PART 5Miscellaneous and supplemental

Sending of applications and notices; electronic signatures and related certificates87.

(1)

The requirement in this Order that any application, notice, representation or objection should be in writing is satisfied where (apart from the usual meaning of that expression) the text of it—

(a)

is transmitted by electronic means,

(b)

is received in legible form, and

(c)

is capable of being used for future reference.

(2)

The requirement in this Order for an application, notice, representation or objection to be signed is satisfied (as an alternative to a signature given by hand) where there is—

(a)

an electronic signature incorporated into or logically associated with a particular electronic communication, and

(b)

the certification by any person of such a signature.

(3)

For the purposes of this Order, an electronic signature is so much of anything in electronic form as—

(a)

is incorporated into or otherwise logically associated with any electronic communication or both, and

(b)

purports to be so incorporated or associated for the purpose of being used in establishing the authenticity of the communication, the integrity of the communication or both.

(4)

For the purposes of this Order, an electronic signature incorporated into or associated with a particular electronic communication is certified by any person if that person (whether before or after the making of the communication) has made a statement confirming that—

(a)

the signature,

(b)

a means of producing, communicating or verifying the signature, or

(c)

a procedure applied to the signature,

is (either alone or in combination with other factors) a valid means of establishing the authenticity of the communication, the integrity of the communication or both.

F1(5)

Paragraph (2) does not apply in relation to an application for an absent vote made under Part 1 of Schedule 2, for which the general requirements are set out in paragraph 11 of Part 2 of that Schedule.