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The UK Law Commission confirms that smart contracts are governed by English and Welsh law

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  • The release stated The Law Commission’s examination indicates the common law’s flexibility to embrace technological advancements, notably in the context of smart legal contracts
  • The Law Commission only advocated incremental growth of the common law for current frameworks, but it also encouraged smart contract parties to describe risks related to code performance and any other essential conditions
  • The release stated The Law Commission’s examination indicates the common law’s flexibility to embrace technological advancements, notably in the context of smart legal contracts

The release stated The Law Commission’s examination indicates the common law’s flexibility to embrace technological advancements, notably in the context of smart legal contracts. The United Kingdom Law Commission, which is responsible for reviewing and recommending modifications to the country’s laws, has said that smart legal contracts in the digital asset area do not require statutory law reform in England and Wales. 

According to a statement released on Thursday, the Commission stated smart contracts made with distributed ledger technology are lawful in England and Wales. 

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The Law Commission only advocated incremental growth of the common law for current frameworks, but it also encouraged smart contract parties to describe risks related to code performance and any other essential conditions. 

The Commission’s findings were based on the findings of the UK Jurisdiction Taskforce, which recognized smart contracts as enforceable agreements under local laws in 2019 and classified crypto assets as tradeable property. However, the organization stated that it planned to collaborate with the UK government on a project in 2022 to examine any potential legal difficulties relating to future technologies.

The release stated The Law Commission’s examination indicates the common law’s flexibility to embrace technological advancements, notably in the context of smart legal contracts. It reaffirms that England and Wales’ jurisdiction provides an exceptional foundation for business and innovation. As smart legal contracts become more common, the Commission expects the market to generate established practices and model provisions that parties may use to streamline the process of negotiating and writing their smart legal contracts, the Commission said.

Despite the apparent need for a framework in cross-border transactions and other acts impacting more than one nation, determining whether regulations and laws apply to new industries, including cryptocurrencies and blockchain, has mainly been left to individual countries. 

Some in public and private sectors have suggested that regulatory scrutiny and crackdowns will help the crypto space in the long run, while others argue that authorities should adapt current frameworks to digital assets rather than the other way around.

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