Regulations on electronic certificates in Vietnam under the Law on Electronic Transactions 2023

The Law on Electronic Transactions 2023 takes effect from July 1, 2024 and stipulates regulations on electronic certificates with the following important contents:

Definition of electronic certificates (E-certificate)

 “E-certificate" means a license, certificate, confirmation or approval published by a competent authority or organization in the form of electronic data.

Regulations on electronic certificates in Vietnam (Internet image)

Legal value of e-certificates in Vietnam

- Information contained in an e-certificate shall have legal value if:

= The e-certificate is signed by a digital signature of an issuing agency or organization according to regulations herein;

= Information contained in the e-certificate is accessible and intelligible so as to be usable in its final form.

= If any law requires a determination of time related to the e-certificate, the e-certificate shall contain a timestamp.

- An e-certificate issued by a foreign competent agency or organization, in order to be recognized and used in Vietnam, must be granted consular legalization, unless the consular legalization is exempted according to regulations of Vietnamese law.

Regulations for electronic certificate transfer

- In case the law allows the transfer of ownership rights to electronic certificates, the transfer must meet the following requirements:

+ The electronic certificate confirms that the owner and only this subject is controlling that electronic certificate;

+ Requirements specified in Article 10 of the Law on Electronic Transactions 2023;

+ The information system serving the transfer of electronic certificates must meet the requirements for ensuring network information security at least level 3 according to the law on network information security;

+ Other requirements according to relevant laws.

- In cases where the law requires or allows conversion of form from paper documents to electronic certificates for documents that the law allows to transfer ownership and only exist in a single form. The paper document is no longer legally valid as soon as the conversion is completed and meets the requirements specified in Point d, Clause 1, Article 12 of the Law on Electronic Transactions 2023.

- In cases where the law requires or allows conversion of form from electronic certificates to paper documents for types of electronic certificates that the law allows for transfer of ownership and can only exist in one form Only, the electronic certificate is no longer legally valid as soon as the conversion is completed and meets the requirements specified in Point d, Clause 2, Article 12 of the Law on Electronic Transactions 2023.

Requirements for storing and processing electronic certificates
- Storing electronic certificates must comply with regulations on storing data messages in Article 13 of the Law on Electronic Transactions 2023.

- The information system serving the storage and processing of electronic certificates must meet the requirements for ensuring network information security at least level 3 according to the law on network information security.

Requirement for data messages to be as valid as the original
Pursuant to Article 10 of the Law on Electronic Transactions 2023, a data message is used and has the same value as the original when it meets the following requirements:

- Information in a data message is guaranteed to have integrity from the time it is first created as a complete data message.

Information in a data message is considered complete when that information has not been changed, except for changes in form that arise during the process of sending, storing or displaying the data message;

- The information in the data message is accessible and usable in its complete form.

Mai Thanh Loi

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