The Law Commission has published a paper in which it sets out its view that the law of England and Wales is able to facilitate and support the use of smart legal contracts; moreover, in its view, current legal principles apply to smart contracts in largely the same way as they do in respect of traditional contracts. The Commission's paper is available here.
The chair of the UK Jurisdiction Taskforce, Sir Geoffrey Vos (Chancellor of the High Court), today launched the publication by the Taskforce of a legal statement on the status of cryptoassets and smart contracts: see here (pdf). In a speech to mark the occasion (here, pdf), Sir Geoffrey observed: "I believe that this morning is a watershed for English law and the UK’s jurisdictions. Our statement on the legal status of cryptoassets and smart contracts is something that no other jurisdiction has attempted. It is genuinely groundbreaking".
