It has come to my attention that my article "Implications of the Blockchain Technology for the UNCITRAL Works" had been published from the United Nations in November last year. The 50th anniversary Congress was a big occasion for UNCITRAL and it was my great honour to be part of it. Here is my article excerpted from the...

I will be presenting my thoughts on the subject above in the upcoming Congress of the UNCITRAL for the celebration of its 50th anniversary (4-6 July 2017).My paper currently on the Congress website is a version which I sent to the UNCITRAL Secretariat some months ago and which no longer represents my latest thinking...

My article, "Blockchain Technology and Electronic Bills of Lading", has examined the draft Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records and the Rotterdam Rules to see whether it is possible to interpret them in a manner compatible with blockchain-based bills of lading. What follows will note how the relevance of the blockchain...

One of the principles guiding UNCITRAL in its works in electronic commerce is the principle of technology neutrality or technological neutrality,[1] which means that the law should neither require nor assume the use of a particular technology for communicating or storing information electronically. The principle helps...

Any asset having market value will generate demand for use as a collateral. It would be possible to create security rights in a receivable which is denominated in a cryptocurrency in the same way as a receivable denominated in a fiat currency. The UNCITRAL Model Law on Secured Transactions (2016) sets forth a...

My article "Blockchain Technology and Electronic Bills of Lading" has come out from the Journal of International Maritime Law ((2016) 22 JIML 202-211). The full text is here....

Here is the powerpoint file for my presentation at the seminar "Electronisation of Transferable Documents or Instruments Used in International Trade" (10-11 March 2016) in Singapore (organised by UNCITRAL, Attorney-General’s Chambers of Singapore and the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS...

A chain of transactions of an electronic record on a blockchain looks like a chain of endorsements on a paper-based transferable document except that the transactions are anonymous. Despite the anonymity, the blockchain technology ensures a far greater security than bearer documents. I think, therefore, that the law...

There are no fewer than three different functions which electronic records transferable on a blockchain may perform with the necessary support of applicable laws. The Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records currently drafted by UNCITRAL is only applicable to a type of electronic transferable record which fulfills...

Since 2011, the UNCITRAL has been working on legal issues relating to the use of electronic transferable records. From the beginning, it envisages two approaches to establishing the identity of the person to whom an electronic transferable record is issued or transferred, namely the token model which identifies the person...

The CISG (UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods) does not expressly define what constitutes a "contract of sale." There can be little doubt, however, that the Convention will have no application to contracts to buy cryptocurrencies with traditional currencies since the Convention is only applicable...