Digital Signatures in an Analog Procedural Culture

Abstract

Digital signatures have been celebrated as a milestone in Bolivia's legal modernization following the enactment of Law 164. They were introduced as tools capable of ensuring authenticity, identification and traceability with a level of precision that often exceeds the traditional handwritten signature, even one notarized. Yet this technological advance runs into a classification problem: in evidentiary, procedural and registry matters, its effectiveness often depends on judicial interpretation because neither the Civil Code nor the Rules of Civil Procedure expressly recognizes digitally signed documents as public instruments. In a legal culture where paper instruments retain their presumptive primacy, the system continues to demand a physical signature. This article examines that omission and proposes targeted reforms to align Bolivia's civil and procedural codes with its digital framework.