Legal basis

• Law on Electronic Transactions 2005
• Decree 52/2013/ND-CP on e-commerce
• Decree 85/2021/ND-CP amending Decree 52/2013/ND-CP on e-commerce

Content

If a contract is drawn up in writing form, it is usually entered into by two parties meeting in person to negotiate terms or communicating with each other by transaction documents and signed by hand, then for the conclusion of an electronic contract, the parties communicate with each other in a virtual environment, geographically located far from each other, anywhere and at any time can access the network to send or receive a data message offering or accepting an offer to enter into a contract. Offers and acceptances of an offer to enter into a contract are created, sent, received, and stored electronically, often without direct human intervention, thus determining the timing The point and place of the contract will become more difficult than the contract concluded by traditional methods.

Traditional contract law often stipulates: for written contracts, the time of contract conclusion is the time when the last party signs the document; for contracts signed remotely, the time of contract conclusion is the time when the offeree gives a reply accepting the offer to enter into a contract or the offeror receives a reply accepting the offer. contracting. In the network environment, applying the rule to determine the time to conclude a contract based on the time when the last party signs the document is difficult to do because the signatories are not present at the time of signing. official contract. Although the same contract is signed remotely, we can not rely on the postmark as for the contract signed via mail to determine the time to conclude an electronic contract. Electronic media has erased the gap in space and time, it directly affects the determination of the time to conclude a contract, complicating matters, even preventing the application of rules. Determining the date of entering into a contract has existed for a long time in contract law.

Similar complications arise when determining the point of contract. Parties to an electronic contract that are in contact with each other through a virtual environment, anywhere, anytime can log on to the network to send and receive data messages of an offer or to accept an offer, without being required to stay at his or her headquarters or place of residence. Thus, is the place of sending and receiving data messages (to determine the place of entering into a contract) the place where the parties are physically present when sending and receiving data messages? How would such a site be identified and demonstrated? This seems to be difficult to do since the network environment is a virtual and borderless environment. And when such a place has been identified, it will happen that this place has no relationship with the participants, with the place where the obligation arises or with the place where the contractual obligation is performed. In fact, a business in Vietnam can host a business website in the United States and enter into an online contract with a business in Singapore to purchase goods and ship them to Thailand. At that time, the problem of determining the location of the contract was not simple. In that context, the question is how to determine where to send and receive data messages and on what principles? A lack of trust pervades when we just say that a contract exists somewhere, at some point in the digital maze, because for a contract to be legally valid one needs to know when, where and how the contract was entered into. The answer will be up to the legislators.

Above is our consultancy about this issue. If you need more detailed advice and answers as well as how to access this service, please contact directly the Deputy Director of Sales: Lawyer Nguyen Duc Trong via hotline: 0912.35.65.75, 0912.35.53.53 or call the free legal consultation hotline 1900.6575 or send a service request via email: info@hongbanglawfirm.com hoặc lienheluathongbang@gmail.com

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