Industry group calls for wider uptake of e-signatures

A government-backed industry working group has called on the government to ensure that “as many official documents as possible” can be executed electronically.

The group reported that the foundations for a “cultural shift in document execution” were already present and that the most sophisticated kind of electronic signatures could be “more reliable” than signatures witnessed the traditional way in an “unsupervised environment”.

In its 2019 report on electronic signatures, the Law Commission recommended setting up a multi-disciplinary group of legal, business and technical experts to consider the practical and technical issues relating to electronic signatures and to identify solutions.

The industry working group, chaired by Mr Justice Fraser and Law Commissioner Professor Sarah Green, published its interim report, Electronic Execution of Documents, in February, concluding that qualified electronic signatures (QES) – particularly if “underpinned by a regulated digital identities trust framework” as proposed by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport – were “capable of fulfilling the same objectives as physical witnessing and attestation”.

Since the process of obtaining a QES involved the parties identifying themselves to a certificate provider, the identity of the signatory could be linked to the signature.

The report said: “Given the complete electronic audit trail that signature platforms are now able to provide for each signature, there is also an argument to be made that a QES is likely to be more reliable than a signature witnessed in an unsupervised environment.”

The group went on: “Currently, a witness need not be independent, need not read the document, need not know the signatory, need not take steps to identify the signatory, and does not even vouch for the identity of the signatory.

“It is difficult to see therefore what extra protections can be provided by someone witnessing someone’s signature if they do not necessarily provide any of these protections.”

The group recommended that the government “take steps now” to adopt the use of electronic signatures, ensuring that “as many official documents as possible” were executed electronically, such as lasting powers of attorney and wills.

The temporary provision allowing remote witnessing of wills should be extended permanently and a “cross-border database of permissible regulatory and execution modes” established, starting with the UK’s major trading partners and maintained by the government or a not-for-profit organisation.

The group could not agree on an accreditation scheme for signature platforms, with some arguing that it would give them “external validation” and others that “the level of bureaucracy and oversight required” would make it impractical.