Digital signing of documents and taking official oaths

  

By amending the Constitution and the Oaths and Declarations Act, the parliament has created room to use digital alternatives instead of signing a document by hand or taking an oath in person.

    

However, the law will not contain an obligation to choose an electronic option and the existing processes in person/with signatures by hand will remain possible. Nevertheless, it should facilitate the daily work of many businesses that already have experience with digitising their work processes and who will choose the digital option wherever possible.

In addition to these bills, specific requirements for the security of the video conferencing platforms used as well as the permissible modes of electronic signature are to be stipulated in subsidiary legislation in order to reduce any risks resulting from digital processing, for example through deepfakes or the like.

    

Digital statutory declarations or notarisations that have already been made, for example during the Covid-19 pandemic, are not to be affected by the amendment and will remain valid.