[FILECOpyI UNITED NATIONSlnfltENCE ANDTERM.IN.OlOGY ,,*,I·r l.' ,.1.;'5.,returntoroom....,...'_._...._...._-.----•• GENERAL ASSEMBLYDistr: GENERAL A/CN.9/333 18May1990 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH J. UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW Twenty-third session NewYork,25June- 6July1990 ELECTRONIC DATAINTERCHANGE Preliminary studyoflegalissuesrelated to theformation ofcontracts byelectronic means ReportoftheSecretary-General CONTENTS INTRODUCTION . . • . A.General remarksTHEREQUIREMENT OFAWRITING 1.Therequirement todraw,deliver, sendor storedocuments onsignedpapersParagraphs Page 1 -9 3 10 -47 5 10 - 14 5 15 - 19 6 20 -28 8 21 - 25 8 26 - 28 9 29 - 41 9 30 35 9 3637 11 3841 11Evidence(a)Application tocontracts (b)Extenttowhichitisanobstacle toEDI (a)Evidence incivillawcountries (b)Evidence incommonlawcountries (c)Evidence inaccounting andtaxlaw2.B. Acomparative surveyofEuropean legislation: TheTEDISstudy • • . • . • • . . . •1. 5369T V.90-84622A/CN.9/333 English Page2 Paragraphs Page C.ThereportoftheAmerican BarAssociation 11.OTHERLEGALISSUES RELATED TOTHEFORMATION OFCONTRACTS •.••• . . . . .42 - 47 48 - 7612 13 A. B. C. D. E. F.Acknowledgement ofreceipt ofmessages Authentication ofmessages Consent, offerandacceptance General conditions Timeandplaceofformation ofthecontract Riskoffailure ofcommunication48 - 49 50 - 59 60 - 64 65 - 68 69 - 75 7613 13 16 17 17 19 Ill.COMMUNICATION RULESANDAGREEMENTS 77 - 89 19 A. B.TheUNCIDRules Modelcommunication agreements82 - 86 87 - 8920 21 CONCLUSION . • • • • . • • • . • . . . • . 90 22 • •• • "A/CN.9/333 English Page3 INTRODUCTION 1.TheCommission atitsseventeenth session in1984decided toplacethe subject ofthelegalimplications ofautomatic dataprocessing totheflowof international tradeonitsprogramme ofworkasapriority item.1/Itdidso afterconsideration ofareportoftheSecretary-General ontheLegalAspects ofAutomatic DataProcessing ~/whichidentified several legalissues, namely thoseofthelegalvalueofcomputer records, therequirement ofawriting, authentication, general conditions, liability andbillsoflading. 2.Atitseighteenth session in1985,theCommission hadbeforeitareport bytheSecretariat ontheLegalValueofComputer Records (hereinafter referred toas"the1985report").:J./ Thisreport cametotheconclusion that,on agloballevel,therewerefewerproblems intheuseofdatastored incomputers asevidence inlitigation thanmighthavebeenexpected. It notedthatamoreserious legalobstacle totheuseofcomputers and computer-to-computer telecommunications ininternational tradearoseoutof requirements thatdocuments besignedorthatdocuments beinpaperform. Afterdiscussion ofthereport, theCommission adopted thefollowing recommendation: "TheUnitedNations Commission onInternational TradeLaw, "Noting thattheuseofautomatic dataprocessing (ADP)isaboutto becomefirmlyestablished throughout theworldinmanyphasesofdomestic