This is stated by the panel of judges of the Supreme Court of Cassation in the case No. 922/788/19.

In the circumstances of the case, the plaintiff went to court for failure to comply with the delivery contract. The defendant, he is the supplier of products, in turn, substantiated his arguments by referring to the printout screenshots of e-mail correspondence with the plaintiff.

The trial court, agreed by the Court of Appeal and, later, the Court of Cassation, concluded that electronic correspondence between the parties to the case could not be regarded as proper written evidence.

Yes, printing an e-mail may not be considered an electronic document (copies of electronic documents) within the meaning of Article 5 of the Law of Ukraine "On Electronic Documents and Electronic Document Management", according to which an electronic document is a document in which information is recorded in the form of electronic data, including required details of the document.

According to part. 1, 2 of Article 6 of the Law of Ukraine "On Electronic Documents and Electronic Document Management", electronic signature is a mandatory requisite of an electronic document, which is used to identify the author and / or sign the electronic document to other subjects of electronic document circulation. An electronic signature overlay completes the creation of the electronic document.

Thus, without a digital signature attached, an electronic document cannot be considered created and therefore cannot be considered by the court as evidence.