Press Release ECE/TRADE/00/2
Geneva, 31 March 2000
First legal
framework for Internet
UN/CEFACT adopts revolutionary
Recommendation
At the United Nations Centre for Trade
Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) meeting held in Geneva from 27 to 30 March 2000, a new standard form of agreement was adopted.
"What is revolutionary about this agreement is first that it sets up some basic
mechanics for electronic commerce – business to business and business to consumer
transactions" says David Marsh, Legal
Liaison Rapporteur to UN/CEFACT. "Second that it can be applied to all electronic
media, be it Internet, e-mail, faxes, telexes…"
This document and its explanatory notes,
known as Recommendation No. 31 of UN/CEFACT, defines a number of rules which can be
used by business partners in their relations with each other even if they are complete
strangers. It further can be used as the template for contractual document.
The document defines a set of rules such
as: how do you acknowledge messages? when is a message legally received? Is it when it
goes into the receivers’ mail box, when the receiver takes it out from his or her
mailbox or when the sender originally sends it out? How and when should you respond to a
message? When and how will a message be recognized as being valid so that it will be
acceptable to a court? The document also contains references to jurisdiction and dispute
resolution processes to be applied.
It has default provisions. For example, if
the parties do not identify a jurisdiction then the contract will be subject to national
law of the person offering to contract.
"The new interchange protocol tries
to create a template, an environment, which allows electronic commerce to have a degree of
safety in those areas where there are no clear guidelines to be applied. It brings to the
world of electronic commerce a simple process applicable to all electronic transmissions.
It brings to business the option of creating a legal basis for future transactions"
explains Hans Hansell, Deputy Director of the Trade
Division, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
For more information, please
contact:
Mr. David Marsh |
Ms. Vlasta Macku |
|
Legal Liaison Rapporteur to UN/CEFACT |
UN/CEFACT |
Needham & Grant (Wragge & Co.)
London |
United Nations Economic Commission
for Europe (UN/ECE), Geneva |
Tel: +44 207 242 58 66 |
Tel: +41 22 907 62 27 |
Fax: +44 207 831 82 54 |
Fax: +41 22 907 00 37 |
E-mail: [email protected] |
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: http://www.uncefact.org |
In order to provide you with a better
service, we would appreciate it if you would send a copy of your article to: Information Unit, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE), Palais des
Nations, Room 356, CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland,
Tel: +(41 22) 917 44 44, Fax: +(41 22) 917
05 05,E-mail: [email protected],
Website: http://www.unece.org
Thank you. |