On 23.07.2014, Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council No. 910/2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market (known by the abbreviation eIDAS) was issued. This Regulation enters into force (with certain exceptions) on 01.07.2016. The Regulation is a directly applicable instrument and it can be anticipated that amendments (or in an extreme case even repeal) of the Act on Electronic Signatures will follow.
According to the Regulation, “building trust in the online environment is key to economic and social development. Lack of trust, particularly because of a perceived lack of legal certainty, makes consumers, businesses and public authorities reluctant to carry out transactions electronically and to adopt new services”. The Regulation therefore aims to increase “trust in electronic transactions in the internal market by providing a common foundation for secure electronic interaction between citizens, businesses and public authorities, thereby increasing the effectiveness of public and private online services, electronic business and electronic commerce in the Union”.
The main objective of the Regulation is to unify electronic identification and its mutual recognition in EU Member States and to ensure that secure electronic identification and authentication is possible for access to cross-border online services provided by Member States. Furthermore, the Regulation directly regulates the legal framework for electronic signatures, electronic seals, electronic time stamps, electronic documents, electronic registered delivery services and certification services for authentication of websites.
The Regulation expressly provides that electronic signatures (and electronic documents in general) shall not be denied legal effect and shall not be refused as evidence in legal and administrative proceedings solely on the grounds that they are in electronic form or that they do not meet the requirements for qualified electronic signatures. It further states that a qualified electronic signature has the legal effect equivalent to a handwritten signature and that a qualified electronic signature based on a qualified certificate issued in one Member State shall be recognised as a qualified electronic signature in all other Member States. There is also a simplification of the definition of an electronic signature, which is understood as data in electronic form which is attached to or logically associated with other data in electronic form and which is used by the signatory to sign. However, the Regulation does not affect national law relating to the conclusion and validity of contracts or other legal or procedural obligations relating to the form of legal acts.
We believe that the said regulation will have a positive impact on business practice, both in the conclusion of contracts and in potential court disputes, and will also lead to greater expansion of qualified electronic signatures. Courts should no longer be as rigid in assessing the validity of electronic contracts. However, it will also depend on how quickly the State manages to issue accompanying legislation.
Petr Kočí
Mašek, Kočí, Aujezdský Law Firm www.e-Advokacie.cz – online legal advisory services
This text was originally prepared by Mašek, Kočí, Aujezdský Law Firm in cooperation with the Association for Electronic Commerce (APEK) as legal circular No. 6/2016 intended for members of this association.
This text was translated from Czech to English using an AI translator.