A Comparative Legal Research on Contract Formation via Electronic Means

Although international uniform laws and rules relating to international sales transactions have attempted to harmonize differing legal systems throughout the world, different legal norms still exist, inter alia, the time of contract formation has been one of the controversial issues between jurisdictions. The application of the postal rule or receipt rule provides interesting legal and scholarly discourse in the case of inter-distance business communications. As using electronic communication means to create international sales contracts has significantly increased, the issue may be highly controversial. In that respect, this article analyses how to solve the legal and practical uncertainty at the time of contract formation. In doing so, the provisions of the time of contract formation via electronic means which are ruled by international instruments and domestic laws relating to e-commerce will be compared and discussed.