Posted on: 16 March 2022
The Law Commission has published its recommendations and draft legislation to allow for the legal recognition of electronic versions of trade documents such as bills of lading and bills of exchange.
The Law Commission’s recommendations identify criteria that trade documents in electronic form would need to meet so that they can fulfill the same functions as paper documents. The aim of the recommendations is to enable electronic trade documents to be used as alternatives to, and be treated in law in the same way as, their paper counterparts.
If implemented, this change would increase efficiency and reduce the operating costs of trade, whilst also enhancing the reputation of the law of England and Wales as the go-to choice of law for global trade contracts and maintaining England and Wales as a pre-eminent jurisdiction for the resolution of disputes.
The report has been laid before Parliament. It will be for Government to decide whether to implement the recommendations. The Government has however already indicated that it intends to introduce relevant legislation when parliamentary time allows.
The report and the draft legislation, as well as a summary of the report, can be downloaded at https://www.lawcom.gov.uk/project/electronic-trade-documents/.
