The simple electronic signature: not so simple after all

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The Versailles Court of Appeal, in a judgment handed down on November 28, 2023 (CA Versailles, No. 22/06599, Caisse d'Epargne et de Prévoyance IDF v. MX), refused to recognize the reality of the simple electronic signature of a personal loan contract. This is not a rejection, in itself, of the simple level of electronic signature, but rather a sanction for the numerous gaps and imprecisions in the bank's argument in this case.

This sanction recalls the importance in an electronic signature dispute of producing a clear file presenting the process implemented, its technical reliability and, of course, the way in which the signatory was identified.

See full article in EXPERTISES FEBRUARY 2024, p.27

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Electronic signature: what if we talked about the "link"?

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Under French law, the definition of an electronic signature (Art. 1367 Al.2 Civil Code) implies a "link" between the act and the signature identifying its author. This notion of link is also found in the definition of the advanced signature in the European eIDAS Regulation (Art. 26) which states that the advanced signature must be "unequivocally linked to the signatory". But the meaning of this link is not obvious. We believe that it can be understood according to three approaches: a conceptual approach that projects onto the electronic signature a characteristic of the handwritten signature; a technical approach defining it via the electronic signature technology; and finally an opportunistic approach linked to the development of the on-the-fly certificate and the notion of evidence file, widely adopted by French judges.

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