e-Signature legislation arrives at Sejm, with July 1st enactment expected

In the near future, each Polish citizen will be able to use his or her own electronic signature as legal replacements for hand-written ones.Yesterday the government approved a draft bill for e-signatures which will be submitted today for passage by the Sejm, ultimately taking effect on July 1 this year. Every contract and agreement (with the exception of those in the public or administrative sector) will require an authorized certificate but all the other legal acts (about 95%, according to one estimate) can be authenticated by an e-signature. Both physical and legal persons will be entitled to produce e-signatures. One individual will be able to have as many as 10 such signatures. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B2) M.S.-C.