Source: https://www.docusign.com/how-it-works/legality/global/switzerland
Timestamp: 2020-08-04 22:41:55
Document Index: 731256909

Matched Legal Cases: ['art. 11', 'art. 14', 'art. 9', 'art. 11', 'art. 12', 'art. 216', 'art. 243', 'art. 40', 'art. 356', 'art. 408', 'art. 516', 'art. 164', 'art. 8', 'art. 19', 'art. 216', 'art. 493', 'art. 512', 'art. 647', 'art. 780', 'art. 498']

Switzerland | DocuSign
How It Works › Legality › eSignature Legality Guide › Switzerland
eSignature Legality in Switzerland
Electronic Signature has been recognized by law in Switzerland since 2003, with the passage of The Federal Law on Certification Services in the Area of the Electronic Signature (Law of the Electronic Signature).
What's Switzerland's Legal System?
Switzerland's legal system is a mixture of Roman civil law and Anglo-American common law systems. Civil law operates in areas such as family relations, property, succession, contract, and criminal law, while statutes and principles of common law origin are evident in such areas as constitutional law, procedure, corporations law, taxation, insurance, labour relations, banking and currency.
Under Swiss law, a written signature is not necessarily required for a valid contract - contracts are generally valid if legally competent parties reach an agreement, whether they agree verbally, electronically or in a physical paper document (art. 11 sec. 1 CO). According to art. 14 sec. 2bis CO, contracts which require a handwritten signature may also be concluded with a QES and will be enforceable as such in a Swiss court. To prove a valid contract, parties sometimes have to present evidence in court. Leading digital transaction management solutions can provide electronic records that support the existence, authenticity and valid acceptance of a contract.
HR documents, such as regular employment contracts (except with regard to specific areas of the employment relationship, such as intellectual property rights in employee creations), non-disclosure agreements, privacy notices, benefits paperwork and other new employee onboarding processes
consumer agreements (except loan agreements), including new retail account opening documents, sales terms, services terms, software licenses, purchase orders, order confirmations, invoices, shipment documentation, user manuals, policies
intellectual property licenses, including patent, copyright and trademark
QES - consumer credit or loan agreements (art. 9 sec. 1, art. 11 sec. 1 and art. 12 sec. 1 LCC)
QES - pre-empting sale contracts (art. 216 sec. 3 CO)
QES - donations (art. 243 sec. 3 CO)
QES - revocations of door-to-door sales (art. 40d sec. 1 CO)
QES - collective employment contracts (art. 356c sec. 1 CO)
QES - loan authorizations (art. 408 sec. 2 CO)
QES - life annuity contracts (art. 516 et seq. CO)
QES - assignments of claims (art. 164 et seq. CO)
QES - agency agreements for staff hiring (art. 8 sec. 1 AVG)
QES - employment agreement between agent and employee (art. 19 sec. 1 AVG)
QES - factoring agreements
Notarization - real property transfer contracts and deeds (art. 216 sec. 1 CO)
Notarization - contracts of surety if conducted with a natural person and for a sum in excess of CHF 2'000 (art. 493 sec. 2 CO)
Notarization - inheritance contracts (art. 512 sec. 1 CC)
Notarization - articles of incorporation of stock companies (art. 647 CO) and of limited liability companies (art. 780 CO)
Handwritten – last will (art. 498 Civil Law Act)
As a Tiered eSignature Legal Model country, Switzerland supports the concept of a QES (Qualified Electronic Signature), requiring independent accreditation for those signatures by an approved certification body. While QES is only legally required for limited types of transactions, as previously discussed, Switzerland, although not an EU member country, generally follows ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) standards to define the technical requirements for a QES.
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