Before section 304 (and the Part heading immediately preceding it) insert—

“Electronic signatures and alternative methods of sending documents

303CElectronic signatures

(1)

An electronic signature fulfills any requirement (however expressed and for whatever purpose) for the signing or initialling of—

(a)

a document of a type mentioned in section 303E(1), or

(b)

a deletion or correction to such a document.

(2)

In this section, “electronic signature” is to be construed in accordance with section 7(2) of the Electronic Communications Act 2000, but includes a version of an electronic signature which is reproduced on a paper document.

303DSending documents electronically and to a solicitor

(1)

Any requirement (however expressed) that a document of a type mentioned in section 303E(1) be given to a person may be fulfilled by—

(a)

transmitting it to the person electronically, or

(b)

transmitting it (electronically or otherwise) to a solicitor engaged to act on the person’s behalf in relation to the proceedings in question.

(2)

For the purposes of this section—

(a)

electronic transmission of a document by one person (“the sender”) to another person (“the recipient”) must be effected in a way that the recipient has indicated to the sender that the recipient is willing to receive the document,

(b)

the recipient’s indication of willingness to receive a document in a particular way may be—

(i)

specific to the document in question or generally applicable to documents of that kind,

(ii)

expressed specifically to the sender or generally (for example on a website),

(iii)

inferred from the recipient having previously been willing to receive documents from the sender in that way and not having indicated unwillingness to do so again,

(c)

the sender’s uploading of a document to an electronic storage system from which the recipient is able to download the document may constitute electronic transmission of the document from the sender to the recipient.

(3)

In this section, references to giving a person a document include—

(a)

serving a document on a person,

(b)

sending a document to a person, and

(c)

lodging a document with, or otherwise applying to or petitioning, a court.

303EDocuments to which sections 303C and 303D apply

(1)

The types of document referred to in sections 303C and 303D are—

(a)

an order, warrant, sentence, citation, minute or any other document produced by a court,

(b)

an extract of any document mentioned in paragraph (a),

(c)

any document that an enactment requires to be given to a person in connection with, or in order to initiate, criminal proceedings,

(d)

any document that an enactment requires to be signed or initialled in order that it, or any other thing, may be used in criminal proceedings for any purpose including—

(i)

being used as evidence, or

(ii)

being treated as sufficient evidence of a matter.

(2)

But a type of document mentioned in subsection (1) is not to be regarded as mentioned in that subsection for the purposes of section 303C or 303D (or both) if the Lord Justice General directs that it is not.

(3)

A direction under subsection (2)—

(a)

may relate to some or all criminal proceedings,

(b)

may be varied or revoked,

(c)

must be made publicly available for so long as it has effect.

303FInterpretation of sections 303C to 303E

In sections 303C to 303E of this Act—

(a)

references to a court include an office holder of a court,

(b)

“document” includes a copy of a document.”.