Judge admits thumb emoji is valid way to seal contract - El Derecho

Judge admits thumb emoji is valid way to seal contract – El Derecho

Posted On: September 18, 2023

“Emojis” are used daily in instant message communication, whether via social networks, instant messaging applications or SMS.

A Canadian judge has ruled that the thumbs-up emoji can be recognized as a valid means of sealing a contract, equivalent to a signature, since it is a common method of communication and courts should not ” trying to stop the technological and common wave.” to use”.

“Emojis” are used daily in instant message communication, whether via social networks, instant messaging applications or SMS. In this sense, these symbols which imitate everyday gestures such as smiling faces or handshakes have now become part of the common language of users.

In this context, a Canadian judge ruled in a recent case that sending a message with the thumbs-up emoji can be interpreted as a valid means of formally sealing a contract.

In fact, this same judge emphasized that, although it is a new method, it is a “valid” way of transmitting the purposes of a signature, since it is a matter of a common means of communication and that the courts “cannot and should not try to stop the technological wave.

This is reflected in the summary documents of the trial mentioned in this case, in which a farmer and a flax buyer clashed over an unfulfilled contract and which ended up in favor of the buyer, who will have to receive 82,000 Canadian dollars. dollars (around 5,642 euros) by the farmer.

Specifically, the case took place in a King’s Bench court, in the province of Saskatchewan (Canada) where, as noted, a farmer responded with the thumbs-up ’emoji’ to a message in which he sent a contract purchasing linen. The buyer thought it was a contract validation message, but the farmer disagreed: “I just wanted to indicate that I received your SMS,” he said.

As noted, the buyer sent the contract for said purchase via message, followed by the text “confirm linen contract”. After that, the farmer responded with “the emoji,” and there was no further interaction between the two. In fact, the agreed linen was not delivered.

The farmer claimed that the buyer had not sent him the full terms and conditions of the contract and, in this regard, he understood that the full contract would later be sent to him by email. He therefore sent the “emoji” with the intention of making it clear that “he had received the message” but denies “having accepted the thumbs-up emoji as a digital signature of the incomplete contract”.

However, the case, entrusted to Canadian judge Timothy Keene, was settled in favor of the buyer, since the thumb “emoji” is recognized as a means of sealing a contract, as it is a symbol that implies acceptance and which is commonly used.

“This court readily recognizes that an ’emoji’ is a non-traditional means of signing a document, but nevertheless, in these circumstances it was a valid means of conveying the dual purposes of a signature and of expressing acceptance of the linen contract.”, said the judge.

So, regarding its validity as a signature, Keene clarified that the signer can be identified using their unique telephone number as a record.

In this regard, the farmer’s lawyer said that by accepting this thumb “emoji” as a form of “identity and acceptance”, they are “opening the doors” to allow the presentation of a more large number of cases that require interpretations of what the different “emojis” are. .

“The courts will be inundated with all sorts of cases if this court decides that the thumbs-up emoji can replace a signature,” the farmer’s lawyer stressed. To which Justice Keene clarified that this appears to be “the new reality of Canadian society” and that, therefore, the courts “will have to be prepared to face the new challenges that could arise from the use of emojis and other “.