UK Law Commission expects 'substantial impact' from digital asset law review
The Law Commission of England and Wales hopes to establish the United Kingdom as a leading jurisdiction for grappling with legal disputes involving emerging technologies like cryptocurrencies, digital assets and electronic documentation.
The project, dubbed "Digital Assets: Which Law, Which Court?" was announced on Oct. 18 with the aim of reviewing international legal challenges involving cryptocurrencies and providing recommendations for legal reform in the United Kingdom.
Cointelegraph reached out to Professor Sarah Green, Law Commissioner for Commercial and Common Law, to unpack the driving force behind the authority's latest law reform project. The U.K.’s legal review body has previously conducted projects aimed at smart contracts, digital assets and decentralized autonomous organizations.
According to Green, the previous law reform projects identified several issues in determining which laws apply to international tech-related disputes and which courts should reside over them.
Related: UK gov't introduces bill aimed at empowering authorities' to 'seize, freeze and recover' crypto
As Green explained, existing rules of private international laws applicable to property disputes are based on the property in question having clear, definitive locations. This gives a clear connection to a particular legal jurisdiction.
Given that digital assets and emerging technologies do not typically fit this "traditional mold," existing laws for disputes involving digital assets and the courts that should hear them are not necessarily fit for purpose:
Green then gave a couple of examples of legal disputes in 2020 and 2021. These cases were hamstrung by the difficulty of determining the jurisdiction of the digital assets involved. The process
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