[LINK] Does High Court GetUp result clarify e-witnessing? [was: High Court case Re: Register Online to Vote Should be Legal]

[Philip Argy]

Justice Perram's reasons for his 17 August decision have now been published:
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/FCA/2010/869.html 

 

In my 27 July post I'd identified the s.98(2)(c) Commonwealth Electoral Act
requirement that a witness' signature be in their own handwriting as being
the potential problem.  However, on 19 July 2010 that sub-paragraph was
replaced by a requirement that the claimant's identity simply be supported
by acceptable evidence.  Because the Electoral Commissioner did not
challenge the claimant's identity, the case was run solely on whether the
use of a mousepad as a signing tablet combined with the use of GetUp's
signing tool that allowed the user to finesse their mousepad-generated
signature down to the pixel level, was sufficiently reliable to permit s. 10
of the Electronic Transactions Act to be satisfied.  The judge found that it
was because the form produced by the GetUp system was no less reliable than
the fax and emailed-jpeg versions that the Commissioner already accepted.

 

Whilst not necessarily of widespread application given the assumptions made
and the narrow facts, it is certainly of interest to see the matter of fact
way Justice Perram approached the issues and significant as the first court
decision on the point.

 

Philip

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Stephen Wilson [mailto:swilson at lockstep.com.au] 
Sent: Tuesday, 17 August 2010 09:48
To: pargy at argystar.com
Cc: link at mailman1.anu.edu.au
Subject: Does High Court GetUp result clarify e-witnessing? [was: High Court
case Re: Register Online to Vote Should be Legal]

 

 

Hi Philip.

 

I wonder if you've had a chance to look at any of the detailed 

deliberations, now GetUp won this case, and if they clarify at all the 

legitimacy of witnessing performed 'electronically'?

 

I reckon witnessing is one of the missing pieces in e-signature 

practice, where we need some fresh technological solutions, and/or a 

review of why execution of certain documents needs witnessing in the 

first place. 

 

Cheers,

 

Steve.

 

Stephen Wilson

Managing Director

Lockstep Group