In the legal field of Russian legislation, there are many gaps in the part regarding actions practiced in reality, but not properly covered in regulatory documents. Because of these white spots, many questions and legal disputes arise, and one of these problems is the use of facsimiles.
Facsimile refers to a special stamp that copies a sample of someone’s painting. Most often, a facsimile signature is used by officials to simplify workflow. Moreover, the law, without giving a clear definition of its use, recognizes the facsimile reproduction of a signature as an analogue of a handwritten one. It is precisely because of such a disagreement in the legislative base that negative legal consequences arise.
It would seem common life situations. The manager’s signature is urgently needed, but he is not in place, and none of those present has the right to sign. Or, for example, the head was brought to endorse a stack of documents whose height is measured in centimeters. At first glance, the ideal solution would be to use a facsimile signature. This is where the potential danger of using a cliché lies. Hypothetically, facsimiles, stamps, even absolutely exactly copying the official’s signature, cannot testify to his personal decision to assume obligations within the meaning of the signed document.
The current office management standards (Unified State Service for Standardization and the State Social Audit Office) indicate the need for a personal signature on the documents, without specifying how it is affixed - with your own hand or using facsimiles. On the other hand, the only normative act that at least somehow regulates the use of facsimiles is the Civil Code. It determines that a facsimile signature can only be used when concluding civil transactions by agreement of the parties and legally. Therefore, in the case of long-term trusting relationships between business partners, it is possible to legalize the use of cliché signatures in the document flow. To do this, it is enough to draw up an additional agreement between the parties or to include a clause on the use of facsimiles in the text of the mutual agreement.
You should pay attention to a number of unconditional restrictions on the use of cliches when signing documents. In accordance with a number of regulatory acts, facsimiles cannot be used for processing financial documents, in financial statements and in payment documents. Powers of attorney and bills without a handwritten signature are expressly recognized as invalid. It is also not possible to use cliché signatures on primary accounting documents and unified documents on labor accounting.
A lot of controversial issues arise if the facsimile signature is affixed to invoices. The RF Ministry of Finance and tax specialists are categorically against similar liberties, despite the emerging arbitration practice of resolving similar disputes in courts. Today, judges take the side of the taxpayer and indicate that there is no prohibition of legislation on the use of facsimiles when issuing invoices.
Certain difficulties in using a facsimile print arise when conducting internal document management. In order to avoid troubles and misunderstandings, separate points should be provided in the internal instructions for paperwork and indicate in which cases the facsimile is used, where it is stored and who has the right to use it. In any case, if any serious consequences arise due to the use of the cliché, you will have to substantiate your opinion on the lawfulness of its use in court.
In a word, the risk of using a cliche is great, and in the light of the ambiguous interpretation of the legislation, its benefits become doubtful. Therefore, for most officials, a facsimile signature serves only to confirm respectability and is used when signing congratulations, invitations, newsletters and certificates, as well as on certified copies of documents.