Are electronic signatures legal in the Czech Republic?

Act No. 297/2016 Coll.: three tiers

The Act on Trust Services for Electronic Transactions (zákon č. 297/2016 Sb.), in force since 19 September 2016, supplements eIDAS and ties the signature level to who is signing and for whom:

• Public bodies acting electronically (the state, municipalities and legal entities established by law) may use only a qualified electronic signature (§ 5).
• Documents sent to a public body in connection with its powers need a recognized electronic signature (uznávaný elektronický podpis): an advanced signature based on a qualified certificate, or a qualified signature (§ 6).
• Every other legal act, including contracts between businesses and consumers, may be signed with an advanced signature, a recognized signature or another type of electronic signature (§ 7).

What the Civil Code adds

Section 561(1) of the Civil Code (zákon č. 89/2012 Sb.) says a legal act made in written form needs the signature of the person acting, and that another law sets how a writing made by electronic means may be signed electronically, which is the 2016 act above. Section 562(1) adds that written form is preserved for a legal act made by electronic or other technical means that capture its content and identify the person acting. Records of legal acts in an electronic system are presumed reliable if they're kept systematically, in sequence and protected against change (§ 562(2)).

Under eIDAS article 25, which applies directly, an electronic signature can't be refused legal effect because it's electronic or not qualified, and a qualified signature has the same effect as a handwritten one.

Where more care is needed

• Real rights in real estate. When several people make a legal act creating, transferring, changing or ending a real right to immovable property, their declarations must be on the same document (§ 561(2)), and registration in the land register follows its own rules.
• Holographic wills. A will made in writing without witnesses must be written entirely in the testator's own hand and signed by hand (§ 1533).
• Filings with public authorities, which need a recognized or qualified signature (§ 6 of Act 297/2016).

Where SignMaster fits

SignMaster provides simple electronic signatures, which § 7 of the 2016 act allows for private legal acts: quotes, service agreements, purchase orders, subcontracts and NDAs. It can't produce the recognized or qualified signatures that public bodies require. Each signed PDF carries a certificate of completion listing every signer's email, IP address and timestamps, plus a SHA-256 fingerprint, the kind of record § 562 treats as evidence of who acted and what was agreed.