“[..] The formal requirements for legal transactions, including the need for signatures, vary in different legal systems, and also vary with the passage of time. There is also variance in the legal consequences of failure to cast the transaction in a required form. The statute of frauds of the common law tradition, for example, does not render a transaction invalid for lack of a “writing signed by the party to be charged,” but rather makes it unenforceable in court, a distinction which has caused the practical application of the statute to be greatly limited in case law.
During this century, most legal systems have reduced formal requirements, or at least have minimized the consequences of failure to satisfy formal requirements. Nevertheless, sound practice still calls for transactions to be formalized in a manner which assures the parties of their validity and enforceability. [..]
Although the basic nature of transactions has not changed, the law has adapted to advances in technology. The legal and business communities continue developing rules and practices which use new technology to achieve and surpass the effects historically expected from paperforms. [..]”
Extract from the American Bar Association website ( http://www.abanet.org )
In 1999, The EC submitted a proposal to its members states through the European Directive 1999/93/EC regarding the electronic signature which was retranscribed by them over the following years.
Similarily, the American Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-Sign) in June 2000 was designed to support the growth of e-business by mandating that electronic signatures (whether in interstate or foreign commerce) are given the same legal weight as traditional formats.
In other words, laws and legislations have been adapted around the world to give the electronic signature the same value as the hand-written signature.