Digital signature, certification authorities and the law

This paper considers how effective the Australian legal landscape is in promoting certainty in the use of and reliance on digital signatures. The author makes a normative argument that sets the framework for the maximum acceptance and usage of electronic signatures, and hence electronic commerce. Digital signatures utilising the public key cryptography system have every potential to achieve the same level of legal recognition as handwritten signatures. Assistance is required from the law to help attain the functional element of non-repudiation.