Endorsement

Endorsement (spelt "indorsement" in UK statutes) is how an order document of title, such as a to-order bill of lading, is transferred together with delivery. The UK Explanatory Notes to the Electronic Trade Documents Act 2023 describe it as an annotation instructing that the obligation be performed to the order of a named person or simply "to order". On paper it is traditionally written on the back of the document. Article 15 of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR, 2017) provides that a legal requirement for endorsement in any form is met if the required information is included in the electronic transferable record and satisfies the Model Law's writing and signature rules (articles 8 and 9). The Explanatory Note says the article covers every form requirement, including endorsement on the back or by allonge, and that "included in" also covers information logically associated with the record. In the United Kingdom, section 3(1) of the Electronic Trade Documents Act 2023 states that a person may "possess, indorse and part with possession of" an electronic trade document. The Explanatory Notes add that an electronic indorsement is valid wherever it is located, because an electronic document may have no "back".