Submission to the Law Commission Call for Evidence on Smart Contracts

Abstract

On 17 December 2020, the Law Commission for England and Wales opened a public call for evidence on the topic of the existing law's ability to adequately regulate smart contracts. This Submission is a response to that call for evidence. It addresses the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (the CISG), which although not yet adopted by the UK, still has (on the existing state of the law) the capacity to regulate contracts entered into by UK traders. This Submission addresses the CISG's contract formation rules, and application rules, as they relate to smart contracts: and in doing so responds to the two corresponding chapters in the Law Commission's call for evidence.