The second of my papers delivered at the APEC workshop is also available here at the APEC website. It is "Blockchain and Online Dispute Resolution" (2018/SOM1/EC/WKSP2/017).
The paper considers the possible impact of the blockchain technology on the ODR rule making. It foresees that the world of online market will gradually flatten. Thus, the domination of big and powerful enterprises in the current hub-and-spoke model may be eroded with the emergence of the sharing economy model where MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) will have a growing profile. This trend may be accelerated in the future, with the blockchain technology facilitating the P2P model where consumer-to-consumer transactions will also increase.
In this process, the characterization of consumers as the weaker parties will become less real or relevant, rendering consumer protection less of legislative priority in the ODR rule-making. This will be particularly significant in view of the great difficulties experienced in the earlier work of UNCITRAL on ODR which had been caused by legislative preoccupation with consumer protection.
Wednesday, 14 March 2018
Blockchain and Smart Contract for Contract Management (Dispute Prevention, Generation and Resolution)
A workshop on developing an ODR framework was organized by the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Economic Committee on 3-4 March 2018 at Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea). I was invited by the Department of Justice of Hong Kong to deliver two papers.
The first paper "Blockchain and Smart Contract for Contract Management (Dispute Prevention, Generation and Resolution)" (2018/SOM1/EC/WKSP2/005) is now published here on the APEC website.
The title is mouthful as it lists all the elements flagged by the organizers. After comparing and contrasting smart contracts with computer codes running in a central server, the paper notes that "smart contracts" are not contracts in the legal sense and considers their implications for contract management and dispute prevention. It alerts that the features of smart contracts are prone to generate disputes which often involve novel legal issues. The paper concludes with a brief comment on the potential use of smart contracts in dispute resolution.
The first paper "Blockchain and Smart Contract for Contract Management (Dispute Prevention, Generation and Resolution)" (2018/SOM1/EC/WKSP2/005) is now published here on the APEC website.
The title is mouthful as it lists all the elements flagged by the organizers. After comparing and contrasting smart contracts with computer codes running in a central server, the paper notes that "smart contracts" are not contracts in the legal sense and considers their implications for contract management and dispute prevention. It alerts that the features of smart contracts are prone to generate disputes which often involve novel legal issues. The paper concludes with a brief comment on the potential use of smart contracts in dispute resolution.
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