Adjusting the legal framework for electronic commerce

Existing federal statutes and regulations often specify that information must be given "in writing", "certified" or "signed". These types of references can be interpreted as restricting transactions only to paper and preclude the possibility of transmitting information electronically.

Earlier this year, the Department of Justice reviewed over 600 federal statutes and found that 300 of these made references to obtaining or sending information in a way that appeared limited to paper. However, as communication becomes increasingly paperless, the dependence on paper becomes outdated and cumbersome.

The proposed legislation provides a way to adapt existing federal statutes and regulations so that they are compatible with an electronic environment. In other words, it provides a way to adjust or apply current laws so that there is an electronic alternative to transmitting information.

Secure Electronic Signature

The proposed legislation gives federal departments, agencies and boards the authority to decide how requirements in existing statutes and regulations can be satisfied by electronic means in place of paper. A key component of the proposed legislation is the concept of "secure electronic signature" which may be used in electronic transmissions to ensure their integrity and reliability.

Opting-in

Federal departments, agencies and boards first need to be technologically and operationally ready before they can make adjustments to existing statutes and regulations. It will be up to these individual departments, agencies and boards to apply the new legislation when they have in place the appropriate means to conduct business electronically.

Creating an electronic alternative does not mean doing away with more traditional methods that the federal government uses to communicate and conduct business with Canadians. The new legislation provides a way for the federal government to accommodate an increasingly popular way of doing business: through electronic means.

Electronic Evidence

Another element of the proposed changes concerns electronic documents that are introduced as evidence in court proceedings. Although electronic documents presented as evidence is not new, electronic technology has affected how lawyers and judges interpret the rules of evidence. There are four main areas that the proposed legislation covers in relation to evidence:

• clarifies how the courts assess the reliability of an electronic document that is introduced as evidence;
• assists courts in recognizing secure electronic signatures and how they are used in relation to electronic documents;

• recognizes that notices and acts published electronically by the Queen's Printer have the same legal weight as notices and acts published on paper by the Queen's Printer; and
• gives official status to the electronic version of the consolidated Statutes and Regulations of Canada.