Russia Newsletter - Recent Developments Of Russian Law

Our Newsletter for this month contains a few pieces on some highly technical subjects. While technical in nature, the recently adopted new legislation may well have an impact on everyday transactions and dispute resolution in Russian courts.

Thus, Dmitry Milyutin briefly describes the new law on Electronic Signature which replaces current legislation governing this area. The law introduces different types of electronic signature and is designed to facilitate the use of electronic signatures in transactions between private parties, as well as dealings with the state. One of the consequences created by the new law will, hopefully, be the ability of parties to sign cross-border transactions involving assets/parties located in Russia, without having to be physically present in the same location.

Yulia Babkina discusses a resolution adopted in March by the Supreme Arbitrazh Court that contains guidance on matters relating to the submission of documents in electronic form, use of the internet for filing documents and use of internet print-outs, as well as some of the types of evidence admissible in courts. The overall thrust of the resolution is to make the use of electronic documents more common and evidence generated from certain types of websites admissible in Russian courts.

Violetta Molchanova talks about the recent amendments to rules of registration of foreigners in Russia. Work permits and visas for foreigners coming to live and work in Russia has always been a subject widely discussed in Russia and abroad. Changes to that legislation have been introduced slowly and gradually and the most recent amendments form part of this process.

Igor Orlov writes about the new draft bill aiming to substantially raise penalties for bribery. Corruption is a hotly debated topic in Russia with President Medvedev pledging to launch an unprecedented fight against corruption. If adopted, the law will impose amounts of fines for bribery unheard of before, with lengthy jail sentences as an alternative. Sceptics of the draft bill claim that one cannot unroot corruption with penalising measures alone and other steps are required as well.

The State Duma has adopted legislation on electronic Signature

Dmitry Milyutin, Senior Associate

On 25 March 2011 the State Duma adopted a new law entitled "On Electronic Signature (ES)" that will replace the current law "On Electronic Digital Signature".

Prior to the adoption of the new Law the Russian legislation permitted only one type of electronic signature technology; the old law "On Electronic Digital Signature" applied only to civil-law transactions and corporate entities were not allowed to have their own electronic signatures. Moreover, the law "On Electronic Digital Signature" was not fully consistent with other legislative acts of the Russian Federation, in particular with laws on licensing and technical regulation. In addition to the above, provisions of the law were not in line with the vest practices of electronic signature regulation used in European countries.

The new Law "On Electronic Signature (ES)", as recently adopted, has removed these deficiencies. The term 'electronic signature' has been given a new definition based on the key factor common to all types of electronic signatures – the capacity of an electronic signature to serve for identifying the signatory, i.e. the legal or natural person who has signed certain data in electronic digital form. The new law also provides for the recognition of foreign electronic signatures.

The Law distinguishes between three types of electronic signatures: - a simple electronic signature, an advanced unqualified electronic signature (i.e. unqualified electronic signature) and advanced qualified electronic signature (i.e. qualified electronic signature). A simple electronic signature is an electronic signature that evidences, through the use of codes, passwords and other tools, the fact that this electronic signature was formed by a particular person.

An unqualified electronic signature is an electronic signature that meets the following requirements: it is created with the help of cryptographic data processing using a signature key; it is capable of identifying the signatory; it makes any subsequent change of the data detectable; and it is created using the means of electronic signature.

A qualified electronic signature meets all the requirements of the unqualified electronic signature. Additionally, the verification key of such signature is indicated in a qualified certificate and the means of electronic signature used for creating and verifying such signature have been certified as compliant with the requirements of this Federal Law. The new legislation establishes liability for damage caused by breach of electronic signature rules. This liability is imposed on certification service providers and users of advanced or qualified electronic signatures. The law sets out the duties of those who participate in electronic communication with the use of advanced electronic signatures. It outlines the requirements for the recognition of electronic documents authenticated by electronic signatures. Rules for the recognition of foreign electronic signatures are also included.

The Law has preserved the most widely used provision of the old law in relation to corporate IT networks: rules governing the use of electronic signatures in a corporate IT network may be established by decision of the owner of such corporate IT network or by agreement between...