Legal Recognition and Regulation of Electronic Signatures – Mexico

Regulations on the legality & enforceability of Electronic Signatures Mexico

Mexico does not have a dedicated law regulating electronic signatures or records. However, the most important ones addressing the enforceability of electronic signatures and general electronic commerce in Mexico are:

• The Federal Civil Code
• The Federal Commerce Code.

Under Mexican law, an electronic signature applied to a document between private parties is equally enforceable as a handwritten signature. Generally, electronic signatures used for digital documents are equally binding as handwritten signatures.

An electronic signature is legally-binding, much like a handwritten signature, which means that it can be accepted as evidence in a court of law. An electronic signature can be any digital information included in a data message or attached to the same through any technology—the details it has been used to identify the signer and approve the content in a data message. Under the Commerce Code, the information doesn’t need to be printed out to have legal effects. Data messages also meet the requirements of the Commerce Code if they comply with any regulations that outline how they can be used.

In the previous definition, a data message is any information communicated through optical or electronic means or any other technology. Under Mexican law, a data message containing an electronic signature must meet the following requirements for it to be legally enforceable:

• If the creation date of the signature corresponds exclusively to the person who signed it;
• A signature is only valid if the creator of that signature remains in exclusive control of it (i.e., the signing device) at all times;
• If you can identify any alterations to the signature which occurred after the moment at which it was created; and
• The integrity of a data message can be identified by any alterations occurring to the electronic signature after signing.

If an electronic signature meets all four of these requirements, it will also have to have a digital certificate applied by a government-approved certification service provider.

There are a few special considerations:

Mexican courts typically have little experience enforcing documents signed with electronic signatures. Many courts will not look favorably on these signatures because they do not have the time or technology to validate them, even if they are confirmed through email. Other e-signature platforms, like MSB Docs enterprise eSignature, are more likely to be accepted by Mexican court systems.