12. No deed, document or writing shall bind the department or be attributed to the Minister unless signed by him, the Deputy Minister, or another functionary but, in the case of such other functionary, only to the extent determined by regulation of the Gouvernement published in the Gazette officielle du Québec.
The Gouvernement may, however, on the conditions it fixes, allow the required signature to be affixed by means of an automatic device to such documents as it determines.
The Gouvernement may also allow a facsimile of the required signature to be engraved, lithographed or printed on such documents as it determines; in such case, the facsimile shall have the same force as the signature itself if the document is countersigned by a person authorized by the Minister.