Signing, dating and sending documents online: what precautions should businesses take ?

Electronic Signatures, Electronic Seals & Electronic Time Stamps: what precautions should businesses take ?

Digital  |  Law & compliance |  VERION Audit & Conseil - Accounting, Auditing, and Consulting, Casablanca - October 2026

Introduction - Signing faster is not enough: you must also be able to prove

For a company, this issue arises in very practical situations: signing a contract remotely with a customer or supplier, approving a purchase order, notifying the termination of a contract, automatically issuing a certificate, or retaining proof of the date of a commitment.
The challenge is therefore not merely to sign faster. It is to be able to establish identity or origin, consent where a signature is involved, document integrity and, when necessary, the date.
The key question is simple: will the method used allow the document to be defended if it is challenged?
Law No. 53-05 laid the initial foundations for the recognition of electronic documents and signatures in Morocco. Law No. 43-20 subsequently broadened and modernised this framework by regulating trust services for electronic transactions.

1. Electronic signatures: three levels of trust

Law No. 43-20 distinguishes three levels of electronic signature: simple, advanced and qualified.
A handwritten signature merely scanned or pasted into a PDF does not, on its own, meet the requirements of an authentic electronic signature. It does not provide sufficient assurance as to the signatory’s identity or the expression of their consent.

·     Simple electronic signature – an identification method linked to the act and expressing consent. Practical approach: low-stakes transactions, depending on the context and risk.

·     Advanced electronic signature – stronger safeguards for identification, signatory control and detection of alterations. Example: a significant commercial contract signed remotely.

·     Qualified electronic signature – an advanced signature created using a qualified device and based on a qualified certificate. Example: a high-stakes commitment for which the company seeks the strongest level of evidence.

This framework is a practical, risk-based approach. It does not mean that a particular type of document must always use a specific level. The choice is generally open, unless a particular legal or regulatory requirement applies.

 2. Qualified or non-qualified: the essential difference is in the evidence

A simple or advanced electronic signature cannot be rejected as evidence solely because it is electronic or is not qualified.
Where a signature is not qualified, the party relying on it must be able to demonstrate its reliability if challenged. If a customer disputes having signed a quotation or contract, the company must therefore be able to establish how the signatory was identified, how consent was obtained and how the integrity of the document was preserved. This is why maintaining an evidence file is useful.
Conversely, a qualified electronic signature benefits from a presumption of reliability. presumed unless proven otherwise. In practice, the burden involved in contesting the signature is therefore different.
Article 417-3 of the Dahir establishing the Code of Obligations and Contracts (DOC) goes further where a qualified electronic signature is combined with a qualified electronic time stamp: the instrument has the same evidential force as an instrument bearing a legalised signature and having a legally established date.
In practical terms, the document benefits from stronger evidence concerning both the signature and the date. For example, if a company electronically signs a major commercial contract on 15 September using a qualified signature and a qualified time stamp, it has stronger evidence to establish the signature and date of the instrument in the event of a subsequent dispute. 

3. Electronic seals: establishing the origin of documents

With an electronic signature, the signatory is a natural person. An electronic seal, by contrast, is created by a legal entity and is used in particular to guarantee the origin and integrity of the data to which it is attached.
Example: a company may use an electronic seal to secure the origin of hundreds of automatically generated invoices, certificates or statements without requiring a director to sign each one individually.
A qualified electronic seal benefits from a presumption of data integrity and accuracy of origin.

4. Electronic time stamps: establishing the date of a document

An electronic time stamp associates data with a specific point in time to establish that the data existed at that moment. Where qualified, it benefits from a presumption of accuracy of the stated date and time and of integrity of the data concerned.
In day-to-day business, it can be used in particular to:
·         establish precisely when a contract was signed;

·         prove that an offer or application was submitted before a deadline;

·         date the approval of a payment authorisation or sensitive document;

·         establish the issue date of a document;

·         strengthen the traceability of a transaction or file version.

However, time stamping is only one component of the evidence framework. On its own, it does not secure the entire transaction.

5. Registered electronic delivery: securing formal notices

Registered electronic delivery provides evidence relating to sending and receipt while protecting the transmitted data. Where qualified, the law notably grants presumptions concerning data integrity, the identities of the sender and recipient, and the date and time of sending and receipt.
For a business, the applications are practical: corresponding with the tax authorities (reminders, reassessments, replies, etc.), notifying contract termination, sending a formal demand to a customer, or transmitting a contractual notice where the date of receipt may become decisive in case of a dispute.

6. International contracts: checking recognition of foreign signatures

A document signed electronically abroad is not devoid of value merely for that reason. Its admissibility and evidential weight depend, among other things, on the method used, the evidence available and the rules applicable to the instrument concerned.
However, Article 36 of Law No. 43-20 provides that, to get the same legal value in Morocco as a Moroccan qualified service, a foreign qualified trust service or its provider must be recognised under a multilateral agreement to which Morocco is a party or a bilateral reciprocal-recognition agreement with the country in which the provider is established.

Example: a Moroccan company receives a contract signed through a foreign platform by a European partner. Before concluding that the signature automatically benefits from the Moroccan qualified-signature regime, it must check the service used, the available evidence and whether an applicable recognition mechanism exists. Otherwise, the document may retain evidential value, but the automatic equivalence provided for under Article 36 should not be presumed.

7. Electronic and paper signatures: beware of hybrid workflows

This is physically possible, but the practice should be avoided if the aim is to retain all the safeguards of the electronic process.
Consider a common example: an SME sends a contract to its supplier. The supplier signs it electronically and returns the PDF. The SME then prints the PDF, and its director signs the paper version by hand.
The director’s handwritten signature may be recognised as such. However, the printout generally no longer allows direct verification of the supplier’s electronic certificate, the integrity of the original file, the time stamp, the validation data or the evidence file. Printing an image of the supplier’s electronic signature does not turn it into that supplier’s handwritten signature.
The safest practice is to retain the original signed electronic file and its supporting evidence, then have all parties sign within the same electronic workflow wherever possible. If a paper-based workflow is chosen, it is preferable to organise a consistent paper process. Documents subject to specific formal requirements still require a dedicated legal review.

What to check before choosing a solution

•  Identify the documents concerned and their level of risk.
•  Check the actual level of signature or service offered.
•  Ensure that the original electronic file and evidence file are retained.
• Check the conditions for recognising foreign services where qualified equivalence is sought.
• Avoid losing evidence by printing and then deleting the signed electronic file.

Conclusion

Digital transformation only creates value when it inspires trust.
For every sensitive document, the practical question remains the same: will the evidence retained allow the transaction to be defended if it is challenged ?

Verion Audit & Conseil ssupports businesses in strengthening their internal controls, securing document approval processes and improving compliance and traceability in electronic transactions.