Are electronic signatures legal in Pakistan?

What does the Electronic Transactions Ordinance say?

The Ordinance was promulgated in 2002 and remains the main law. Its operative provisions are short and generous to electronic documents:

• Section 3: no document, record, information, communication or transaction shall be denied legal recognition, admissibility, effect, validity, proof or enforceability because it is electronic and has not been attested by a witness.
• Section 4: a legal requirement for writing is met by an electronic document that is accessible for later reference.
• Section 7: a legal requirement for a signature is satisfied where electronic signatures or advanced electronic signatures are applied.
• Section 8: an electronic signature may be proved in any manner.
• Section 9: an advanced electronic signature carries a presumption, unless the contrary is shown, that it belongs to the person it correlates to and that the document has not changed since signing.

Electronic and advanced electronic signatures

Pakistan's law has two levels. Any electronic signature satisfies section 7, so a simple signature can meet a legal signature requirement, but it has to be proved like any other evidence under section 8. An advanced electronic signature gets the section 9 presumption.

Section 2 defines an advanced electronic signature in two ways. Either it is unique to the signer, capable of identifying them, created by means under their sole control, and attached so that later changes are detectable; or it is provided by an accredited certification service provider and accredited by the Electronic Certification Accreditation Council as capable of establishing authenticity and integrity. The Council is set up under section 18 and accredits certification service providers.

Courts and evidence

The Ordinance amended the Qanun-e-Shahadat Order, 1984 so that electronic documents can be proved in court. Article 78-A, added by the Ordinance, says that if a person denies signing an electronic document, the application of the security procedure to the signature or document must be proved. That makes the record of how the signer was identified the centre of any dispute.

• The signed PDF and proof it has not changed
• How each signer was identified, and the security procedure used
• Timestamps, IP address and device for each step
• Each signer's agreement to sign electronically

What does section 31 exclude?

Section 31(1) lists five categories the Ordinance does not apply to. Section 31(2) lets the Federal Government, after consulting the provinces, bring any of them within the Ordinance by notification in the official Gazette, so check for later notifications before relying on the list.

• Negotiable instruments under section 13 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881
• Powers of attorney under the Powers of Attorney Act, 1882
• Trusts under the Trusts Act, 1882, other than constructive, implied and resulting trusts
• Wills and any other form of testamentary disposition
• Contracts for the sale or conveyance of immovable property or any interest in it

Where Sign PDF fits

Sign PDF provides an electronic signature within section 7 and records the security procedure Article 78-A asks about: a six-digit code sent to the signer's email, explicit consent to sign electronically, and a certificate of completion with IP address, approximate location, device and UTC times. A SHA-256 fingerprint and a hash-chained audit trail are sealed into the PDF with an independent DigiCert timestamp.

We are not an accredited certification service provider, so our signatures should not be treated as advanced electronic signatures with the section 9 presumption. They suit NDAs, employment and consultancy contracts, supplier agreements and purchase orders. They do not cover anything on the section 31 list. This page is general information, not legal advice; ask a Pakistani advocate before relying on an e-signed document in a significant dispute.