eSignature Legality Summary
eSignatures are legally valid and admissible in the court of law. Argentina follows a hierarchical root of trust model where eSignatures or digital signatures issued by a Certifying Authority are considered legally valid. Specific use cases for eSignatures are indicated in the Digital Signature Law.Under Argentine law, documents and contracts that do not have a specific legal form requirement can be executed in the fashion agreed between the parties, such as verbally, electronically or in a physical paper document) (Section 1017 of the Civil and Commercial Code). Specific legal forms can be requested in the form of hand-written signature or, in some cases, public deed. Digital signatures (QES) are considered effective to fulfill any hand-written requirements required by local regulations [Section 3 of the DSL], but will not be sufficient to substitute public deed requirements. Instruments signed with digital signatures are presumed to be signed by the signatory registered with the certifying licensee, and that the content remains unaltered. In the case a party denies the authorship of the digital signature, then such party must evidence their position (Sections 7 and 8 of the DSL). Instruments signed with other electronic signatures do not have these legal presumptions. The DSL expressly states that if a party denies the authorship of an electronic signature, then the enforcing party must prove such authorship to the Courts (Section 5 of the DSL). There are no specific regulations in Argentina on electronic agreements, other than the general provisions of the Civil and Commercial Code. In principle, electronic agreements have the same legal status as written agreements (Section 1106 Civil and Commercial Code). Nevertheless, the requirement on electronic agreements would be satisfied by digital signature (QES), as it provides authorship of the signature and integrity of the instrument (Section 288 of the Civil and Commercial Code). Electronic agreements signed with digital signatures (QES) shall also have the same evidentiary status as agreements signed in writing (Section 314 of the Civil and Commercial Code). Although electronic agreements signed with electronic signatures are valid from a legal standpoint, electronic signatures do not have the same level of enforceability as digital signatures. To prove a valid electronic agreement/electronic signature, the parties will have to present evidence in court. Enforceability of such types of agreements or signatures will depend upon the extent to which the enforcing party is able to produce evidence of its existence and unaltered content.
*The information on this site is "AS IS" and for general information purposes only.Use Cases for eSignatures ?
Use cases where an SES is typically appropriate include:
- Speedy HR document preparation with preapproved templates, easy update of each employee, new employee onboarding processes as well as 360 degree view of employee files.
- End user agreements including sales & service terms, new retail account opening documents, invoices, shipment details, user manual, EULAs, policies
- Formal contracts including service agreements
Use Cases for Qualified Signatures ?
Use cases where an AES is typically appropriate include:
- Purchase, procurement and commercial agreements including invoices, trade and payment terms, certificates, NDAs, sales & distribution agreements, order acknowledgements.
- Real estate lease agreements for residential and commercial purpose
- License agreements for software, end user license agreements EULAs
- Intellectual property licenses including technology licensing, copyright licensing, trademark licensing and franchising agreement
Use Cases that are not appropriate for Electronic Signatures
Use cases that are specifically barred from digital or electronic processes or that include explicit requirements, such as handwritten (e.g. wet ink) signatures or formal notarial process that are not usually compatible with electronic signatures or digital transaction management.
- Handwritten - corporate minutes containing shareholder and/or board resolutions, including but not limited to, resolutions destined to the appointment or removal of officers and directors
- Handwritten - certain labor documents, such as resignation letters from employees, need to be formalized with a registered letter (Section 240 of Law No. 20,744)
- Public deed - agreements related to the acquisition, modification or extinction of real estate rights (Section 1017 CCC)
- Public deed - agreements which subject matter are dubious or controversial rights over real estate (Section 1017 CCC)
- Public deed - all acts that are accessory to agreements written in public deed (Section 1017 CCC)
- Public deed - all other agreements that, by agreement between the parties or by legal obligation, must be granted through public deed (Section 1017 CCC)
- Public deed - leasing agreements (Section 1234 of the CCC)
- Public deed - appointment of legal guardians of minors (Section 106 of the CCC)
- Public deed - marital agreements (Section 448 of the CCC)
- Public deed - donations of real estate, or registered goods and periodic benefits or annuities (Section 1552 of the CCC)
- Public deed - declaration of wills (Section 1618 of the CCC)
- Public deed - mortgages (Section 1618 of the CCC)
- IP Transfers
List of Local Trust Service Providers
| Institute | Regulatory Body/CA/DSC Providers | Supported by emSigner | Website |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Federal Administration of Public Revenue (AFIP) | CA | Yes | http://www.afip.gob.ar/sitio/externos/default.asp |
| Encode S.A. | CA | Yes | http://www.encodegroup.com/ |
| Banelco S.A. | CA | Yes | https://www.banelco.com/ |
| The National Office of Information Technologies (ONTI) | CA | Yes | |
| The National Social Security Administration (ANSES) | CA | Yes | |
| IFDRA (Digital Signature Infrastructure of the Republic of Argentina) | CA | Yes | |
| Box/Custodia de Archivos S.A. | CA | Yes | https://boxcustodia.com/cms/ |
| DigiLogix S.A. | CA | Yes | https://www.digilogix.com.ar/ |
| Supreme Court of the Province of Buenos Aires | CA | Yes | |
| Edicom S.A. | CA | Yes | https://www.edicomgroup.com/en_ES/home.html |
| Lakaut S.A. | CA | Yes | https://www.lakaut.com.ar/en |
| Technology of Values S.A | CA | Yes |
“Digital Signature” means a transformation of a message using an asymmetric cryptosystem such that a person having the initial message and the signer’s public key can accurately determine
(a) whether the transformation was created using the private key that corresponds to the signer’s public key;
(b) whether the message has been altered since the transformation was made
[1] An AES is an “advanced electronic signature”, a type of electronic signature that meets the following requirements:
(a) it is uniquely linked to the signatory;
(b) it is capable of identifying the signatory;
(c) it is created using means that are under the signatory’s sole control;
(d) it is linked to other electronic data in such a way that any alteration to the said data can be detected.
[2] A QES is a specific digital signature implementation that has met the particular specifications of a government, including using a secure signature creation device, and been certified as ‘qualified’ by either that government or a party contracted by that government.
External Resources
http://servicios.infoleg.gob.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/80000-84999/80733/texact.htm
http://servicios.infoleg.gob.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/125000-129999/125115/norma.htm
http://servicios.infoleg.gob.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/80000-84999/80733/texact.htm
http://servicios.infoleg.gob.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/235000-239999/235975/norma.htm
http://servicios.infoleg.gob.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/265000-269999/266312/norma.htm
http://servicios.infoleg.gob.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/260000-264999/262686/norma.htm
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