Contracts in electronic form: legal nuances, judicial protection, problematic situations from the practice of companies in 2021

Events
On October 12, 2021, we are pleased to invite our friends and partners to a seminar held by the Institute for the Development of Modern Educational Technologies (IDMET), where the speaker will be Ph.D., our Co-managing PartnerAndrey Chumakov.

SEMINAR PROGRAM:
1. Contracts in soft copy. The Civil Code of the Russian Federation on equating transactions concluded in electronic form with transactions concluded in writing:
  • electronic contracts vs electronic images of contracts;
  • extension of the rules concerning the simple written form of transactions to contracts concluded in soft copy;
  • conditions for equating transactions concluded in electronic form to transactions in simple written form;
  • consequences of non-compliance with the simple written form of the transaction (clause 1 of Article 162 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

2. Electronic images of contracts:
  • conclusion of an agreement by e-mail: pros and cons, legal features;
  • criteria for the recognition of contracts concluded in the case of the exchange of electronic images of documents;
  • judicial practice on the conclusion of contracts through the exchange of electronic images of documents;
  • legal ways to confirm the fact of concluding contracts through the exchange of electronic images of documents (conclusive actions, actual execution, etc.);
  • recommendations on structuring relationships with counterparties in the context of the exchange of electronic images of documents.

3. Electronic contracts. Electronic signature:
  • features of concluding contracts signed with an electronic signature (ES), types of ES (simple ES, enhanced unqualified ES, enhanced qualified ES). Requirements for the use of various types of ES. Legal force of the ES;
  • possibility of using a simple ES when concluding contracts;
  • concept of two-level contracts as a way to simplify the interaction of the Parties to the contract;
  • agreement between members of electronic interaction: mandatory and optional elements;
  • judicial practice in connection with the use of contracts signed by the ES.

4. Smart contracts: concept, legal regulation. Discussion on the legal nature and scope of smart contracts.

5. Online contracts: features, legal subtleties of preparation and registration:
  • pre-contractual stage;
  • legal qualification of the site visit;
  • why the information on the site should be reliable;
  • public-legal risks of the site owner.

6. Nuances of Concluding, Changing, and Terminating an online contract:
  • offer. Website as a showcase (amendments to Article 494 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation);
  • acceptance;
  • features of concluding an online retail Purchase and Sale Agreement;
  • option to conclude an agreement in online trading (Article 429.2 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation);
  • how special contractual constructions work on the Internet (using examples of the accession agreement, framework, option and subscription agreements);
  • than you can confirm the fact of the conclusion and conditions of the online contract. Judicial practice;
  • online contract complicated by a foreign element (International Rules, Article 1212 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, RF Supreme Court dated 09.07.2019 No. 24);
  • possibility of unilateral modification of the online contract or unilateral withdrawal from it;
  • modification and termination of the online contract by agreement of the Parties.

7. Use of messengers in the conclusion and execution of contracts:
  • conclusion of contracts via messengers. The problem of identifying the parties; recommendations for identifying the author of the electronic message;
  • qualification of correspondence in chat rooms: negotiations or offer plus acceptance?
  • what contracts cannot be concluded through messengers;
  • use of messengers in the execution of contracts. remote inspection;
  • messengers and social networks as databases. What to provide in the contracts for their transfer.

8. Giving legal force to electronic correspondence: legal grounds, practice:
  • problems of choosing a channel for business correspondence (e-mail, electronic document exchange service, etc.);
  • when correspondence by e-mail or in messengers is considered negotiations;
  • electronic correspondence: methods of legitimization, dangerous and safe reservations;
  • electronic correspondence as negotiations on the conclusion of a contract. good faith in negotiations;
  • what phrases and formulations that make it possible to interpret electronic correspondence as an unreliable assurance about the circumstances or as unfair negotiation should be avoided.

9. Judicial practice on controversial issues of the use of electronic contracts and other electronic documents:
  • electronic document as a special type of proof. Problems of recognition by the court of the legitimacy of contracts signed electronically (in the absence of a paper original of the contract with the signatures of the Parties);
  • what is necessary to file a lawsuit under the contract signed by the ES. The presence of a reservation in the text of the written contract concerning the competence to use the ES and the press as ways to protect their rights in court;
  • e-mail as evidence in court: problematic issues of identification of the sender, the fact of sending and the fact of receiving an electronic message (based on court materials); algorithms for generating evidence based on electronic correspondence and messenger messages;
  • court approaches to the interpretation of the content of electronic correspondence;
  • problems of court recognition of scans (facsimile copies) of contracts and applications;
  • approaches of courts, positions of higher judicial instances in relation to contracts concluded by e-mail;
  • admissibility of using printouts of materials from websites as evidence in court;
  • use of Internet archives as a means of proving in court the fact of posting certain information at a specific time: legal nuances;
  • software and technical (computer) expertise in the confirmation of evidence: what to pay attention to and what questions to put to the expert. practical issues of proof;
  • new opportunities for proving electronic transactions concluded after 01.10.2019 in court.

10. Answers to questions, practical recommendations.

SPEAKERS:
Andrey Chumakov is a PhD in Law, Co-Managing Partner of Lurye, Chumakov & Partners
Nikolay Pavlenko is a lawyer, a forensic economic expert. Deputy Chairman of the Control and Accounting Chamber of Moscow (retired).
Nadezhda Makarova is a Head of the Legal Department, Amulex National Legal Service.

RULES OF PROCEDURE (GMT+3):
Registration starts at 09:00 The seminar starts at 09:30 and ends at 18:00. There are 15-minute coffee breaks and an hour break for lunch.

FORMAT OF THE EVENT: 
Online/offline (Moscow, Alfa Congress Hotel Izmailovo).
Upon completion of the training, the following is issued Certificate of the established sample.

24.08.2021