UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Signatures

Author/Source: UNCITRAL

Year of adopting/publication: 2001

Link to the document on the internet: UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Signatures

Purpose: The Model Law on Electronic Signatures (MLES) aims to enable and facilitate the use of electronic signatures by establishing criteria of technical reliability for the equivalence between electronic and hand-written signatures. Thus, the MLES may assist States in establishing a modern, harmonized and fair legislative framework to address effectively the legal treatment of electronic signatures and give certainty to their status.

Summary: The MLES is based on the fundamental principles common to all UNCITRAL texts relating to electronic commerce, namely non-discrimination, technological neutrality and functional equivalence. The MLES establishes criteria of technical reliability for the equivalence between electronic and hand-written signatures as well as basic rules of conduct that may serve as guidelines for assessing duties and liabilities for the signatory, the relying party and trusted third parties intervening in the signature process. Finally, the MLES contains provisions favouring the recognition of foreign certificates and electronic signatures based on a principle of substantive equivalence that disregards the place of origin of the foreign signature.

The Model Law is accompanied by a Guide to Enactment, which provides background and explanatory information to assist States in preparing the necessary legislative provisions and may guide other users of the text.

Pages that cite the Model:

Convention on the Use of Electronic Communication
E-purchasing
E-signature
Single Window Implementation
UNCITRAL Model Law E-Commerce