you're right, it can be used to prove that a contract with both signatures existed before a date, not after. So if Alice makes an agreement with Bob, Alice can't turn around and say that the contract was only ratified after Alice failed to meet certain obligations.
Then again, digital signatures come with a timestamp, Alice could lie about that timestamp, but it would be obvious to Bob that she did.
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Or that a contract was not created before a certain date.
I think you have that one backwards. You can demonstrate a contract did exist at a certain date. There is no proof of non-existence before that date.
you're right, it can be used to prove that a contract with both signatures existed before a date, not after. So if Alice makes an agreement with Bob, Alice can't turn around and say that the contract was only ratified after Alice failed to meet certain obligations.
Then again, digital signatures come with a timestamp, Alice could lie about that timestamp, but it would be obvious to Bob that she did.
Fun to think about.