Impact of technology on international contract law: smart contracts and blockchain technologies

L'objectif de ce colloque, organisé par la Faculté de Droit de l'UCLy et l'Université de Turin du 4 au 5 mai 2017, est d'étudier l'intersection entre le droit des contrats et la technologie, dans une perspective internationale et comparative.

L'attention sera portée sur un certain nombre de questions qui font l'objet de débats dans le domaine du droit des contrats: les smart contracts et la technologie blockchain, les network contracts, le statut contractuel des plateformes électroniques, les questions liées à la PI et à la protection de la vie privée, la rédaction des contrats... Le colloque rassemblera des experts de différentes traditions juridiques (Amérique du Nord, Europe, Asie) afin de contribuer aux discussions actuelles relatives à l'impact de la technologie sur le droit.

Impact of Technology on International Contract Law: Smart Contracts and Blockchain Technologies The purpose of this conference is to investigate the intersection between contract law and technology, in an international and comparative perspective. The focus will be in a number of areas that are still being debated as they relate to the law of contracts: smart contracts and blockchain technology, network contracts, the contractual status of electronic platforms, IP and privacy issues, as well as contract drafting. The conference brings the expertise of scholars and practitioners from different jurisdictions (North America, Europe, Asia) to contribute to the current debates on the impact of technology on Law.

Programme

Friday, 4 May 2017

Welcome

Michel Cannarsa (Faculty of Law – Lyon Catholic University)

Panel 1. General Framework: Legal and Technological

History of Electronic Contracting: From EDI, E-Commerce & Smart Contracts (20 min.)

Fabrizio Lamberti (Politecnico di Torino)

Legal Meaning of Smart Contracts (20 minutes)

Riccardo De Caria (University of Turin)

Technology of Smart Contracts

Alessandro Palombo (Politecnico di Torino)

Valentina Gatteschi (Politecnico di Torino - Dipartimento di Automatica e Informatica)

• Q & A (15 minutes)

Panel 2: International Contract Law and Smart Contracts: 11:10-12:25

• Conclusion of Contract (Formation) (20 minutes)

Mateja Durovic, Kings College London & Andre Janssen (City University Hong Kong)

• Performance, Force Majeure and Excuse (20 minutes)

T.F.E. Tjong Tjin Tai (Tilburg University)

• Contract Interpretation (20 minutes)

Michel Cannarsa (Faculty of Law – Lyon Catholic University)

• Q & A (15 minutes)

Panel 3: Contract Law and Smart Contracts: 1:55-3:15 

• Remedies (Self-Enforcement & Self-Help Remedies) (20 minutes)

Cristina Poncibò (University of Turin) & Larry DiMatteo (University of Florida)

• Property and Warranty Law Issues: (stolen property; defective title; informational defects and viruses) (40 minutes)

Sjef van Erp (Maastricht University)
Louis-Daniel Muka Tshibende (Faculty of Law – Lyon Catholic University) 

• Q & A (15 minutes)

Panel 4. Electronic Platforms and Networks: 3:30-5:25

• Electronic Platforms: Liability & Regulation (20 minutes)

Piotr Tereszkiewicz (Jagiellonian University in Cracow and University of Leuven)

• Electronic Platforms: Openness, Transparency & Privacy Issues (20 minutes)

Eliza Mik (Singapore University)
Transactional Technologies, Legal Disruption, and the Case of Network Contracts
Roger Brownsword (King’s College London)

• Special Panel: Smart Contracts, Blockchain, and Network Contracts in China (30 minutes)

Lei Chen (City University of Hong Kong) & Angelia Wang (Polytechnic University Hong Kong)

• Q & A (25 minutes)

Saturday, 5 May 2017

Panel 5. Privacy, Data Protection & Contract Drafting: 8:45-10:00

• Smart Contracts and Consumer Privacy (20 minutes)

Lauren Henry Scholz (Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard Law School & Florida State University)

• Security Issues & Data Protection (20 minutes)

Lokke Moerel (Professor of ICT Law at Tilburg University)

• Accelerated Contract Drafting (benefits, risks, metadata) (20 minutes)
• Q & A (15 minutes)

Panel 6: Smart Contracts: Courts and the Legal Profession [hosted by the Turin Journal of Law and Public Policy]: 10:10-11:35

• Presentation of the Turin Journal of Law and Public Policy: Riccardo de Caria (10 minutes)
• Smart Contracts and the Courts (20 minutes)

Judge Marc Clément (Lyon Administrative Appeal Court), “Smart contracts, do judges still have something to judge?”

• Smart Contracts and Lawyers (20 minutes)

Mathieu Martin, Attorney of Law in Lyon

• Smart Contracts: Merchant (B2B)-Consumer (B2C) Distinction (20 minutes)

Oscar Borgogno (Department of Law, University of Turin and Visiting PhD. at the University of Tilburg)

• Q & A (15 minutes)

Closing Speech: Future of Smart Contracts, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence: 12:00-12:30

Diana Wallis (Past President, European Law Institute, Oxford University)

External Reviewers: Barbara Pasa (University of Venice) (Civil Law) & Qi “George” Zhou (University of Leeds) (Common Law)