do business in the Dominican Republic - Pellerano & Herrera

DOING BUSINESS INTHE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC6ELECTRONICCOMMERCEELECTRONIC COMMERCEBackground and ObjectivesLaw 126-02 on Electronic Commerce, Digital Documents and Signatures waspassed on 4 September 2002. The application regulations of Law 126-02 wereapproved by Decree 335-03 of 8 April 2003, after a consultation process with theparticipation of international experts, and interested economic sectors.This legislation is a part of the efforts of the Dominican Government to adapt itslegal framework to the new realities and to enable the country to benefit fromthe wide advantages that new digital technologies offer for promoting economicactivity and transacting business within a global context.It should be noted here that Dominican Republic, aware of the importance ofthese processes, grants particular attention to global efforts aimed at harmonisinglegal frameworks in order to encourage the use of the digital vehicle and promoteelectronic commerce. Therefore, the country had an active participation in theWorld Summit of the Information Society held in the year 2004. In this regard, onJanuary 2003 took place in the country the Regional Preparatory Conference forLatin America and the Caribbean of that event, where a common position of thecountries of the region was established in respect of the topics of the summit.The legal framework of electronic commerce acknowledges that new technologiesare transforming traditional business practices by allowing trade systems tointerconnect directly, and that the possibility to make business transaction byelectronic means serves to promote the creation and increase of services whilereducing transaction costs, thus being a key factor commercial promotion andparticipation in global markets.Therefore, it recognises that in order to be able tobenefit from the advantages of electronic commerce and promote its growth, itis necessary to grant statutory security to such transactions by providing legalrecognition of digital signatures and data messages,particularly when the volumeof electronic exchange has significantly grown in the Dominican Republic.More specifically, its objectives are the following:To make easier electronic commerce within and among nations.To validate inter parties transactions made by using new informationtechnologies.To promote and support technological developments linked to electroniccommerce, and to promote the use of such services and to spread their usethroughout the population.Law 126-02 is based on the model laws drafted by the United Nations Commissionon International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), and regulates the notions of original,preservation, data messages and digital documents in order to provide them withlegal force.The application regulations deal with the conditions of use of digitalsignatures,as opposed to electronic signatures,providing the requirements for theestablishment of certification entities and regulating certificates of digital signatureand non-registered entities.120