Worldwide, legislation concerning the effect and validity of electronic signatures, including, but not limited to, cryptographic digital signatures, includes:
Ley Nº 25.506 (B.O. 14/12/2001).
Decreto Nº 2628/02 (B.O. 20/12/2002).
Decreto N° 724/06 (B.O. 13/06/06).
Decisión Administrativa N° 927/14 (B.O. 03/11/14).
[1] - Electronic signatures: when are they effective?
Electronic Transactions Act 1999
Certification Service Providers (Relevant Criteria and Security Guidelines) Regulations 2002
Medida provisória 2.200-2 (Portuguese) - Brazilian law states that any digital document is valid for the law if it is certified by ICP-Brasil (the official Brazilian PKI) or if it is certified by other PKI and the concerned parties agree as to the validity of the document.
PIPEDA - Canadian law distinguishes between the generic "electronic signature" and the "secure electronic signature". Federal secure electronic signature regulations make it clear that a secure electronic signature is a digital signature created and verified in a specific manner. Canada's Evidence Act contains evidentiary presumptions about both the integrity and validity of electronic documents with attached secure electronic signatures, and of the authenticity of the secure electronic signatures themselves.
Electronic Signature Law of the People's Republic of China (Chinese/English) - The stated purposes include standardizing the conduct of electronic signatures, confirming the legal validity of electronic signatures and safeguarding the legal interests of parties involved in such matters.
LEY 527 DE 1999 (agosto 18) por medio de la cual se define y reglamenta el acceso y uso de los mensajes de datos, del comercio electrónico y de las firmas digitales, y se establecen las entidades de certificación y se dictan otras disposiciones.
DECRETO 2364 DE 2012 (Noviembre 22) por medio del cual se reglamenta el artículo 7° de la Ley 527 de 1999, sobre la firma electrónica y se dictan otras disposiciones.
European Union and the European Economic Area
European Union Directive establishing the framework for electronic signatures:
Directive 1999/93/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 1999 on a Community framework for electronic signatures. This Directive will be repealed 1 July 2016 and superseded by the eIDAS regulation (see its article 48).
Commission Decision 2003/511/EC adopting three CEN Workshop Agreements as technical standards presumed to be in accordance with the Directive
Implementing laws: Several countries have already implemented the Directive 1999/93/EC.
Austria
Signature Law, 2000
Belgium
Signature Law, 2001
Czech Republic
Act on Electronic Signatures, 227/2000
Denmark
Lov om elektroniske signaturer
England, Scotland and Wales
Electronic Communications Act, 2000
The Electronic Signatures Regulations 2002
Estonia
Digital Signature Law, 2000 (in Estonian).
Digital Signatures Act (consolidated text Dec 2003)
Finland
Laki vahvasta sähköisestä tunnistamisesta ja sähköisistä allekirjoituksista, 2009 (in Finnish)
France
Article 1316 of the Civil Code, 13 March 2000 (pdf, English)
Civil Code (French)
Germany
German Signature Law of 2001, changed in 2005
Greece
Presidential Decree 150/2001 (in Greek)
Hungary
Hungarian Act on Electronic Signatures 2001
Iceland
Lög um rafrænar undirskriftir nr. 28/2001
Ireland, Republic of
Irish Electronic Commerce Act, 2000
Italy
Decreto legislativo 7/3/2005, n. 82 (Codice dell'Amministrazione Digitale)
Latvia
Electronic Documents Law, 2002
Electronic Documents Law, 2002 (in Latvian)
Lithuania
Law on electronic signature, 2014 (in Lithuanian)
Law on electronic signature, 2002 (in English, not relevant in law)
Luxembourg
Loi du 14 août 2000 relative au commerce électronique, 2000 (in French)
Malta
Maltese Electronic Commerce Act 2001, last amended 2005
Netherlands
article23
Norway
Electronic Signature Act, 2001 (in Norwegian).
Poland
act_on_eSignature.pdf
Portugal
portugal_en.pdf
Romania
Legea semnăturii electronice, 455/2001 (Romanian)
Law on the Electronic Signature, 455/2001 (unofficial translation) (English)
Slovakia
Act no.215/2002 on electronic signature (in Slovak)
Slovenia
Electronic Business and Electronic Signature Act (in Slovene) .
Spain
Ley 59/2003 , de 19 de diciembre, de firma electrónica (in Spanish).
Sweden
Qualified Electronic Signatures Act (SFS 2000:832) (in Swedish).
SFS 2000:832 in English translation
The Electronic Transactions Act of Ghana, Act 772 of 2008
Ley para el Reconocimiento de las Comunicaciones y Firmas Electrónicas (in Spanish)
Information Technology Act, 2000
Pasal 12 Undang-undang No.11 Tahun 2008 Informasi dan Transaksi Elektronik [2] (Indonesian)
Law Concerning Electronic Signatures and Certification Services, 2000 (in Japanese)
Digital Signature Act in english (PDF), 1999-2008
Digital Signature Act in Korean
Digital Signature Act (Act 562), 1997 (in Bahasa Malaysia).
Digital Signature Act (Act 562), 1997 (in English).
Digital Signature Regulations (P.U.(A) 359), 1998 (in Bahasa Malaysia).
Digital Signature Regulations (P.U.(A) 359), 1998 (in English).
Lege cu privire la documentul electronic şi semnătura digitală, July 15, 2004 (in Romanian)
Law about Electronic Document and Digital Signature (in Russian)
New Zealand
Electronic Transactions Act 2002, sections 22-24
For an overview of the New Zealand law refer: - The Laws of New Zealand, Electronic Transactions, paras 16-18; or - Commercial Law, paras 8A.7.1-8A.7.4. (these sources are available on the LexisNexis subscription-only website)
Ley Nº 27269. Ley de Firmas y Certificados Digitales (28MAY2000) (Spanish)
Electronic Commerce Act of 2000
Federal Law of Russian Federation about Electronic Signature (06.04.2011)
Electronic Transactions Act
Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002 (PDF)
Switzerland
Federal Law on Certification Services Concerning the Electronic Signature, 2003
UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Signatures (2001), a strong influence in the field.
Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA)
Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-SIGN), at 15 U.S.C. 7001 et seq. The law permits the use of electronic signatures in many situations, and preempts many state laws that would otherwise limit the use of electronic signatures.
Court decisions discussing the effect and validity of digital signatures or digital signature-related legislation:
In re Piranha, Inc., 2003 WL 21468504 (N.D. Tex) (UETA does not preclude a person from contesting that he executed, adopted, or authorized an electronic signature that is purportedly his).
Cloud Corp. v. Hasbro, 314 F.3d 289 (7th Cir., 2002) EMLF.org (E-SIGN does not apply retroactively to contracts formed before it took effect in 2000. Nevertheless, the statute of frauds was satisfied by the text of E-mail plus an (apparently) written notation.)
Sea-Land Service, Inc. v. Lozen International, 285 F.3d 808 (9th Cir., 2002) Admiraltylawguide.com (Internal corporate E-mail with signature block, forwarded to a third party by another employee, was admissible over hearsay objection as a party-admission, where the statement was apparently within the scope of the author's and forwarder's employment.)
Uruguay laws include both, electronic and digital signatures:
Concerning passwords or adequate information technology gestures
Concerning electronic and digital signature and PKI
Turkey has an Electronic Signature Law TBMM.gov.tr since 2004. This law is stated in European Union Directive 1999/93/EC. Turkey has a Government Certificate Authority - Kamu SM for all government agents for their internal use and three independent certificate authorities all of which are issuing qualified digital signatures.
Kamu Sertifikasyon Merkezi (Governmental Certificate Authority) Kamusm.gov.tr (Turkish)
E-Güven (owned by Turkish Informatics Foundation) E-guven.com (Turkish)
Turktrust (owned by Turkish Military Force Solidarity Foundation) Turktrust.com.tr (Turkish)
E-Tugra E-tugra.com (Turkish)
