The law on the use of electronic signature has passed the Parliament

Yesterday, the Chamber of Deputies adopted, as a decision-making body, the draft law on the use of electronic signatures, time stamps and the provision of trust services based on them. The normative act establishes the conditions for the use of the electronic signature, electronic seal, electronic time stamp and electronic documents to which an electronic signature, electronic time stamp or electronic seal has been applied, as well as the conditions for the provision of trust services and the attributions of public authorities and institutions in this field . The law is going to promulgation, after, prior to the procedure in the Chamber of Deputies, it also passed the vote of the Senate on October 30, 2023.

The normative act also provides for the creation of a general and predictable legal framework for the use of each type of electronic signature (electronic, qualified, advanced electronic and simple electronic).

"All types of electronic signature provided for in Regulation (EU) no. 910/2014 or in this law produce legal effects and can be used as evidence before the courts", it is stated in the text of the law adopted yesterday by the deputies.

Also, "the legal act in electronic format, signed with the type of electronic signature provided by law or with the qualified electronic signature, produces the same legal effects as the same legal act in written format".

The validity of the electronic signature will be checked in relation to the conditions that must be met at the time of signing the electronic document, and the expiration of the validity of the certificate on the basis of which the signature was applied does not affect the validity or effects of the signed document. The provisions in question also apply to advanced electronic signatures that are not based on an electronic signature certificate, but use other technologies.

The text of the law specifies: "The maximum period of validity of the certificate for the advanced electronic signature is set by the issuer of the certificate for a maximum period of 2 years. The supervisory and regulatory authority in the field is responsible for establishing the validity periods in the case of advanced electronic signatures that are not based on an electronic signature certificate, but use other technologies."

By way of exception, the certificate for advanced electronic signature issued according to the law by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and entered on the electronic identity card is valid for a maximum period of 5 years.

Immediately after the law passed the Parliament, Radu Burnete, the executive director of the Concordia Employers' Confederation, stated, according to a press release issued by the respective confederation: "We welcome the vote in the Chamber of Deputies, through which the legislators democratized the use of the advanced electronic signature, facilitating digitalization of remote interaction between citizens and companies, respectively, state institutions. It was a decade of procrastination. Widespread use of digital signature has been one of the initiatives we have put considerable effort into, and we are happy to see it become a reality. The rate of digitization of the economy and especially of the public administration is still too slow and we still have a lot to do. This step is welcome, but hopefully it won't take a decade for every necessary reform. We expect that the new law will lead to an accelerated adoption of electronic signatures in commercial and private relationships".

In the cited press release, it is stated that the representatives of Concordia requested the clarification in the national legislation of the legal value and probative force of all types of electronic signatures by making a differentiation between the types of legal documents to be signed and the types of electronic signatures that can be used (depending on their degree of security).