This monograph was previously the first chapter of my book Electronic Signatures in Law, which was first published by LexisNexis Butterworths in 2003, followed by a second edition published by Tottel in 2007, a third edition published by Cambridge University Press in 2012 and the fourth edition published by the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies for the SAS Humanities Digital Library, School of Advanced Study, University of London in 2016. Sadly, I was unable to find a lawyer or legal academic willing to join me for a further edition with a view to taking over the entire text, so the book is no longer published. Given this state of affairs, Daniel Seng and I agreed that it was appropriate to incorporate the relevant text on electronic signatures into the fifth edition of Electronic Evidence, giving it the new title of Electronic Evidence and Electronic Signatures.
The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies approved the publication of an updated version of the first chapter as a monograph. I do not claim the text to be comprehensive, although I have tried to be thorough in researching the case law. I have made great effort to ensure I cover as many common law jurisdictions as I have been able.
The purpose of discussing the case law before the widespread use of signatures in electronic form was to highlight the fact that judges have had to interpret the meaning of a signature in the light of the practical problems raised by litigants. For instance, judges have had to determine whether the use of initials constitutes a manuscript signature, or they have had to determine whether printing a name on an invoice is a signature. It is for this reason that I thought an introduction to the past will help people understand that electronic signatures are merely another form of technology that requires interpretation in the legal context.