Cryptography Reference
In-Depth Information
regard to the qualification of this process as an electronic signature not be part of
the report. Indeed, such a scanned signature constitutes in fact a copy of a handwrit-
ten signature, which does not seem to meet, for security specialists, the definition
of an electronic signature, notably because of the lack of a definite link between the
document and the signing action.
The status of the signature process of the SCEC was to remain unsettled:
handwritten signature, as defined by the IGREC, or electronic signature,
as defined by the Civil Code? It is therefore telling that more than ten
years after the promulgation of the
Loi du 13 mars
2000
, no application
decrees have been published relative to the computerization of records of
civil status.
The Land Registry of Alsace-Moselle
Scott has described how the emergence of the “all-seeing” modern state
required innovative combinations of documentary technologies, profes-
sional practices, and legal rules into sophisticated information systems.
Cadastral maps and property registers, for example, ensured a manageable
form of land taxation by providing an reliable survey of all landholdings
and their owners.
39
This section describes the computerization of one such
property register, the land registry of Alsace-Moselle.
40
Operated by 36
judges and 150 clerks distributed among 46 sites, the registry provides
access to the essential facts regarding land parcels and the rights and obli-
gations attached to these parcels. At the heart of this formidable system
lie 40,000 bound registers containing more than 2.5 million sheets and
growing by 175,000 new inscriptions annually. Real estate professionals—
including notaries, bankers, and bailiffs—continuously access the register
to, respectively, prepare contracts, authorize loans, and recover property
for more than 2 million land owners and 4.5 million parcels of land.
Created in 1891 under German jurisdiction, the registry was recognized by
French law in 1924, under the limited sovereignty (
jurisdiction gracieuse
)
that the French state grants to the region.
The registry functions as an openly accessible database, providing inter-
ested parties with convenient and synthetic access to the essential legal
facts of properties and land owners. Like notarized contracts and records
of civil status, the registry relies on the signature of neutral third parties
—
specialized judges
—
to ensure the evidential power of these legal facts.
