The Law Commission is currently working on a project, with the intention to make recommendations for law reform, to allow for legal recognition of trade documents such as bills of lading and bills of exchange in electronic form.
To this end, the Commission has recently published a Report and a Draft Bill:
Electronic Trade Documents (Law Commission No 405).
Within the report, published in March 2022, suggestions and observations made by four members of the Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law (IISTL) have been referred to extensively. These contributions from Professors Simon Baughen, Barış Soyer, Andrew Tettenborn and Associate Professor George Leloudas, contributed to a written submission sent to the Law Commission in 2021.
Speaking on the contribution, Professor Barış Soyer, Director of the IISTL said:
“It is one of the IISTL’s objectives to contribute to reform of law in areas that come under its remit, and it is very pleasing to see its members being able to assist the Law Commission in this regard!”