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Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017

Electronic transactions - Application of legal requirements to electronic transactions - Legal requirement: signatures

227: Legal requirement that signature or seal be witnessed

You could also call this:

“When you need someone to watch you sign, you can use a digital signature”

If you need to have a signature or seal witnessed, you can use an electronic signature for the witness. This is allowed if the signature being witnessed is also electronic and follows the rules in section 226. The witness’s electronic signature must clearly show who the witness is and that they have witnessed the signature or seal. It also needs to be reliable enough for the situation it’s being used in.

Remember, if you’re giving information to someone and that information needs a witnessed signature or seal, you can only use an electronic signature for the witness if the person agrees to receive it that way.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM6844475.

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226: Legal requirement for signature, or

"Using electronic signatures instead of handwritten ones for legal documents"

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Part 4 Electronic transactions
Application of legal requirements to electronic transactions: Legal requirement: signatures

227Legal requirement that signature or seal be witnessed

  1. A legal requirement for a signature or a seal to be witnessed is met by means of a witness's electronic signature if,—

  2. in the case of the witnessing of a signature, the signature to be witnessed is an electronic signature that complies with section 226; and
    1. in the case of the witnessing of a signature or a seal, the electronic signature of the witness—
      1. adequately identifies the witness and adequately indicates that the signature or seal has been witnessed; and
        1. is as reliable as is appropriate given the purpose for which, and the circumstances in which, the witness's signature is required.

        2. However, a legal requirement for a signature or seal to be witnessed, if that signature or seal relates to information legally required to be given to a person, is met by means of a witness's electronic signature only if that person consents to receiving the witness's electronic signature.

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