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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Article
“SMART” CONTRACT ON THE BLOCKCHAIN-PARADIGM SHIFT FOR CONTRACT LAW?
Author(s)
Jerry I-H Hsiao, Ph.D.
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DOI:10.17265/1548-6605/2017.10.002
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ABSTRACT
Combining
law, computer science and finance in unprecedented ways, “smart” contract has
the potential to reshape our understanding of contract law. Based on blockchain
technology, a “smart” contract is a contract captured in code, which
automatically performs the obligations the parties have committed to in the
agreement. By removing the need for direct human involvement, once a “smart”
contract has been deployed on to a trustless public ledger (TPL), the computer
program could make contractual relationship more efficient and economical with
potentially fewer opportunities for error, delay or dispute. Despite the
promises, there remains significant technical and legal issues around this
nascent technology that need to be resolved. This paper begins with an
introduction to “smart” contract and the concept of blockchain technology, it
will continue to discuss whether “smart” contract fits within the current
contract law or we should expand a new set of laws for this new technology.
This paper argues that “smart” contract might not disrupt our current
understanding of contract law but rather “smart” contract and “dumb” contract
(the traditional contracts), could collaborate to perfect the underpinning of
contract law.
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