On 22 June 2023, the National Assembly passed the new Law on Electronic Transactions No. 20/2023/QH15 dated 22 June 2023 (“LOET“). The LOET will replace the currently effective Law on Electronic Transactions that was enacted in 2005. It will take effect from 1 July 2024.
Under the currently effective Law on Electronic Transactions, certain types of certificates (land use rights certificate, marriage registration certificate, etc.), bills of exchange and/or other valuable papers are excluded from the law’s application.
The LOET removes these exclusions and as such, appears to be enacted with the view of being an omnibus legislation that covers electronic transactions in all sectors and for all types of contracts. The LOET focuses on using electronic means in transactions whose substances, conditions and forms will be governed by other specific laws.
The LOET now classifies electronic signatures (“e-signatures“) based on their purposes or use, including (i) specialised e-signatures (used by specific organisations for their specialised activities); (ii) public digital signatures (used for public activities and guaranteed by public certificates; and (iii) specialised digital signatures for official use (state digital signature). In addition to the general requirements, each type of e-signature will be subject to a specific set of requirements to ensure its authenticity and reliability.
Notably, it appears unlikely that the LOET will recognise common forms of electronic confirmations that demonstrate stakeholders’ consent or approval – for example, use of scans or images of wet signatures, one-time passwords or text messages, as forms of e-signature. The LOET envisages other legislation to establish legal grounds for such types of confirmation methods.
For completeness, the LOET amends, supplements and/or introduces new definitions for key terms such as “trust services”, “timestamps”, “e-contracts”, “digital data”, “master data”, “e-environment”, “e-certificate” and “digital signature certification service”.
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