Advancing cross-border e-signature recognition in Saudi Arabia: a statutory and comparative analysis

Electronic signatures are now routine in cross-border contracting. Saudi Arabia’s Electronic Transactions Law and Law of Evidence provide a structured domestic regime, yet unaccredited foreign e-signatures remain exposed to unpredictability because Article 52 leaves their admissibility, legal effect, and probative weight insufficiently guided by statute. This article addresses that cross-border gap as a problem of statutory design and evidentiary treatment. It benchmarks five leading models (UNCITRAL, the EU, the post-Brexit UK–EU position, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and the USA) through three evaluative dimensions: the recognition pathway by which foreign signatures acquire legal effect, the evidentiary consequences in contested cases, and the allocation of verification burdens. On that basis, the article proposes a Saudi-tailored, two-pillar revision embedded in the Law of Evidence. Pillar 1 clarifies, in Article 57, the evidentiary consequence of signatures generated through accredited foreign providers. Pillar 2 embeds, in Article 52, a non-discrimination rule and reliability criteria for unaccredited signatures that structure judicial reasoning while preserving a guided role for probative assessment. The proposal aims to reduce cross-border unpredictability, improve commercial confidence, and maintain sovereign control and technological adaptability.