Signature - Definition - Law Dictionary Home Dictionary Definition signature

Definition :

Signature, a sign or mark impressed upon anything; a stamp, a mark; the name of a person written by himself either in full or by initials as regards his Christian name or names, and in full as regards his surname, or by initials only [In the goods of Blewitt, (1880) 5 PD 116], or by mark only, though he can write, Baker v. Dening, (1838) 8 Ad&E 94.

Signature is required to authenticate a will (see WILL), a deed after 1925 (Law of Property Act, 1925, s. 73), a guarantee and other documents mentioned in the Statute of Frauds (see FRAUDS, STATUTE OF), and a risk note within the meaning of the seventh s. of the Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1854 (see RISK NOTE). Pleadings must be signed by counsel if settled by him, and if not, by the solicitor or the party; R.S.C. 1883, Ord. XIX., r. 4. No fee to counsel is allowed on taxation unless vouched by his signature, Ibid., Ord. LXV., r. 27, reg. 52.

When signature by an agent is permissible, the writing of the name of the principal by the agent is regarded as the signature of the principal himself. If on a construction of a statute signature by an agent is not found permissible then the writing of the name of the principal by the agent however clearly he may have been authorised by the principal cannot possibly be regarded as the signature of the principle for the purposes of that statute. If a statute requires personal signature of a person which includes a mark, the signature or the mark must be that of the man himself. There must be physical contract between that person and the signature or the mark put on the document, Commissioner of Agricultural Income Tax v. Keshab Chandra Mandal, AIR 1950 SC 265 (271). [General Clauses Act, 1897, s. 3(56)]