Signature certification

[Nicholas Bohm]

At 10:41 29/03/2001 +0100, Charles Lindsey wrote:

[snip]

>> Certification fulfils a similar function to the witnessing of the maker's
>> signature that is required for a deed made in paper form. ( Endnote 69 )
>
>Yes, the analogy between certification and conventional witnessing is a
>good one.

I disagree.  A witness need know nothing about the signer, but must see
him/her sign.  The only function of the witness is to appear in the witness
box when there is a dispute whether a particular person signed the
document, and say whether or not the alleged signer (present in person or
over a video link or shown in a photograph) is or is not the person the
witness saw make the signature.  There is not much true similarity to
certification in the CA sense.  

One could try to use conventional witnesing for electronic signatures, but
it would be fairly awkward, and no-one has proposed it, that I know of.

Regards

Nicholas

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