eSignature law in Argentina

Argentina distinguishes firma digital, which carries a legal presumption of authorship and integrity, from firma electronica, which is valid but must be proved by whoever relies on it.

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Governing law: Ley 25.506 de Firma Digital, with the Codigo Civil y Comercial arts. 286 and 288 (2001)

eSignature Argentina: the short answer

Searched as eSignature Argentina, electronic signature Argentina, or "is an e-signature legal in Argentina", the answer is the same: yes, for ordinary business documents, under Ley 25.506 de Firma Digital, with the Codigo Civil y Comercial arts. 286 and 288. What varies is which documents are carved out and which tier of signature they need, and that is the part worth reading rather than the general rule.

Argentina drew its line early and has kept it. Ley 25.506 creates two instruments. Firma digital is certificate-based, issued by a licensed certifier under the national PKI, and carries two presumptions that matter enormously in litigation: authorship (the signature belongs to the certificate holder) and integrity (the document has not changed). The burden of disproving those falls on whoever challenges the signature. Firma electronica is everything else, and article 5 of the law is blunt about the consequence: if its validity is denied, the burden of proving it falls on the party invoking it. The Civil and Commercial Code, in force since 2015, confirms in article 288 that a digital signature satisfies a signature requirement for instrumentos generados por medios electronicos. In practice this means ordinary business signing with an audit trail is workable and common, and anything that might end up in a dispute is better carried by firma digital.

What makes an eSignature valid in Argentina

• For firma digital: a valid certificate from a licensed certifier under the national PKI
• Signature creation data under the exclusive control of the signer
• Verifiability of the signature against the certificate at the time of signing
• For firma electronica: evidence of who signed and that the document is unchanged, held by the party relying on it
• Consent to transact electronically

Where eSignatures are not valid

• Testamentary dispositions
• Acts that by law must be performed with personal formalities or before a public officer
• Family law acts
• Acts where the parties have agreed a different form

FAQ

What is the difference between firma digital and firma electronica in Argentina?

Firma digital is certificate-based, from a licensed certifier, and comes with presumptions of authorship and integrity that put the burden on anybody disputing it. Firma electronica is any other electronic signature: valid, but the burden of proving it sits with the person relying on it. For a routine supplier agreement that distinction rarely bites; for a document you expect to be challenged it decides who has to prove what.

Is an electronic signature enough for an Argentine contract?

For most commercial contracts, yes, and it is used every day. Keep the audit trail, because with firma electronica that trail is your evidence. Where the amount or the counterparty makes a dispute plausible, firma digital is the stronger instrument.

Can I sign an Argentine employment document electronically?

Employment documents are commonly signed electronically. Some steps around termination and settlement have their own formalities, often involving the labour authority, which are about the procedure rather than the signature technology.