Cryptography Reference
In-Depth Information
possible a distributed contractual scene, with parties potentially sitting
thousands of miles away from each other, the model could neither ensure
party's consent to their obligations, nor guarantee that parties controlled
their private key. The second issue, the long-term preservation of signed
acts, seemed even more intractable. French law requires notaries to pre-
serve the acts under their care for one hundred years, typically in their
offices, after which the acts are turned over to departmental archives.
Preserving the evidential qualities of signed electronic documents over
such periods seemed not only beyond the capabilities of individual nota-
ries, but, as Guigou pointed out, beyond the capabilities of technology
itself. On both counts, the notarial profession would need to come up
with innovative solutions with significant implications for the original
cryptographic signature model.
Authentic Formalism
To address these issues, the Ministry of Justice convened in March 2000
a working group composed of eminent jurists, technical specialists, and
representatives from the various legal professions. The working group
was presented with the charge of researching the conditions for a new
electronic formalism which could be substituted to the actual require-
ments associated with the paper media. Given the complexity of these
questions and their high symbolic charge, the group was to be vested
with a double mission: first, after investigation of the particularities of
each type of authentic acts (courts decisions, records of civil status, nota-
rized acts, etc.), submit concrete propositions for the drafting of profession-
specific application decrees; second, reflect critically on a comprehensive
framework for electronic authenticity, to be implemented in a general
application decree. The framework would provide answers to the follow-
ing questions:
1. How can the deep guarantees of authenticity (counsel of the parties,
control of the expression of their consent, etc.) be preserved in the elec-
tronic context?
2. Under which conditions and following which forms can the electronic
signature of the public officer and of the parties be affixed to authentic
acts?
3. How can the unlimited preservation of electronic authentic acts be
insured?
