FITUG e.V. Förderverein Informationstechnik und Gesellschaft

LU: Draft electronic commerce bill introduced

http://www.echo.lu/legal/en/news/9904/chapter9.html#2

9.2. Luxembourg Draft electronic commerce bill introduced

At the end of March 1999, the Luxembourg government introduced the country's draft bill on electronic commerce to Parliament. Composed of 77 articles, this text adapts national civil, commercial and penal law to the electronic environment by also implementing the EU directives 97/66/EC, 97/7/EEC and 93/13/EEC on privacy in telecommunications, distance selling and abusive clauses in consumer contracts. Its declared purpose is to provide Luxembourg with a secure and predictable framework for electronic transactions in accordance with international and European rules by including a set of detailed provisions on proof, electronic contracts, certification authorities, digital certificates and encryption standards.

While it allows the use of cryptography, it recognises the same legal validity in both electronic and hand-written signatures, provided their integrity is adequately guaranteed by digital certificates delivered by accredited certification authorities. The bill sets up a voluntary accreditation system with the National Accreditation and Surveillance Authority of the Ministry of Economy being the public body entrusted with this task. The procedures and criteria of accreditation are defined in three Grand Ducal Regulations to be adopted with the law.

The draft bill can be accessed on the Ministry of Economy web site at http://www.etat.lu/ECO/

Zurück