Ireland, Republic of
Irish Electronic Commerce Act, 2000
Italy
Decreto legislativo 7/3/2005, n. 82 (Codice dell'Amministrazione Digitale)
Latvia
Electronic Documents Law, 2002 Archived 31 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine
Electronic Documents Law, 2002 (in Latvian)
Lithuania
Law on electronic signature, 2014 (in Lithuanian)
Law on electronic signature, 2002 (in English, not relevant in law)
Luxembourg
Loi du 14 août 2000 relative au commerce électronique, 2000 Archived 14 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine (in French)
Malta
Maltese Electronic Commerce Act 2001, last amended 2005
Netherlands
article23 Archived 28 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine
Norway
Electronic Signature Act, 2001 (in Norwegian).
Poland
act_on_eSignature.pdf
Portugal
portugal_en.pdf
Romania
Legea semnăturii electronice, 455/2001 (in Romanian)
Law on the Electronic Signature, 455/2001 (unofficial translation) (in English)
Slovakia
Act no.215/2002 on electronic signature (in Slovak)
Slovenia
Electronic Business and Electronic Signature Act (in Slovene) .
Spain
Ley 6/2020, de 11 de noviembre, reguladora de determinados aspectos de los servicios electrónicos de confianza (in Spanish).
Sweden
Qualified Electronic Signatures Act (SFS 2000:832) (in Swedish).
SFS 2000:832 in English translation Archived 26 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine




Ghana


The Electronic Transactions Act of Ghana, Act 772 of 2008




Guatemala


Ley para el Reconocimiento de las Comunicaciones y Firmas Electrónicas (in Spanish)




India


Information Technology Act, 2000




Indonesia


Art. 12 Law No.11/2008 on Electronic Informations and Transactions (in Indonesian), for general purposes.
Art. 97B Law No. 13/2022 in regards of Second Amendment of Law No. 12/2011 on Law Formulation (in Indonesian), for government purposes.




Israel


Electronic Signature Law, 5761–2001




Japan


Law Concerning Electronic Signatures and Certification Services, 2000 (in Japanese)




Korea


Digital Signature Act, Act No. 17354, jun. 9, 2020 (in English) For reference only. No legal or official effect.
Digital Signature Act (in Korean)




Malaysia


Digital Signature Act (Act 562), 1997 (in Bahasa Malaysia).
Digital Signature Act (Act 562), 1997 Archived 15 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine (in English).
Digital Signature Regulations (P.U.(A) 359), 1998 (in Bahasa Malaysia).
Digital Signature Regulations (P.U.(A) 359), 1998 Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine (in English).




Maldives


Electronic Transactions Act 2/2022 (in Dhivehi)




México


Law of Electronic Signatures (LFEA), 2012 Archived 13 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish)




Moldova


Lege cu privire la documentul electronic şi semnătura digitală, 15 July 2004 (in Romanian)
Law about Electronic Document and Digital Signature (in Russian)




New Zealand


Electronic Transactions Act 2002, sections 22-24
For an overview of the New Zealand law refer:
- The Laws of New Zealand, Electronic Transactions, paras 16-18; or
- Commercial Law, paras 8A.7.1-8A.7.4. (these sources are available on the LexisNexis subscription-only website)




Peru


Ley Nº 27269. Ley de Firmas y Certificados Digitales (28MAY2000) (in Spanish)




Philippines


Electronic Commerce Act of 2000




Russian Federation


Federal Law of Russian Federation about Electronic Signature (06.04.2011)




Singapore


Electronic Transactions Act




South Africa


Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002 (PDF)




Switzerland


Federal Law on Certification Services Concerning the Electronic Signature, 2003




Ukraine


Law On Electronic Digital Signature, 2003 (in Ukrainian), loss of validity on 7 November 2018.
Law On Electronic Trust Services, 2017 (in Ukrainian), valid since 7 November 2018.




United Nations Commission on International Trade Law


UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Signatures (2001), a strong influence in the field.




United States


Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA)
Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-SIGN), at 15 U.S.C. 7001 et seq. The law permits the use of electronic signatures in many situations, and preempts many state laws that would otherwise limit the use of electronic signatures.




= Case law

=
Court decisions discussing the effect and validity of digital signatures or digital signature-related legislation:

In re Piranha, Inc., 2003 WL 21468504 (N.D. Tex) (UETA does not preclude a person from contesting that he executed, adopted, or authorized an electronic signature that is purportedly his).
Cloud Corp. v. Hasbro, 314 F.3d 289 (7th Cir., 2002) EMLF.org (E-SIGN does not apply retroactively to contracts formed before it took effect in 2000. Nevertheless, the statute of frauds was satisfied by the text of E-mail plus an (apparently) written notation.)
Sea-Land Service, Inc. v. Lozen International, 285 F.3d 808 (9th Cir., 2002) Admiraltylawguide.com (Internal corporate E-mail with signature block, forwarded to a third party by another employee, was admissible over hearsay objection as a party-admission, where the statement was apparently within the scope of the author's and forwarder's employment.)




Uruguay


Uruguay laws include both, electronic and digital signatures:

Concerning passwords or adequate information technology gestures
Concerning electronic and digital signature and PKI




Turkey


Turkey has an Electronic Signature Law TBMM.gov.tr since 2004. This law is stated in European Union Directive 1999/93/EC. Turkey has a Government Certificate Authority - Kamu SM for all government agents for their internal use and three independent certificate authorities all of which are issuing qualified digital signatures.

Kamu Sertifikasyon Merkezi (Governmental Certificate Authority) Kamusm.gov.tr (in Turkish)
E-Güven (owned by Turkish Informatics Foundation) E-guven.com (in Turkish)
Turktrust (owned by Turkish Military Force Solidarity Foundation) Turktrust.com.tr (in Turkish)
E-Tugra E-tugra.com (in Turkish)




References



In re Piranha, Inc. WL 21468504 (N.D. Tex. 2003). Google Scholar.
Cloud Corp. v. Hasbro, Inc. 314 F. 3d 289 (US: Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit, 2002). Google Scholar.
Legal framework Archived 1 July 2013 at archive.today (France: Chambersign France).




Further reading


Srivastava Aashish, Electronic Signatures for B2B Contracts: Evidence from Australia (Springer, 2013)
Lorna Brazell, Electronic Signatures Law and Regulation, (Sweet & Maxwell, 2004)
J. Buckley, J. Kromer, M. Tank, R. Whitaker, The Law of Electronic Signatures, 2014-2015 Edition (Thomson Reuters, 2014)
Dennis Campbell, editor, E-Commerce and the Law of Digital Signatures (Oceana Publications, 2005)
M. H. M Schellenkens, Electronic Signatures Authentication Technology from a Legal Perspective, (TMC Asser Press, 2004)

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Kriptografi
• Mata uang digital
• Hubungan Swedia dengan NATO
• Electronic signatures and law
• Electronic signature
• Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act
• Electronic Signatures Directive
• Qualified electronic signature
• Digital signature
• Advanced electronic signature
• SignNow
• Digital signature in Estonia
• Uniform Electronic Transactions Act