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reliability in the commercial sense); and the degree to which
cryptography should be permitted for confidentiality purposes.
6.3.10 Different countries have taken different approaches to electronic
authentication in order to balance concerns about electronic commerce,
lawful state access, human rights and civil liberties, and technical
security considerations. The European Parliament issued a Directive in
1999 on a Community Framework for Electronic Signatures37 aimed at
enhancing the development of competitive cross-border certification
providers. The certification service providers should be able to operate
without the need for prior national authorisation and voluntary
accreditation schemes should be developed to create a framework for the
levels of trust, security and quality demanded by an evolving market.
The legal recognition of electronic signatures should be based upon
objective criteria and not linked to authorisation of certification service
providers. In compliance with the Directive, EU countries tend not to
have licensing regimes.
6.3.11 UNCITRAL develop a detailed Model Law on Electronic Signatures in
200138 to expand on the guidance given in the Model Law on ECommerce regarding signatures and to avoid the risk that different
countries would develop divergent approaches to electronic signatures.
The Model Law on Electronic Signatures offers practical standards
against which the technical reliability of electronic signatures can be
measured. In addition, it links the level of technical reliability to the
legal effectiveness that may be expected from a given type of electronic
signature. In this way, the legal effectiveness of a signature can be predetermined or at least predicted with some certainty, thereby enhancing
the confidence of relying on electronic signatures in significant
transactions. The basic rules set out in the Model Law are flexible with
respect to the various parties that may become involved in electronic
signatures (e.g., signatories, third parties and certification service
providers). The Model Law complements the Model Law on Electronic
Commerce by technical neutrality, i.e., not discriminating among the
various techniques that can be used to transmit or store information.39
37
38
1999/93/EC, dated December 1999.
For a review of the Working Group’s reports see:
canada.justice.gc.ca/en/ps/ec/UN2000rep.html
canada.justice.gc.ca/en/ps/ec/uncon98.html
canada.justice.gc.ca/en/ps.ec/rf2000.html
39
The Model Laws on Electronic Commerce and Electronic Signatures should also be read in
conjunction with the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Funds Transfers and the Model
Law on International Credit Transfers.