Smart-Contracts in the digital economy: Contractual regulation and dispute resolution

This article has been prepared for the research purpose of identifying, disclosing, and justifying certain trends in the development of civil law and procedures in the context of the spread of smart contract practices and the expansion of their spheres of application. At the moment, there is no unif...

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Main Authors: S. A. Sinitsyn, M. O. Diakonova, T. I. Chursina
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Цифровое право 2021-12-01
Series:Цифровое право
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.digitallawjournal.org/jour/article/view/74
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author S. A. Sinitsyn
M. O. Diakonova
T. I. Chursina
author_facet S. A. Sinitsyn
M. O. Diakonova
T. I. Chursina
author_sort S. A. Sinitsyn
collection DOAJ
description This article has been prepared for the research purpose of identifying, disclosing, and justifying certain trends in the development of civil law and procedures in the context of the spread of smart contract practices and the expansion of their spheres of application. At the moment, there is no uniform approach to choosing an optimal form for the legal regulation of smart contracts within the system of contract law in modern legal systems or international law; meanwhile, globalization and the digitalization of the economy imply the growth of cross-border transactions. The emergence of smart contracts is due to the development of e-commerce, in which the parties’ interactions are carried out electronically instead of in physical exchanges or direct physical contact. Smart contracts gaining popularity in circulation are based on two interrelated elements: firstly, they eliminate a person’s direct participation in some or all cases of executing the agreement using an automated code designed for execution without reference to the intentions of the contracting parties after publication; secondly, they make use of decentralized blockchain technology, and also provide automatic code execution without any party’s potential intervention, so as to eliminate or reduce the self-control and third-party control of the commitment.This study examines the content, conclusion, validity, protection of rights and legitimate interests of the parties, interpretation, and legal nature of smart contracts. The research materials used foreign experience in resolving disputes from smart contracts on digital platforms (Kleros, JUR, Aragon Network Justice, OpenCourt, OpenBazaar), as well as domestic and foreign literature on smart contracts. This research has been prepared based on general (deduction, dialectical analysis, intersectoral relations of objects) and specialized (comparative-legal, economic-legal) methods of scientific experimentation.The authors conclude that there are no grounds for considering a smart contract as a new classification element of the system of contractual regulation (type or kind of contract). In addition, the analysis shows that the resolution of smart contract disputes through digital platforms remains radically uncertain, and currently is not creating obvious advantages in comparison with traditional judicial proceedings.
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spelling doaj-art-edb43bfd19d3437a95b6a5a9cfbd10d72025-08-03T13:09:45ZengЦифровое правоЦифровое право2686-91362021-12-0124405010.38044/2686-9136-2021-2-4-40-5050Smart-Contracts in the digital economy: Contractual regulation and dispute resolutionS. A. Sinitsyn0M. O. Diakonova1T. I. Chursina2Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of the Russian FederationInstitute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of the Russian FederationInstitute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of the Russian FederationThis article has been prepared for the research purpose of identifying, disclosing, and justifying certain trends in the development of civil law and procedures in the context of the spread of smart contract practices and the expansion of their spheres of application. At the moment, there is no uniform approach to choosing an optimal form for the legal regulation of smart contracts within the system of contract law in modern legal systems or international law; meanwhile, globalization and the digitalization of the economy imply the growth of cross-border transactions. The emergence of smart contracts is due to the development of e-commerce, in which the parties’ interactions are carried out electronically instead of in physical exchanges or direct physical contact. Smart contracts gaining popularity in circulation are based on two interrelated elements: firstly, they eliminate a person’s direct participation in some or all cases of executing the agreement using an automated code designed for execution without reference to the intentions of the contracting parties after publication; secondly, they make use of decentralized blockchain technology, and also provide automatic code execution without any party’s potential intervention, so as to eliminate or reduce the self-control and third-party control of the commitment.This study examines the content, conclusion, validity, protection of rights and legitimate interests of the parties, interpretation, and legal nature of smart contracts. The research materials used foreign experience in resolving disputes from smart contracts on digital platforms (Kleros, JUR, Aragon Network Justice, OpenCourt, OpenBazaar), as well as domestic and foreign literature on smart contracts. This research has been prepared based on general (deduction, dialectical analysis, intersectoral relations of objects) and specialized (comparative-legal, economic-legal) methods of scientific experimentation.The authors conclude that there are no grounds for considering a smart contract as a new classification element of the system of contractual regulation (type or kind of contract). In addition, the analysis shows that the resolution of smart contract disputes through digital platforms remains radically uncertain, and currently is not creating obvious advantages in comparison with traditional judicial proceedings.https://www.digitallawjournal.org/jour/article/view/74smart-contractprotection of rights under smart-contractsdispute resolutionarbitrationdigital platforms
spellingShingle S. A. Sinitsyn
M. O. Diakonova
T. I. Chursina
Smart-Contracts in the digital economy: Contractual regulation and dispute resolution
Цифровое право
smart-contract
protection of rights under smart-contracts
dispute resolution
arbitration
digital platforms
title Smart-Contracts in the digital economy: Contractual regulation and dispute resolution
title_full Smart-Contracts in the digital economy: Contractual regulation and dispute resolution
title_fullStr Smart-Contracts in the digital economy: Contractual regulation and dispute resolution
title_full_unstemmed Smart-Contracts in the digital economy: Contractual regulation and dispute resolution
title_short Smart-Contracts in the digital economy: Contractual regulation and dispute resolution
title_sort smart contracts in the digital economy contractual regulation and dispute resolution
topic smart-contract
protection of rights under smart-contracts
dispute resolution
arbitration
digital platforms
url https://www.digitallawjournal.org/jour/article/view/74
work_keys_str_mv AT sasinitsyn smartcontractsinthedigitaleconomycontractualregulationanddisputeresolution
AT modiakonova smartcontractsinthedigitaleconomycontractualregulationanddisputeresolution
AT tichursina smartcontractsinthedigitaleconomycontractualregulationanddisputeresolution