eSignature Legality Summary
eSignatures are legally valid and admissible in the court of law. Indonesia 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 Law No. 11/2008.
A written signature is not necessarily required for a valid contract - contracts are generally valid if legally competent parties reach an agreement, whether they agree verbally, electronically or in a physical paper document. All forms of electronic signatures must meet the requirements under Law Number 11 of 2008, which includes the registration and certification of public electronic systems, registration of software for services and electronic agents and certification of all hardware, as well as the requirement that all data centers and disaster recovery centers be located in Indonesia. Any digital certificates must be issued by a certification provider approved by government agencies.
A certified electronic signature must be made by using an electronic certification service provider and needs to be done with an Electronic Certificate. GR 82 also provides that an electronic certification service provider operating in Indonesia must be acknowledged by the Minister of Communications and Informatics.
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
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
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.
- Corporate documents, such as articles of association (and amendments thereto), shareholders resolutions, share/asset transaction documents
- HR documents
- IP transfer documents
- Real property transfer contracts and deeds (except lease contracts and other contracts related to real estate, which can be generally signed validly via any form of electronic signature)
- Certain corporate documents, such as share/asset transactions documents
- Documents that pursuant to the relevant laws and regula¬tions must be made in written form; and
- Documents together with their supporting papers that pur¬suant to the relevant laws and regulations must be made in notarial deed form or deed form by a land deed official.
List of Local Trust Service Providers
| Institute | Regulatory Body/CA/DSC Providers | Supported by emSigner | Website |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minister of Communications and Informatics (Menteri Komunikasi dan Informatika or "Menkominfo") | Controller of Certification Authorities | Yes | https://www.kominfo.go.id/ |
“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://www.flevin.com/id/lgso/translations/JICA%20Mirror/english/4902_PP_82_2012_e.html
https://www.whitecase.com/publications/alert/indonesian-electronic-information-and-transactions-law-amended
eMudhra, and all associates including agents, officers, employees or affiliates, are not liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary or consequential damages.