Electronic Signature Legality — United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, electronic signatures are well established and, for the great majority of commercial contracts, a simple electronic signature is sufficient.

Legal framework

Electronic signatures rest on the Electronic Communications Act 2000, section 7 of which makes an electronic signature admissible in evidence as to the authenticity or integrity of a communication. This sits alongside UK eIDAS — the EU eIDAS Regulation (910/2014) as retained in domestic law after Brexit. In 2019 the Law Commission confirmed that, as a matter of English law, an electronic signature is capable of executing a document — including a deed — provided the signatory intends to authenticate it and any execution formalities are met. Courts take a minimalist, technology-neutral approach.

Separately, the Electronic Trade Documents Act 2023 allows certain trade documents (such as bills of lading) to exist and be transferred in electronic form.

Documents needing special treatment

• Deeds — valid electronically, but the signature must be witnessed and the witness must be physically present; remote witnessing is not accepted for ordinary deeds.
• Dispositions registered at HM Land Registry — require a qualified electronic signature under the Registry’s Practice Guide 82, a higher bar than a simple signature.
• Wills — must still be signed on paper by hand and witnessed in person.

How Sign For Free fits

Sign For Free provides a simple electronic signature with a self-claim identity model: signers confirm identity through the email address the request was sent to. We do not issue qualified certificates, so Sign For Free is not suitable for the specific cases above that require a qualified signature or in-person witnessing. Every completed document embeds a tamper-evident audit trail — event timestamps, the authentication method, and the document’s SHA-256 hash — sealed with an Ed25519 signature. Under section 7 of the Electronic Communications Act 2000 such records are admissible and help establish attribution — who signed. You can verify any completed document independently on the verify page, without relying on our servers.

Not legal advice

This page is provided for general information only and is not legal advice. Laws change, and we do not guarantee that this information is current or complete. For specific questions, consult a licensed solicitor.