The rise of blockchain: an analysis of the enforceability of blockchain smart contracts

Name: Boonyaorn Na Pombejra

keyword: Blockchain

LCSH: Electronic contracts

; Smart contract

; Formation of contract

; Formality requirement

; Business transaction

Abstract: The thesis analyzes legal issues associated with the application of existing Thai law provisions to so-called “smart contracts”, defined in the paper as ‘agreements existing in the form of software code implemented on the Blockchain platform, which ensures the autonomy and self-executive nature of smart contract terms based on a predetermined set of factors’. The thesis outlines the particularities of Blockchain as the underlying technology of smart contracts. The main characteristics of smart contracts are described, together with an analysis of the ways in which “smart contracts” differ from other prevailing and more common forms of electronic contracts. The thesis explores the existing Thai legislative framework and the extent to which it can accommodate blockchain smart contracts in the area of contract formation and legal formality and written evidence requirement. Specifically, this thesis focuses on the Electronic Transaction Act B.E. 2544 (2001) and its amendment B.E.2551 (2008) as a specific law for electronic communication and the Thai Civil Commercial Code as general law of the formation of contract. The thesis provides comparative studies on enforceability of smart contracts under two different jurisdictions, namely the Commonwealth of Australia and the Republic of South Africa with an aim to analyze and evaluate the existing legislations and developments of those two legal systems, and their impact on facilitating blockchain smart contracts, with an emphasis on contract formation and legal formality and written evidence requirements. The thesis provides a comparative analysis between the relevant areas of Thai law and two jurisdictions stated above, in particular those governing the formation of a contract. Through this analysis, the feasibility of the utilization and execution of smart contracts under the current Thai legal system are examined. The concluding section sets out the core question as to whether a lack of certain rules or mechanism to accommodate the implementation of this technology may leave uncertainty regarding the validity and enforceability of smart contracts under Thai law. The writer suggests that Thai ETA will have to be amended by comparing with laws and regulations of foreign jurisdictions to facilitate the full implementation of smart contract in Thailand. The principles that should be incorporated in this specific law are: (1) the default rule to determine the time of dispatch and receipt of electronic communication ; (2) the use of an automated message system ; and (3) the relevant competent authorities should be compulsory to make available systems in accordance with the law for fulfilling the required formality for the contract to be registered with the competent authority electronically

Thammasat University. Thammasat University Library

Address: BANGKOK

Email: preserv@tu.ac.th

Name: Korrasut Khopuangklang

Role: advisor

Created: 2016

Modified: 2564-05-19

Issued: 2021-05-19

วิทยานิพนธ์/Thesis

application/pdf

DOI: 10.14457/TU.the.2016.663

eng

DegreeName: Master of Laws

Level: Master's Degree

Descipline: Business Laws

Grantor: Thammasat University

©copyrights Thammasat University

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