Electronic Signatures in Law

Problem setting. Due to the rapid impact of information and communication technologies on commodity-money relations, which are in the sphere of civil turnover in Ukraine, the number of contracts concluded in electronic form is significantly increasing. The scope of electronic documents both in contractual civil law relations and in general in the relations of individuals with government agencies, courts and other public law entities has a clear tendency to expand and grow. Thus, in many areas of commodity-money exchange, the interaction of executors and customers (clients) has reached a completely new organizational and legal level and is carried out exclusively online, because the territorial remoteness and implementation of quarantine measures against COVID-19 is not always possible to sign an agreement on paper. These statements determine the relevance of the chosen research topic. The object of the study is the civil legal relationship using a mobile digital signature (Mobile ID). The subject of the research is the advantages and disadvantages of electronic identification with the use of mobile digital signature in civil circulation. The state of research of the problem. Such scientists as M. I. Anokhin, Yu. V. Borodakiy, N. P. Varnovsky, V. M. Glushkov, M. V. Denisova, M. M. Dutov, A.V. Kobets, G.I. Kupriyanova, A. Matvienko, V. A. Onegov, I. A. Semaev, V. A. Shakhverdov, M. N. Tsyvin, V. V. Yashchenko and others. The target of research is to study the features of the legal regulation of electronic digital signature of a person and his legal status with the analysis of issues arising from the use of such a signature in civil turnover, the formulation of proposals for their solution. Article’s main body. The possibility of using mobile digital signatures in the document flow is provided by the relevant regulations. The Law of Ukraine “On Electronic Digital Signature” adopted on May 22, 2003, defines the legal status of an electronic digital signature and regulates the relations that arise when using an electronic digital signature. This Law does not apply to relations arising from the use of other types of electronic signatures, including digitized images of handwritten signatures. At the same time, the provision of Part 3 of Article 207 of the Civil Code of Ukraine on the use of facsimile reproduction of the signature by means of mechanical, electronic or other copying, as well as electronic signature or other analogue of handwritten signature with the written consent of the parties, which must contain samples handwritten signatures. The legislative base on electronic signatures is currently constantly growing, a passport of a citizen of Ukraine in the form of a card with a contactless electronic carrier (and an electronic digital signature) has been introduced into the continuum of indirect electronic reality. The Law of Ukraine "On Electronic Commerce" of September 3, 2015 regulates the legal regulation of the field of electronic commerce in Ukraine, defines the procedure for electronic transactions with the use of information and telecommunications systems. The legal basis for the provision of electronic trust services, including cross-border, the rights and obligations of the subjects of legal relations in the field of electronic trust services are subject to the Law of Ukraine "On electronic trust services" of October 5, 2017. The number of diverse legal material causes some difficulties in the practical application of a mobile digital signature. Differences in national terminology, which are contained in different sources, as well as existing legal gaps determine the relevance of this problem and require appropriate research. Conclusions and prospects for the development. The scientific novelty of the study is a comprehensive consideration of this topic, namely: the pros and cons of using a mobile digital signature, making suggestions for improving existing legislation with concepts and functions related to the use (Mobile ID).

Electronic signatures are ubiquitous. Anyone sending an e-mail or using a credit card uses one. They can have a bearing on all areas of law, and no lawyer is immune from having to advise clients about their legal consequences. This third edition provides an exhaustive discussion of what constitutes an electronic signature, the forms an electronic signature can take and the issues relating to evidence, formation of contract and negligence in respect of electronic signatures. Case law from a wide range of common law and civil law jurisdictions is analysed to illustrate how judges have dealt with changes in technology in the past and how the law has adapted in response.

The advancement of contemporary society has ushered in an era of technological disruption, leading to a transformation in the understanding of many concepts, including legal principles. Electronic signatures, which serve as a substitute for manual signatures, are a product of contemporary technological advancements. A notary is a public official empowered to create legitimate documents, including the establishment of legal entities and other official acts under laws and regulations. This study aims to investigate the legal implications of notaries using electronic signatures for creating business documents in the context of PT or CV. The method used in this study is a normative juridical approach with a legislative focus and a literature review. The study results show that electronic or digital signatures can be used remotely to prepare GMS minutes signed by shareholders in public PTs. Juridically, using electronic signatures in notary deeds has consequences for the notary's legitimacy, power of proof, and responsibility. Legal harmonization between the UUJN and the ITE Law is necessary, as well as strengthening regulations to ensure that electronic signatures can be applied legally and safely in notarial deeds.

In late 1993, the Department of Criminal Justice at Georgia State University (GSU) and the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority Police Department (MARTA-PD) undertook a joint effort to develop a unique system of promotion whereby officers employed by MARTA-PD could advance in rank according to their completion of performance in a specially designed training curriculum. This joint effort was designed to assist in improving overall departmental administration through providing management training and to produce individual scores that could be used for promotional selection. Utilizing a comprehensive job-task analysis, a training-based promotional program was designed and delivered to candidates for promotion. In this research effort, the MARTA training-based promotional system will be reviewed. After a comprehensive critique of traditional promotional practices and an analysis of relevant case law, a theoretical base for a training-based system will be offered. This will be followed by a brief discussion of the results of the task analysis and the construction of the training courses. An overview of the training delivery, testing and list construction will then be presented. Finally, qualitative data on the potential success and acceptance of this program is planned.

Based on national and international practice, this article discusses telemedicine as a set of legal, technological, and ethical decisions that are an inevitable result of the modern healthcare system. This article aims to assess the adequacy of Georgia’s regulatory framework for telemedicine through a comparative analysis of international standards and national legislation, and to identify existing legal gaps. From the perspective of international law, the right to health is recognized as a fundamental human right, obligating states to ensure the accessibility, quality, and continuity of medical services for all citizens. Accordingly, the study focuses on the possibilities of telemedicine, which is an effective mechanism for providing continuous and high-quality medical services, especially in geographically remote, rural, and politically/strategically challenging regions. The research is based on doctrinal legal analysis, comparative examination of international and Georgian normative acts, and analysis of relevant case law. International instruments and standards examined include World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations, ISO 13131:2021, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and relevant jurisprudence of European and U.S. courts. Georgian healthcare, medical practice, and data protection legislation were analyzed to assess regulatory compatibility and implementation practice. Taking into account the realities of Georgia, the article analyzes national legislation and the existing practice of developing telemedicine. Special attention is paid to the possibilities of implementing telemedicine in politically and strategically difficult regions as one of the effective mechanisms for ensuring continuous and high-quality medical services for the population. Based on the results of the study, which is based on the analysis of international practice and regulatory standards, the article presents recommendations for strengthening the legal framework of telemedicine in Georgia, which takes into account the protection of patient rights, strengthening professional responsibility standards, and improving access to medical services in politically and strategically difficult regions. The study reveals that although Georgian legislation allows telemedicine within the framework of general medical regulation, it lacks: a unified legal definition of telemedicine; specific binding standards for remote informed consent procedures; detailed regulation of cross-border and regional licensing issues; explicit clinical quality assurance mechanisms tailored to remote healthcare services; and specialized liability rules adapted to digital medical practice. International standards demonstrate a trend toward harmonization based on patient rights protection, data security, professional accountability, and technological interoperability, while Georgia’s framework remains fragmented and indirectly regulated. To strengthen the legal framework for telemedicine in Georgia, the study recommends: adopting a comprehensive legal definition and regulatory act dedicated to telemedicine; establishing mandatory digital informed consent standards; introducing telemedicine-specific certification and liability provisions; strengthening state supervision and quality control mechanisms; and improving legal guarantees for safe telemedicine practice in politically and geographically complex regions. The development of a coherent telemedicine regulatory model would contribute to the effective realization of the right to health, enhance access to quality medical services, and align Georgian practice with evolving international standards.

The new Law 59/2003, as a response to the need to award safety to communications in the Internet and to reinforce the existing legal frame, incorporates several innovations related to the regulation of the electronic signature. So it is created a new concept of electronic signature demanded by the sector, the electronic qualified signature, which is compared functionally to the manuscript signature; a series of guarantees are demanded to expiring for the devices of creation of electronic signature; it is included inside the modality of documentary evidence to the support in which the signed information appears; a special legitimation is demanded to solicitors of taking responsibility of the custody of such information; and, there is established a regime applicable to the performance of legal persons signatories.

One of the frequently assumed major differences between civil law and common law systems is the standard of persuasion applied by each in civil (non-criminal) cases. In most civil law jurisdictions, it is commonly assumed that the standard of persuasion is the same for criminal and civil proceedings. The plaintiff in a civil case, as well as the prosecutor in a criminal case, must provide sufficient proof to convince the trier of fact of the truth of the facts at issue on the particular occasion. Although it is recognised that absolute certainty is impossible to achieve, the required degree of belief is often expressed in terms of a virtual certainty, or at least a very high probability. However, a mere statistical probability, no matter how high, will not suffice in the absence of the required conviction or belief in the truth of the facts at issue. In common law jurisdictions, there is an explicit distinction between the standard of persuasion in criminal and civil proceedings. In criminal proceedings, the standard is very high: the prosecutor must prove the defendant’s guilt ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’. In civil proceedings, however, the plaintiff generally only needs to prove his case by the much lower standard of a ‘preponderance of the evidence’ (the usual formulation in the United States) or a ‘balance of probability’ (the usual formulation in the British Commonwealth and Scandinavia). Both standards are often interpreted by academics, and sometimes by judges, as merely requiring a 50 per cent probability. For both standards, as so interpreted, it would be better to employ the term ‘standard of proof’ rather than ‘standard of persuasion’, since the latter implies an element of conviction or belief that is lacking when all that is involved is a class-based statistical probability. I have argued that the supposed major differences between the standards of persuasion in common law and civil law jurisdictions are greatly overstated. I retrace that argument in section II of this paper. I conclude that, in general, the common law as well as the civil law continues to view the applicable standards of persuasion in civil as well as criminal actions as requiring the formation of a belief in the truth of the facts at issue in the particular case, rather than a mere class-based statistical probability, and that concrete ‘particularistic evidence’ specific to the particular case is necessary to support such a belief. Although the available evidence is slim, I also conclude that in the civil law as well as the common law the strength of the required belief is lower in civil actions than in criminal actions. In section IV of this paper, I consider various types of problematic causal situations that courts around the world have struggled to deal with in recent decades. Clear recognition of the issues in these cases and their proper resolution has often been hindered by an unanalysed assumption that the standard of persuasion in civil actions is a mere statistical probability standard, which however is not consistently applied, since doing so would generate significant problems and paradoxes. The considerable confusion that now exists could and should be greatly reduced simply by replacing the highly misleading phrases ‘more likely than not’ and ‘balance of probability’, and even the less misleading phrase ‘preponderance of the evidence’, with ‘a minimal belief’.

This study aims to discuss one of the effects of modern development in the law of evidence, focusing on the status of electronic signature on the occasion of the recent developments of information technology. This is due to the various approaches to the authentication methods exist in the Evidence Act, which relates to the issue of validity. It also needs experts in the said field to verify its validity. Other issue is the lack of knowledge on the Electronic signature among the Judges in courts. Based on the current problems, this study focuses on three main aspects; the definition of Electronic Signature based on Fiqh and the existing laws that support the definitions of Electronic signature. The second is on the terms and characteristics of the electronic signature and the third is the authenticity of the electronic signature in the evidence. This study is based on the method of analytical study of the texts of laws and projects, comparative study and different opinions, based on references and related scientific sources. From this study, we can conclude that an electronic signature is related to a sign, phrase, or procedure concerning letters, numbers, symbols, signs, sounds, or any combination that appears in an electronic form. We also find that there are certain conditions for electronic signature to make it an admissible argument in evidence in many respects in terms of delivery, storage and others. What is more, the laws of evidence have recognized the authenticity of an electronic signature and while the traditional signature is recognized under certain conditions

The object of this article is an electronic digital signature that allows to identify the author of the document. An electronic digital signature is some details of the source document obtained by converting information using special cryptographic algorithms. In addition to determining the author, it also allows to check the accuracy of the information and evaluate its distortion from the moment of the formation of the signature itself. As part of the scientific work, a software product was created that was able to sign electronic documents using one of the well-known cryptographic algorithms, and the prospects for the development of this direction were also analyzed. Despite the fact that the electronic signature has not yet become widespread, there is a high probability that its widespread adoption in public and private institutions is expected in the very near future.

The goal was to improve business processes and to save costs in a major intenational industrial corporate group by enabling the electronic exchange of invoices. An electronic mass signature solution, built on TC TrustCenter’s digital certificates, was implemented as part of a large-scale pilot project. The signature complies with strict EU tax laws, meets technological, procedural, and legal demands, and can be easily integrated into the complex processes of electronic invoicing. The solution thus represents a significant added value for companies and is another innovation within the business sector of digital signatures.

This paper argues that comparative law is a powerful tool in areas of law that transcend national legal systems. It examines the petroleum regulatory framework in Australia and Norway both of which use the petroleum licencing and concession system. It identifies common functions within the licencing and concession systems, including the legislative framework, award of licence, the property rights the licence confers, and the development of petroleum fields. These similar functions enable comparison between the two jurisdictions which transcends the usual difficulties of comparing common and civil law jurisdictions. It concludes that these common functions of the petroleum licencing concession systems enable the use of comparative methodology to compare regulatory functions in civil and common law jurisdictions to identify solutions to regulatory issues in the Australian petroleum regulatory framework. This article is available in Bond Law Review: http://epublications.bond.edu.au/blr/vol21/iss3/2 42 COMPARATIVE LAW AS AN INSTRUMENT IN TRANSNATIONAL LAW: THE EXAMPLE OF PETROLEUM REGULATION

This book compares and explains the approaches taken by Asian courts when choice of forum clauses in international commercial contracts are challenged in litigation. It examines key common law jurisdictions (Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia), civil law jurisdictions (China, Japan, and Indonesia), and hybrid jurisdictions (the Philippines). With Asia’s ascent in cross-border trade and investment, alongside a corresponding increase in cross-border litigation, understanding how Asian courts address choice of forum clauses in international commercial contracts has never been more critical. Employing a comparative law method, the book identifies and explains the relief and remedies used by Asian courts in enforcing choice of forum clauses, analysing how their classification as either contractual or procedural in nature shapes judicial approaches. It further distinguishes choice of forum clauses from arbitration agreements and explores their interaction with other contractual provisions. Party autonomy – as the parties’ freedom to determine the contents of the choice of forum clause and the freedom to control the flow of litigation – is also critically scrutinised. Furthermore, the book investigates the factors courts consider in resolving key choice of forum clause issues (ie, enforceability; specific relief to be granted; existence, validity, interpretation of choice of forum clauses; role of mandatory rules, public policy, and international interests) and explores the prospects for future development of this area of law in Asia. Crucially, the book highlights the unique approaches of Asian courts, while underscoring the differences and similarities among common law, civil law, and hybrid jurisdictions.

This article examines the tortious liability of contractors under the tort of negligence, comparing approaches in common law and civil law jurisdictions. It analyzes the key elements of negligence—duty of care, breach, and resulting damage—focusing on the contractor’s liability for negligent acts and negligent advice on construction projects. The study highlights how common law jurisdictions impose liability based on established legal precedents while civil law systems, exemplified by the French Civil Code, adopt a broader codified approach. The article also explores how contractors may still be held liable beyond contractual limitation periods and how liability can arise even in the absence of a formal duty of care in civil law jurisdictions. Understanding these differences is crucial for contractors and employers operating in multiple legal frameworks.

The aim of this paper is to investigate which conceptual place long-term contracts have within the legal system and how the theory on relational contracts fits within a general theory of justice that has an objectification in a doctrine of good faith. We present a definition of commercial long-term contracts and give examples as to understand how, within the wide range of contracts that can fall within this definition, some can have an organisational colour. After this, we examine the good faith doctrine as understood and employed in both common and civil law jurisdictions; the paper provides the analysis of a recent civil law case involving a distributorship agreement and the function of abuse of right. Nevertheless, the focus is mainly on good faith as a generally accepted clause in European jurisdictions, that is paving its way to general acceptance in common law jurisdictions too. Lastly a brief explanation on how law and economics can help us in descriptively understanding the interplay between contract law and trust games is given, so as to have also a normative insight on why granting judges such a discretional power does not only achieve justice and fairness but also efficient outcomes for business players.

This article evaluates whether an electronic signature is sufficient to fulfil the authentication requirement stated under the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York, 1958) (NYC) article IV(1)(a) before the Dubai and Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) courts. Dubai is one of the few countries with two jurisdictions in one country. The party who is seeking the enforcement of the award in Dubai may enforce it before the Dubai or the DIFC courts, so the purpose of the comparison is to discuss whether the winning party may benefit from the DIFC. To achieve the objective of the study, this paper evaluates the ability to exclusively rely on secured electronic signatures to fulfil the requirement stated under article IV(1)(a), and to generally consider the validity of the electronic signature in the Dubai and DIFC courts.Index words: United Arab Emirates; Dubai International Financial Centre; electronic signature; digital signature; arbitration; e-commerce; enforcement; arbitration agreements; Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards; Federal Law 1/2006 on Electronic Transactions and Commerce