UNIS/L/362
15 July 2024
VIENNA, 15 July (UN Information Service) – 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 international contracts, including through the deployment of artificial intelligence techniques and “smart contracts”, as well as in machine-to-machine transactions. It is intended to complement and supplement existing laws on electronic transactions, in particular those based on other UNCITRAL electronic commerce texts, which have been enacted in over one hundred jurisdictions worldwide. The Model Law is the first legislative text to result from exploratory work conducted by UNCITRAL on legal issues related to the digital economy and digital trade, with work on data contracts and distributed ledger technology ongoing.
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.
Additional information about the work of UNCITRAL can be found on its website: uncitral.un.org.
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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. For more information, visit: uncitral.un.org
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For information, please contact:
José Angelo Estrella-Faria
Principal Legal Officer and Head, Legislative Branch
UNCITRAL Secretariat
Email: joseangelo.estrella-faria@un.org
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