16
•
•
2.3.5
language referring to a number of copies to be filed, delivered,
registered or record retention requirements
language referring to “original” documents or “copies.”
Generally, governments have taken the route of searching statutes,
regulations and other subordinate legislation or rules having the force of
law to identify paper-biased language. While it is possible to create
piecemeal amendments to legislation to “neutralise” the language, the
general approach has been to create a new statute or statutes (e.g., an “ECommerce Act”, an “Electronic Transactions Act” or an “Electronic
Documents Act”) to create “equivalencies” of language. Thus, the new
“Electronic Documents Act” might state something like:
A legal requirement that a person provide information or a
document in writing to another person is satisfied by the
provision of the information or document in electronic form that
is, (a) accessible by the other person so as to be usable for
subsequent reference; and (b) capable of being retained by the
other person.1
Or
Where an enactment requires any information or record to be in
writing, that requirement shall be satisfied by an electronic
record, where the information contained therein is accessible so
as to be usable for subsequent reference.2
2.3.6 A number of countries have now established legislation to deal with
electronic documents and electronic commerce. Most legislation has
been based or a greater or lesser degree on the United Nations
Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on
Electronic Commerce (MLEC) and Model Law on Electronic
Signatures..3 The purpose of the Model Law on Electronic Commerce is
to offer national legislators a set of internationally accepted rules on how
to remove obstacles to effective e-commerce and create a more stable
legal environment for commerce carried out through electronic media.
1
Taken from the Ontario (Canada) Electronic Commerce Act, 2000, S.O. 2000, c.17, section
6(1).
2
Mauritius, Electronic Transactions Act, s. 6. ncb.intent.mu/mitt/ ministry/etb/etbp2.htm
3
www.uncitral.org/english.texts/electcom/ml-ecomm.htm
The UNCITRAL Model Law is being subject to continual discussion and potential revision. For
example, the Working Group on Electronic Commerce is in the process of developing a Model
Law on Electronic Signatures, discussed in the text below.