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UNCITRAL and Electronic Commerce

COLLOQUIUM ON ELECTRONIC COMMERCE 14-16 Feb 2011. UNCITRAL and Electronic Commerce. JEFFREY, WAH-TECK, CHAN, SC Chairman, UNCITRAL Working Group on Electronic Commerce (2001-2004) Deputy Solicitor-General, Singapore. UNCITRAL. Established by General Assembly in 1966

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UNCITRAL and Electronic Commerce

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  1. COLLOQUIUM ON ELECTRONIC COMMERCE 14-16 Feb 2011 UNCITRAL and Electronic Commerce JEFFREY, WAH-TECK, CHAN, SC Chairman, UNCITRAL Working Group on Electronic Commerce (2001-2004) Deputy Solicitor-General, Singapore

  2. UNCITRAL • Established by General Assembly in 1966 • recognized that disparities in national laws governing international trade created obstacles to the flow of trade • vehicle by which the United Nations could play a more active role in reducing or removing these obstacles • Mandate: to further the progressive harmonization and unification of the law of international trade • Core legal body of the United Nations system in the field of international trade law.

  3. UNCITRAL PRODUCTS • Conventions • Model Laws • Legislative Guides • Recent trends emphazises soft law, e.g. guides, over hard-law, e.g. conventions

  4. Questionable whether soft-law outcomes are aligned with mission of UNCITRAL • Conventions / Model Laws are most successful of UNCITRAL outcomes e.g. • UN Convention of the International Sales of Goods (“CISG”) • UN Convention on Carriage of Goods by Sea (“Hamburg Rules”) • UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules • Model Law on Arbitration • Model Law on Electronic Commerce.

  5. ELECTRONIC COMMERCE • Tremendous growth in use of electronic commerce for domestic transactions • Increasingly important vehicle for international trade • Enables borderless trading environment • Removing legal obstacles to electronic commerce facilitates international trade • Crucial aspect of UNCITRAL mission.

  6. UNCITRAL AND ELECTRONIC COMMERCE • UNCITRAL pioneered work on legal issues of electronic transactions • 1985 Recommendations on Legal Value of Electronic Records • Continuing work: • 1996 Model Law on Electronic Commerce • 2001 Model Law on electronic Signatures • 2005 UN Electronic Communications Communication • UNCITRAL is leading international agency on legal issues relating to electronic commerce • Repository of international expertise on legal issues relating to electronic commerce.

  7. DEVELOPMENTS SINCE 2005 • UNCITRAL Working Group on Electronic Commerce has not convened since 205 • Since 2005, numerous changes in technology as well as practices of electronic commerce • e.g. advent of MCommerce • New legal issues have arisen and must be addressed • Inc. considerations of privacy and human rights

  8. ISSUES FOR UNCITRAL • Whether to resume work and thus leadership in addressing legal issues in electronic commerce • If UNCITRAL does not do so, then other equally competent agencies may take up the challenge • But may be led by private and commercial rather that public interests • UNCITRAL would be forfeiting its leading role in this area • Loss of UNCITRAL’s institutional expertise in area of electronic commerce.

  9. CONCLUSION

  10. UNCITRAL COLLOQUIM ON ELECTRONIC COMMERCE 14-16 Feb 2011

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