Legal Update
A New Electronic Transactions Bill Introduced in Parliament
The Electronic Transactions Bill ("Bill") underwent its first reading in Parliament on 24 April 2010. Once passed, it will repeal and replace the current Electronic Transactions Act ("Act"). The legal scheme for dealing with electronic transactions as embodied in the Bill is in large part similar to that contained in the Act.
The Bill does change a number of details, primarily for greater flexibility and to keep up with changes in technology. These would include the following:
- New definitional concepts such as "electronic communication" and "information system";
- New provisions that help to clarify the legal effect of a number of existing practices ofbelectronic commerce such as:
- contracts concluded via automated systems and not natural persons are valid and binding; and
- a proposal to enter into a transaction made over an electronic network is not an offer that will bind the proposer once accepted, but is merely an invitation to make an offer;
- Amendments to the current rules dealing with the time and place of receipt of electronic communications; and
- New rules dealing with input errors.
In this Update, we focus on those changes that deal with the formation of electronic contracts. Please click here to view the update.
If you would like information on this or any other area of law, you may wish to contact the Partner at WongPartnership whom you normally work with or any of the following Partners:
LAM Chung Nian
Head – Intellectual Property, Technology & Media, Telecommunications and Data Protection
d +65 6416 8271
e chungnian.lam@wongpartnership.com
Click here to view Chung Nian's CV.
CHAN Hock Keng
Head – Commercial & Corporate Disputes
d +65 6416 8139
e hockkeng.chan@wongpartnership.com
Click here to view Hock Keng's CV.