Does an electronically signed document hold up before an Algerian court?
In short: The answer fits in two sentences. In Algeria, only a qualified electronic signature — backed by a certificate issued by an authorised provider and created on a secure device — is equated with a handwritten signature. But any other electronic signature keeps its evidential force: it cannot be rejected in court merely because it is electronic. Everything else changed on 18 February 2026: Law No. 26-02 repealed Law 15-04 while keeping its system running through the transition. This article sets out what these texts actually decide — and what they leave open.
Keywords in this article
1. Do all electronic signatures carry the same legal value?
No — and this is the first distinction to draw, before any choice of tool. Algerian law recognises two levels of force, not one.
| Simple electronic signature | Qualified electronic signature | |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Data in electronic form serving as a means of authentication (art. 2, Law 15-04) | A signature meeting all six cumulative conditions (art. 7, Law 15-04; arts. 4-5, Law 26-02) |
| Value | Admissible evidence, weighed by the judge | Equated with a handwritten signature |
| Rests on | No mandatory formality | A qualified certificate + a secure signature creation device |
| Operational example | Ticked boxes, pasted signature images, tools without certificates | « THI9A » certificates issued by the economic authority since February 2025 |
Article 8 of Law 15-04 wrote this out expressly, and Article 7 of Law 26-02 repeats it verbatim: "only the qualified electronic signature is equated with a handwritten signature". For significant contracts — share transfers, guarantees, commercial leases — the gap between the two columns is not technical but procedural: it decides who must prove what.
2. What does Law No. 26-02 actually change?
This is the fact most summaries still miss. Law No. 26-02 of 17 February 2026, published in Official Gazette No. 14 of 18 February 2026, now frames "trust services" — electronic signature, electronic seal, timestamping, electronic registered delivery, website-device authentication and electronic archiving. Its Article 115 states without ambiguity: the provisions of Law 15-04 are repealed.
But repeal has not brought the system down. Three transitional provisions organise the overlap, and each carries practical consequences:
For a company, the practical reading is simple: the reference framework has changed its name, but the certificates you hold and the authority issuing them remain those of the former system, pending its new implementing texts.
3. Under what conditions does a signature become "qualified"?
The two laws overlap almost word for word. An electronic signature is qualified only if it meets cumulatively the following requirements:
- to be based on a qualified electronic certificate — an electronic document binding verification data to the signatory, issued under an approved certification policy;
- to be linked to the signatory alone;
- to allow the signatory's identification;
- to be created using a secure signature creation device;
- to be created by means the signatory keeps under exclusive control;
- to be linked to the data so that any subsequent alteration is detectable.
Two consequences follow, both routinely ignored. First, the legal definition of a signatory is a natural person: when we say a company "signs", an identified representative always signs for it — and the new law adds the electronic seal as the instrument proper to legal persons. Second, qualification depends not on the software used but on the complete chain: a handsome PDF signed without a qualified certificate remains a simple signature however polished it looks.
The one-sentence test. If you cannot name the provider that issued the certificate, nor the date that certificate expires, you are probably not holding a qualified signature.
4. Can a non-qualified electronic signature be rejected in court?
This is where many articles stop short, leaving the impression that only qualified signatures matter. Article 9 of Law 15-04 — carried forward by Article 16 of the new law, extended to seals and timestamps — says the opposite: an electronic signature cannot be denied legal effect or refused as evidence merely because it is electronic, because it does not rest on a qualified certificate, or because it was not created on a secure device.
In procedural terms: your counterparty cannot wave away your electronically signed exchanges by invoking their form alone. What they can do is contest reliability on substance — document integrity, linkage to the signatory. That is precisely what the qualified signature locks down in advance through its presumption: with it, the technical debate ends before it begins; without it, the debate stays open — but you are not out of the game.
| Document | Admissible? | Who bears the risk |
|---|---|---|
| Contract signed with a valid qualified certificate | Yes, equated with handwritten | The contesting party |
| Document signed by a simple electronic means | Yes, evidence to be weighed | The party relying on it |
| Scan of a hand-signed page | A copy — argued like any copy, outside the electronic-signature regime | The party relying on it |
5. How does a legal person sign electronically?
This is the subject's trick question. The 2015 law defined the signatory as a natural person — yet its Article 8 expressly extended assimilation to acts "of a natural or legal person". The practical mechanism sat in Article 44: the provider keeps a register of the identity and capacity of the legal representative who uses the signature for the company, so every use can be traced back to an identifiable individual.
Law 26-02 completes the edifice with a dedicated instrument: the electronic seal, created by a legal person to guarantee the origin and integrity of data. Its decisive contribution is a new presumption: a qualified seal benefits from a presumption of integrity and accuracy of origin for the data it seals (art. 8). In the economic branch, the current operational offer distinguishes exactly these two roles: a signature certificate for the natural person representing the company, and a seal certificate for the company itself.
Sound governance combines both: the seal for documents the company issues in its own name — invoices, attestations, tender responses — and the personal signature of the manager or authorised representative for acts engaging their personal responsibility.
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Mapping of your company's signers, choice between signature certificate and seal, assembly of the file with the certification authority: we frame the rollout with you.
Frame my rollout6. What exposure do you face if your signing key is compromised or misused?
An electronic signature transfers part of the risk to the certificate holder. From the moment the certificate is handed over, the holder is solely responsible for the confidentiality of their creation data, and must request revocation as soon as they doubt that confidentiality or lose exclusive control (art. 61). A lost certificate without prompt revocation can sign in your place — and revocation, once pronounced, is final.
The criminal side — immediately applicable in its new form — frames misuse with specific thresholds:
| Act (Law 15-04 regime, arts. 66 to 75) | Penalty |
|---|---|
| False statements to obtain a qualified certificate | 3 months to 3 years and DA 20,000 to 200,000 |
| Holding, disclosing or using another person's signature creation data | 3 months to 3 years and DA 1,000,000 to 5,000,000 |
| Providing certification services without authorisation | 1 to 3 years and DA 200,000 to 2,000,000, possible confiscation |
| Using the certificate for purposes other than those for which it was issued | Fine of DA 2,000 to 200,000 |
Two rules complete the picture: legal persons face a fine multiplied fivefold, and no one can be forced to sign electronically (art. 3 of Law 15-04) — a partner who refuses the electronic route cannot be compelled into it, which is exactly why the signature clause belongs in your framework contracts rather than being discovered at signing time.
FAQ — Frequently asked questions
No, within the meaning of the texts. An electronic signature is defined as data in electronic form performing an authentication function, created with creation data unique to the signatory. A scan is only the electronic copy of an already-signed paper document: it is argued like any copy, without the evidential mechanism proper to electronic signatures — let alone the privileged treatment reserved for the qualified signature. For important commitments, the chain must start electronic, not end up there.
No. Article 3 of Law 15-04 provides that no one may be compelled to perform a legal act signed electronically. The reverse holds too: you cannot impose the electronic route on a reluctant partner. Good contractual practice consists of settling in advance, in the framework agreement, the accepted form of signatures and the fate of exchanged documents.
Three checks cover most cases: the identity of the certificate and its issuer, the certificate's validity at the time of signing, and the integrity of the document since signature. In the economic branch, the Economic Electronic Certification Authority offers a free service verifying the validity of signatures and seals it has issued. Always keep the signed file in its original form: it carries the signature, not its printout.
Under one strict condition: Article 63 of Law 15-04 gives foreign certificates the same value as Algerian ones only if the foreign provider acts within a mutual recognition convention concluded by the authority. Without such a convention, the document remains admissible as evidence but does not enjoy the preferential treatment reserved for national-system certificates.
It remains valid until expiry. Article 110 of the new law maintains the validity of certificates issued before its entry into force until their expiration, within the deadlines set by the authority. Two-year certificates issued since February 2025 run their normal course. Renewals will follow the modalities set by the new law's implementing texts — the point to watch over the coming months.
We publish no figure, because no public fee schedule was accessible at our verification date (August 2026): providers' fees are framed by principles defined with the economic authority, and ordering goes through the AECE registration portal where the quote is drawn up according to certificate types and volumes. Be wary of circulating numbers: ask for the price at the source, through your organisation's certification representative.
Sources and references
- Law No. 15-04 of 1 February 2015 laying down general rules on electronic signature and certification — OG No. 06 of 10/02/2015, p. 6 (full text read; repealed by art. 115 of Law 26-02, see below) — Official Gazette of the Algerian Republic (JORADP) · Verified on 22/08/2026
- Law No. 26-02 of 17 February 2026 on trust services for electronic transactions and electronic identification — OG No. 14 of 18/02/2026 (full text read: arts. 4-16, 47-48, 109-116) — Official Gazette of the Algerian Republic (JORADP) · Verified on 22/08/2026
- Official launch of the « THI9A » electronic signature and certification services in the economic branch — ARPCE / Economic Electronic Certification Authority (AECE) communiqué, 16 February 2025 · Verified on 22/08/2026
- THI9A-ID, THI9A-SIGN and THI9A-ENTREPRISE certificates: characteristics, two-year validity, registration portal and free validation service — Economic Electronic Certification Authority (AECE) · Verified on 22/08/2026
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