Countersignature

in the state law of some bourgeois states, the signing by the premier or other authorized minister of a normative act of parliament or of the head of state, thereby giving the act legal force. Countersignature is provided for in the constitutions of all bourgeois parliamentary countries (for example, the Italian Constitution, art. 89). In France since 1962, that is, since the institution of direct presidential elections, presidential decrees do not enter into force without countersignature by the premier. The most important decrees of the French premier must, in turn, have the countersignature of the appropriate ministers as a sign of their agreement with the given decree.

Countersignature

A second signature by a second person on a document. Countersignatures exist for authentication. For example, the prime minister may be required to countersign a law the president approves in order to guarantee approval. Likewise, a witness may countersign a will to show that it really represents the testator's wishes.

countersignature