1June 1996 14, the 29th annual meeting of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law adopted the Model Law on Electronic Commerce. The model law allows trading parties to transmit information, sign sales contracts and transfer ownership of goods by electronic means. In this way, data messages that have no legal effect in the past will be recognized by law as well as written documents. The adoption of this law provides a legal guarantee for the "paperless operation" of international trade.
On the whole, the Model Law on Electronic Commerce formulated by the United Nations Commission on Trade Law in five years belongs to the basic law type of electronic commerce, which is divided into two parts: general provisions and specific provisions. The general provisions focus on the legal effect of data messages, and make basic provisions on the concept, legal effect, sending and receiving of data messages and their ownership.
(1) Main contents of the Model Law on Electronic Commerce
The Model Law on Electronic Commerce is divided into two parts. The first part deals with the general aspects of e-commerce, with three chapters 15 articles, and the second part has only one chapter and two articles, involving e-commerce used in cargo transportation.
Chapter 1 "General Clauses" includes four clauses: scope of application, definition, interpretation and modification of agreement. Chapter II "Legal Requirements for the Application of Data Messages" includes the legal recognition, written form, signature, original, acceptability and evidential effect of data messages, and the reservation of data messages; Chapter III "Transmission of Data Messages" includes five clauses: conclusion and effectiveness of contracts, recognition of data messages by the parties, ownership, confirmation, time and place of receipt, sending and receiving data messages.
(1) Scope of application: This Law is applicable to any information in the form of data messages used in commercial activities. Includes various communication means for generating, storing or transmitting information based on electronic technology, and is not limited to a specific form or means. The law holds that "business" includes all matters arising from all business relationships, whether contractual or non-contractual. Relationships of a commercial nature include, but are not limited to, the following transactions: any trade transaction, distribution agreement, business representative or agent, customer account agent, lease, factory construction, consultation, engineering design, licensing trade, investment, financing, banking, insurance, development agreement or franchise, joint venture or other forms of industrial or commercial cooperation, as well as passenger and goods transportation by air, sea, rail or road.
(2) definition. "Data message" refers to information generated, stored or transmitted by electronic means, optical means or similar means, including but not limited to electronic data interchange, e-mail, telegram, telex or fax; "Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)" refers to the transmission of electronic information between computers that use agreed standards to specify the information structure. The "originator" of a data message can be defined as: (a) the person who sent or generated the data message; (b) the person on whose behalf the data message is sent or generated; (c) the person who stores the data message; (d) but does not include a person who processes data messages as an intermediary. The "addressee" of a data message refers to the person who the originator intends to receive the data message. "Intermediary" refers to the person who sends, receives or stores the data message or provides other services related to the data message on behalf of others. "Information system" refers to the person who generates, sends, receives, stores or otherwise processes data messages.
(3) Legal recognition of data messages. Article 5 stipulates that a piece of information shall not be denied its legal effect, validity or enforceability just because it is in the form of a data message. Data messages should not be discriminated against, and data messages and written documents should be treated equally.
(4) written form requirements. Article 6 of the Model Law stipulates that if the law requires information to be in writing, or stipulates the consequences of information not being in writing, that requirement is satisfied as long as the information contained in the data message can be retrieved for future reference. As we know, non-paper data messages generated by e-commerce are very different from traditional written documents, including written contracts, agreements, invoices, receipts and other written documents, which are expressed in tangible paper and words and have tangible characteristics. If the document can be read, it can be signed with a pen to prove that it is legal and valid. Data information is expressed by computer calling file information stored in disk and using words displayed on screen. The medium of electronic files is computer hard disk or floppy disk. UNCITRAL has expanded the definition of "writing" in the law to include electronic data in writing. This method can be called functional equivalence method, that is, anything that meets the function of written form, whether it is "paper" or "electronic data", can be regarded as written form. It can be seen that the most basic requirement of the model law for data messages is that information can be read or copied.