Legal requirements facing new signature technology

Abstract

The recognition of electronic signature and electronic message creates many legal problems in its application in the different law systems (ex: Automatic Teller Machines, Odette,…). The electronic signature could be declared inadmissible before the Courts; even if declared admissible, the parties will still have to demonstrate its evidence value before a judge, not aware of the technique and who therefore will be suspicious. In fact, the electronic signature, even if so far ignored by the lawmaker, offers a guarantee of quality and certitude unrivalled by the manuscript signature. Nevertheless, if legal texts are unsuited to reality, a simple concealment of these texts is not an adequate answer to the problems faced. Therefore some legal modifications must be done. Jurists are aware of this necessity: International Institutions both public and private are now fighting to encourage the recognition of standard norms in specific areas (customs, banks,…). What are the legal requirements related to the definition of the traditional signature ? How can the definition of an electronic signature fulfill these legal requirements ? From the legal point of view, which lessons could be drawn from the comparison between the two types of signature ? What is the technical impact of the norms proposed by International Institutions (UNCID) about ETD (Electronic Transfer of Data) ? These are some of the questions which will be dealt within the context of this paper.