On 4 September 2019, the Law Commission published a webpage summarising its findings following its report into the electronic execution of documents. The webpage includes a very useful summary of the law. This broadly says that electronic signatures are generally (except for some exceptions) lawful and do not need to be signed in a particular way. But there are more complications for deeds which must be signed in the presence of the witness.
The Law Commission has recommended setting up a working party to consider some practical solutions (for example, video witnessing of deeds) and a further review of the law on deeds.
You can download:
– the summary paper by clicking here; or
– the full report by clicking here.