The legal effect of electronic signature has also become the core issue that organizations are eager to understand. Next, we will give you an all-round interpretation of the legal effect of electronic signature from the aspects of basic laws, policies, popularization and application, and court precedents:
I. Legal and Policy Basis of Electronic Signature Under the active promotion of the state, local governments and state organs at all levels responded to the call, issued policies, deployed and implemented them, and called for their application, which injected effective policy impetus into the popularization of electronic signatures.
1, legal level
From 65438 to 0999, the country gradually improved the legal documents in the application field of electronic signature, and contract law, electronic signature law and cryptography law were successively promulgated, which laid a legal foundation for the popularization and application of electronic signature.
(Data compiled from official announcement)
2, regulations and policies
1) State organs at all levels
More than 20 state organs such as the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Supreme Court, the National Development and Reform Commission, the China Banking Regulatory Commission, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the Taxation Bureau, the People's Social Security Bureau, the Ministry of Education, the Statistics Bureau, the Maritime Safety Administration and the Market Supervision Administration have issued policies to promote the application of electronic signatures.
2) Local governments at all levels
Many governments, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Anhui, Shandong, Chongqing, Fujian, etc., have formulated the application policies of electronic signature and put it into concrete government affairs.
3) Various news events
Since 20 17, state organs have promoted electronic signatures at various large-scale conferences.
(The information is compiled from the content published on the Internet)
3. Validity of electronic signature
Article 13 of People's Republic of China (PRC) Electronic Signature Law (revised 20 19) clearly stipulates the conditions that a reliable electronic signature must meet:
(1) Electronic signature data used for electronic signature belongs to the electronic signer;
② When signing, the data produced by electronic signature is only controlled by the electronic signer;
③ Any changes to the electronic signature after signature can be found;
(4) Any changes to the content and form of the data message after signature can be found.
In combination with the above provisions, legal and effective electronic signature behavior should meet the requirements of "true identity, true will and tamper resistance".
In addition, the Regulations on the Administration of Electronic Seal promulgated in various places further require the standardization of the electronic seal itself, mainly including that the graphic features of the electronic official seal should be consistent with the physical seal, and the electronic official seal and the electronic private seal should be completely consistent with the real name.
Second, the application and use of electronic signature 1, electronic signature application conditions
In the process of application and use of electronic signature, major institutions can apply for electronic seal and electronic signature through a reliable electronic signature platform unless they apply in government-designated institutions (such as Beijing and Jiangsu) or online application channels (such as Shanghai) according to the requirements of regional electronic signature and electronic seal application.
Combined with the current judicial practice cases, it is suggested that it is best to be certified by a third-party certification institution with corresponding qualifications. Because the third-party certification body has the ability to certify electronic seals and electronic signatures, once a dispute occurs, it will play a positive role in judging the authenticity of documents in the trial process.
However, in the process of certification, the applicant should also verify the qualification of the third-party certification body. According to the information released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, there are currently 48 third-party certification institutions with electronic certification qualifications in China, and major institutions can complete "identity certification" through any one.
At present, the contract lock has been combined with several CA digital authentication centers to provide real-name authentication services for enterprises and individual users, and by issuing digital certificates that cannot be tampered with, the identity of online signing is legal and effective, and the legitimate rights and interests of both parties are protected.
2, the scope of use of electronic signature
At present, in addition to marriage, adoption, inheritance and other personal relationships; Involving stopping water supply, heat supply, gas supply and other public utility services; And the provisions of laws and administrative regulations are not applicable, electronic signatures are generally applicable to other businesses.
With the active promotion and application of governments at all levels across the country, electronic signatures have gradually covered all industries from government agencies to real estate, finance, medical care, education, automobile, manufacturing, wholesale, food, universities, internet institutions and so on.
3, electronic signature risk prevention and control
Based on the above application analysis, when using electronic signature, all kinds of organizations must determine whether the business type prohibits the use of electronic signature.
If it is determined that electronic signature can be used, it should also be negotiated with the signatory of the other party whether electronic seal can be used.
Contract Locking Tip: It is suggested that both parties to the transaction clearly agree in the agreement that electronic signatures can be used.
Because, although according to the law: "in the case that laws and policies do not clearly stipulate that it is not allowed to be used, electronic seals have the same legal effect as physical seals." However, if there is no clear agreement with the other party in advance, it may affect the signing progress because the other party refuses to use it.
Three. Court case analysis Therefore, in the course of trial, the electronic contract signed by both parties through a reliable electronic signature platform can be recognized by the judicial organs under the conditions of complying with the provisions of the Electronic Signature Law and the Contract Law. In disputes, it is undeniable that effective electronic contracts can be used as important judicial evidence for business dealings between the two parties.
(The picture content comes from a real case)
Summary: To sum up, at present, no matter from the policy environment or the degree of court recognition, electronic signatures have a trend of popularization, but legal and correct application is the premise of safe use of electronic signatures.
In the future, in the process of providing integrated electronic contract signing services for government agencies, enterprises and institutions, the contract lock will continue to do rigorous and standardized identity authentication to ensure the effectiveness of the contract signing process; At the same time, in disputes, provide customers with instant certification services at any time to ensure the safety of all parties' signatures and ensure that each signature is legal and effective.