Is it valid to sign a contract online?
The condition for the contract to take effect is that both parties voluntarily reach an agreement on the contents of the contract. Even a legal oral contract is valid as long as it can be proved that both parties entered into it voluntarily. As long as the network contract meets the relevant constitutive requirements of the contract, it has legal effect. In the network contract, both parties' recognition of the contract intention is confirmed in the form of electronic data.
Article 469 The parties may conclude a contract in writing, orally or in other forms.
Written form refers to contracts, letters, telegrams, telexes, faxes and other forms that can tangibly express the contents contained.
A data message that can tangibly express its content through electronic data interchange, e-mail, etc. , and can be retrieved at any time, are considered in writing.
For example, Party A and Party B sign a sales contract and confirm that Party A's confirmation letter can be sent by Party A's email; Party B's confirmation of the contract can be: Party B's confirmation reply to Party A's email.
In the aspect of contract effectiveness, it is stipulated that the effective elements of the contract should be used as the evaluation standard.
A contract that meets the valid requirements shall be given legal effect according to the agreement of the parties, and a contract that does not meet the valid requirements shall be invalidated, revoked or the effect of which is to be determined according to different circumstances. The effective elements of a contract are the evaluation criteria for the parties' agreement by law, so they should be distinguished from the establishment elements of a contract.
Effective element
The following only introduces the general effective elements of the contract.
It means truth.
The expression of will is true, which means that the expression behavior of a contracting party should truly reflect its inherent meaning of validity, that is, its meaning of validity is consistent with the expression behavior. As an effective element of a contract, it is a natural requirement of the principle of party autonomy. If the expression of intention is untrue, the impact on the effectiveness of the contract shall be determined according to the specific circumstances. In case of general misunderstanding, this contract is still valid. If there is a major misunderstanding, this contract can be changed or terminated. In the case that the contract is obviously unfair due to the danger of taking advantage of others, the contract can be modified or terminated. A contract concluded by fraud or coercion is invalid if it harms the interests of the state; If it does not harm the interests of the state, the contract can be changed or terminated.
Do not violate the law or public interests.
On the one hand, the laws here should be interpreted in an expanded way, including both the laws passed by the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee and the administrative regulations issued by the State Council; On the other hand, it should be interpreted in a narrow sense, which only refers to mandatory norms and does not include arbitrary norms. Contracts must not violate mandatory norms, which is determined by the purpose of the contract system and is a universal principle. Except for mandatory legal norms, a contract shall not violate the public interest.
The subject matter of a contract must be certain and possible.
The subject matter of a contract determines the quality and quantity of contractual rights and obligations. Without it, the contract will lose its purpose and positive significance and should be invalid. The possibility of the subject matter of the contract means that the contract payment may be realized. The determination of the subject matter of the contract means that the subject matter of the contract is determined or can be determined from the beginning.
The actor has corresponding capacity for civil conduct.
This requirement requires the parties to know the status and legal effect of the contract, which is of great significance to protect their legitimate rights and interests and reduce disputes. In principle, natural persons must have full capacity to sign contracts. Persons with limited capacity and persons without civil capacity may not sign contracts in person, but their legal representatives shall sign them on their behalf, except in the following circumstances:
(1) Being able to independently sign contracts for accepting net benefits such as rewards, gifts and remuneration, or being exempted from obligations;
(2) A person with limited capacity for civil conduct may sign a contract suitable for his age, intelligence and mental health;
(3) You can sign format contracts or fact contracts independently in your daily life, such as using vending machines, taking transportation, entering garden places, etc.
(4) Sign a contract to dispose of free property, such as tuition fees, travel expenses and other property to be used and disposed of by legal representatives;
(5) Other contracts agreed by the legal representative. According to the original legal provisions and theories of our country, the signing of a contract by a legal person is strictly restricted by its purpose, purpose, articles of association and business scope, and the contract beyond the business scope is invalid. This practice has been criticized by theory and developed.
Please read the above carefully when encountering such problems. Then I hope that the answer provided to you can solve your problem. If your situation is complicated, you can also provide online consulting services for lawyers.