eSignature Legality in Egypt

eSignature Legality Summary

Under Egyptian law, a written signature is not necessarily required for all types of valid contracts - contracts are generally valid if legally competent parties reach an agreement, whether they agree verbally, electronically or in a physical paper document (Articles 89 and 90 of the Egyptian Civil Code and Article 69 of the Egyptian Trade Law). Article 14 of the Egyptian E-Signature Law specifically confirms that contracts cannot be denied enforceability merely because they are concluded electronically provided the satisfaction of the technical requirements provided and mandated under the E-Signature Law. To prove a valid contract, parties may have to present evidence in court. In general, those signatures that are certified by local authorities (Information Technology Industry Development Authority, “ITIDA”) to provide electronic signatures will automatically be admitted into evidence under Article 14 of the E-Signature Law.

Use Cases for Standard Electronic Signature (SES)

Use cases where an SES is typically appropriate include:

• QES is the only type of e-signature that is admissible before courts

Use Cases for Other Types of Electronic Signature (e.g. Digital Signature, AES

Use cases where an electronic signature other than SES may be required include:

• QES - HR documents, such as employment contracts, benefits paperwork and other new employee onboarding processes

• QES - commercial agreements between corporate entities, including NDAs, procurement documents, sales agreements

• QES - consumer agreements, including new retail account opening documents

• QES - real estate documents, including ease agreements, purchase and sales contracts, and other related documentation for residential and commercial real estate

• QES - non-exclusive IP licenses, including for patent, copyright and trademark

• QES - incorporation and post-incorporation services documents

Use Cases That Are Not Typically Appropriate for Electronic Signatures or Digital Transaction Management

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.

• real property transfer contracts and deeds (but not lease contracts and other contracts related to real estate, which can be signed validly via DocuSign

• intangible property transfers

[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; and (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.

Local Technology Standards

Local law recognizes locally certified (by the Information Technology Industry Development Authority, (“ITIDA”) qualified electronic signatures (QES) as enforceable, and will automatically be admitted into evidence under Articles 14 and 15 of the E-Signature Law. However, other signatures may be enforceable, as long as they are compliant with Egyptian laws of evidence (unique signatory, signatory has sole control over medium, changes to data can be detected.)

Information on ITIDA, its establishment, statutes and powers are available.