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UNCITRAL Model Law on Automated Contracting finalized by the UN Commission on International Trade Law
The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) adopted the UNCITRAL Model Law on Automated Contracting (the “Model Law”) at its 57th session in New York.
The Model Law provides a legal framework to enable the use of automation in contracts, including the use of artificial intelligence technologies (AI) and “Smart Contracts”, as well as for machine-to-machine transactions. It is intended to complement and supplement existing laws on electronic contracting, particularly those based on other UNCITRAL texts on electronic commerce. These have already been adopted in over a hundred jurisdictions worldwide. The Model Law is the first piece of legislation to emerge from UNCITRAL's exploratory work on legal issues relating to the digital economy and digital commerce. One of its primary objectives is to reduce legal uncertainties and transaction costs, thus promoting AI-driven innovation. Meanwhile, work continues on related areas, such as data contracts and distributed ledger technology (blockchain).
The text of the Model Law and accompanying guide to enactment will be available on the Electronic Commerce page in due course: https://uncitral.un.org/en/texts/ecommerce
The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) is the core legal body of the United Nations system in the field of international trade law. Its mandate is to remove legal obstacles to international trade by progressively modernizing and harmonizing trade law. It prepares legal texts in a number of key areas such as international commercial dispute settlement, electronic commerce, insolvency, international payments, sale of goods, transport law, procurement and infrastructure development. UNCITRAL also provides technical assistance to law reform activities, including assisting Member States to review and assess their law reform needs and to draft the legislation required to implement UNCITRAL texts. The UNCITRAL Secretariat is located in Vienna, Austria
2024-11-22, EE