Initialing

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Initialing denotes the low end approval to a contract text by attaching the initials (= initials by ). It is common in international contracts as well as in commercial legal transactions , but there primarily between business people (so-called B2B transactions ).

Initialing in legal business transactions

In legal transactions , initialing takes place predominantly on each individual page of a document or contract, in each case at the bottom right by the contracting parties involved. In practice, one or two people usually initialize each contracting party.

There are no laws or paragraphs that regulate or explain initialing. The initialing therefore has no legal effect in itself. In particular, it does not lead to the entry into force of contracts. In addition, no civil law obligations or rights are derived for the initiators. There is also no legal obligation to initialize contractual documents in legal business transactions. In this respect, the initialing does not necessarily have to be carried out by the signers of a contract, but can also be carried out by technically responsible persons (e.g. negotiators, department heads, legal department).

The main purpose of initialing is to protect multi-page documents and contracts against changing or exchanging the pages. The initialing also has the practical advantage, especially in the case of extensive contracts, of which a large number of copies are usually in circulation to accompany the implementation, that the definitive text is simply different from the often numerous draft versions that are also still in circulation can distinguish. In addition, in larger companies initialing by the responsible person is also used as a purely internal prerequisite for approval for legally binding signing by the management or authorized signatory.

Initialing international treaties

In international agreements , such as tax agreements between two countries, the negotiators provisionally determine the negotiated text of the agreement by initialing it. This initialed text is usually confidential for the time being. The initialing is usually carried out by the negotiators (e.g. foreign ministers of two states who jointly reach a written agreement). It is important that an international agreement is not already valid when it is initialed, but only when it has been ratified . Initialing is therefore only the first step towards a valid international treaty.

Procedure for initialing under international law in Switzerland (example): State agreements are only published in Switzerland after they have been signed. The Federal Council grants the authorization to sign. The international treaties must then be approved by the National Council and the Council of States. If the partner country has also approved the agreement, it can be ratified. This is the prerequisite for the entry into force, whereby the time of entry into force depends on the agreement made.

Individual evidence

  1. Swiss Confederation (2009): Example: Press release on the DBA with Kazakhstan ( memento from January 1, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) on efd.admin.ch.