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InPerpetuity{Challenging Misperceptions of the Term “Smart Contract”}

Monica L Vessio, Arnold Beckmann Orcid Logo, Matt Roach Orcid Logo, Severine Saintier, Rhys Clements, Anton Setzer Orcid Logo

European Journal of Law and Technology, Volume: 15, Issue: 2

Swansea University Authors: Arnold Beckmann Orcid Logo, Matt Roach Orcid Logo, Rhys Clements, Anton Setzer Orcid Logo

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Abstract

In law, the term ‘smart contract’ has been used loosely with no one definition winning out. In an attempt to ameliorate this, the Law Commission of England and Wales has endeavoured to add the word ‘legal’ to ‘smart contract’. No relief is found in the computer coding world, where ‘smart contract�...

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Published in: European Journal of Law and Technology
ISSN: 2042-115X
Published: 2024
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa68617
first_indexed 2025-01-09T20:33:59Z
last_indexed 2025-01-24T20:45:14Z
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In an attempt to ameliorate this, the Law Commission of England and Wales has endeavoured to add the word &#x2018;legal&#x2019; to &#x2018;smart contract&#x2019;. No relief is found in the computer coding world, where &#x2018;smart contract' is used to indicate not a single but several forms of computer codes that do not involve (necessarily) two parties. Through a sample smart contract use case, this paper identifies more than six such coding concepts and constructs which have been corroborated by the results of trend data analysis. Turning to the public, statistics gathered show a very limited understanding of the terms &#x2018;smart contract&#x2019; and &#x2018;smart legal contract&#x2019;(and their implications). From these findings, this paper recognises the inappropriateness of the use of the single term &#x2018;smart contract&#x2019; for the many diverseiterations as used by computer scientists; and the unsuitability of the word &#x2018;contract&#x2019; as part of the term &#x2018;smart contract&#x2019; by computer scientists because of the term&#x2019;s legal import. The redundancy of the term &#x2018;smart legal contract&#x2019; is established, and in conclusion a definition of &#x2018;smart contract&#x2019; which only considers universal, future-proof characteristics is proposed. In this we disagree with the definitions offered by the Law Commission. The definition we have proffered actively contemplates the legacy use of the term in both law and technology, and is broad enough to be sector-and future-adaptable, and technology-agnostic.</abstract><type>Journal Article</type><journal>European Journal of Law and Technology</journal><volume>15</volume><journalNumber>2</journalNumber><paginationStart/><paginationEnd/><publisher/><placeOfPublication/><isbnPrint/><isbnElectronic/><issnPrint>2042-115X</issnPrint><issnElectronic/><keywords>smart contract, contracts, code, smart legal contracts, digital contracts, static contract</keywords><publishedDay>14</publishedDay><publishedMonth>9</publishedMonth><publishedYear>2024</publishedYear><publishedDate>2024-09-14</publishedDate><doi/><url/><notes/><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><department>Mathematics and Computer Science School</department><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><DepartmentCode>MACS</DepartmentCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><apcterm/><funders>WEFO ERDF</funders><projectreference/><lastEdited>2025-01-24T13:40:17.8433772</lastEdited><Created>2024-12-20T14:09:51.2969561</Created><path><level id="1">Faculty of Science and Engineering</level><level id="2">School of Mathematics and Computer Science - Computer Science</level></path><authors><author><firstname>Monica L</firstname><surname>Vessio</surname><order>1</order></author><author><firstname>Arnold</firstname><surname>Beckmann</surname><orcid>0000-0001-7958-5790</orcid><order>2</order></author><author><firstname>Matt</firstname><surname>Roach</surname><orcid>0000-0002-1486-5537</orcid><order>3</order></author><author><firstname>Severine</firstname><surname>Saintier</surname><order>4</order></author><author><firstname>Rhys</firstname><surname>Clements</surname><order>5</order></author><author><firstname>Anton</firstname><surname>Setzer</surname><orcid>0000-0001-5322-6060</orcid><order>6</order></author></authors><documents><document><filename>68617__33216__2aac73fa2e88499f8a975466f300f1fc.pdf</filename><originalFilename>68617.pdf</originalFilename><uploaded>2024-12-20T14:21:28.6141168</uploaded><type>Output</type><contentLength>1143946</contentLength><contentType>application/pdf</contentType><version>Version of Record</version><cronfaStatus>true</cronfaStatus><copyrightCorrect>true</copyrightCorrect><language>eng</language></document></documents><OutputDurs/></rfc1807>
spelling 2025-01-24T13:40:17.8433772 v2 68617 2024-12-20 InPerpetuity{Challenging Misperceptions of the Term “Smart Contract”} 1439ebd690110a50a797b7ec78cca600 0000-0001-7958-5790 Arnold Beckmann Arnold Beckmann true false 9722c301d5bbdc96e967cdc629290fec 0000-0002-1486-5537 Matt Roach Matt Roach true false 0c3f0f35c1f6a1a5064b61b018515b07 Rhys Clements Rhys Clements true false 5f7695285397f46d121207120247c2ae 0000-0001-5322-6060 Anton Setzer Anton Setzer true false 2024-12-20 MACS In law, the term ‘smart contract’ has been used loosely with no one definition winning out. In an attempt to ameliorate this, the Law Commission of England and Wales has endeavoured to add the word ‘legal’ to ‘smart contract’. No relief is found in the computer coding world, where ‘smart contract' is used to indicate not a single but several forms of computer codes that do not involve (necessarily) two parties. Through a sample smart contract use case, this paper identifies more than six such coding concepts and constructs which have been corroborated by the results of trend data analysis. Turning to the public, statistics gathered show a very limited understanding of the terms ‘smart contract’ and ‘smart legal contract’(and their implications). From these findings, this paper recognises the inappropriateness of the use of the single term ‘smart contract’ for the many diverseiterations as used by computer scientists; and the unsuitability of the word ‘contract’ as part of the term ‘smart contract’ by computer scientists because of the term’s legal import. The redundancy of the term ‘smart legal contract’ is established, and in conclusion a definition of ‘smart contract’ which only considers universal, future-proof characteristics is proposed. In this we disagree with the definitions offered by the Law Commission. The definition we have proffered actively contemplates the legacy use of the term in both law and technology, and is broad enough to be sector-and future-adaptable, and technology-agnostic. Journal Article European Journal of Law and Technology 15 2 2042-115X smart contract, contracts, code, smart legal contracts, digital contracts, static contract 14 9 2024 2024-09-14 COLLEGE NANME Mathematics and Computer Science School COLLEGE CODE MACS Swansea University WEFO ERDF 2025-01-24T13:40:17.8433772 2024-12-20T14:09:51.2969561 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Mathematics and Computer Science - Computer Science Monica L Vessio 1 Arnold Beckmann 0000-0001-7958-5790 2 Matt Roach 0000-0002-1486-5537 3 Severine Saintier 4 Rhys Clements 5 Anton Setzer 0000-0001-5322-6060 6 68617__33216__2aac73fa2e88499f8a975466f300f1fc.pdf 68617.pdf 2024-12-20T14:21:28.6141168 Output 1143946 application/pdf Version of Record true true eng
title InPerpetuity{Challenging Misperceptions of the Term “Smart Contract”}
spellingShingle InPerpetuity{Challenging Misperceptions of the Term “Smart Contract”}
Arnold Beckmann
Matt Roach
Rhys Clements
Anton Setzer
title_short InPerpetuity{Challenging Misperceptions of the Term “Smart Contract”}
title_full InPerpetuity{Challenging Misperceptions of the Term “Smart Contract”}
title_fullStr InPerpetuity{Challenging Misperceptions of the Term “Smart Contract”}
title_full_unstemmed InPerpetuity{Challenging Misperceptions of the Term “Smart Contract”}
title_sort InPerpetuity{Challenging Misperceptions of the Term “Smart Contract”}
author_id_str_mv 1439ebd690110a50a797b7ec78cca600
9722c301d5bbdc96e967cdc629290fec
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author_id_fullname_str_mv 1439ebd690110a50a797b7ec78cca600_***_Arnold Beckmann
9722c301d5bbdc96e967cdc629290fec_***_Matt Roach
0c3f0f35c1f6a1a5064b61b018515b07_***_Rhys Clements
5f7695285397f46d121207120247c2ae_***_Anton Setzer
author Arnold Beckmann
Matt Roach
Rhys Clements
Anton Setzer
author2 Monica L Vessio
Arnold Beckmann
Matt Roach
Severine Saintier
Rhys Clements
Anton Setzer
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container_title European Journal of Law and Technology
container_volume 15
container_issue 2
publishDate 2024
institution Swansea University
issn 2042-115X
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hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
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description In law, the term ‘smart contract’ has been used loosely with no one definition winning out. In an attempt to ameliorate this, the Law Commission of England and Wales has endeavoured to add the word ‘legal’ to ‘smart contract’. No relief is found in the computer coding world, where ‘smart contract' is used to indicate not a single but several forms of computer codes that do not involve (necessarily) two parties. Through a sample smart contract use case, this paper identifies more than six such coding concepts and constructs which have been corroborated by the results of trend data analysis. Turning to the public, statistics gathered show a very limited understanding of the terms ‘smart contract’ and ‘smart legal contract’(and their implications). From these findings, this paper recognises the inappropriateness of the use of the single term ‘smart contract’ for the many diverseiterations as used by computer scientists; and the unsuitability of the word ‘contract’ as part of the term ‘smart contract’ by computer scientists because of the term’s legal import. The redundancy of the term ‘smart legal contract’ is established, and in conclusion a definition of ‘smart contract’ which only considers universal, future-proof characteristics is proposed. In this we disagree with the definitions offered by the Law Commission. The definition we have proffered actively contemplates the legacy use of the term in both law and technology, and is broad enough to be sector-and future-adaptable, and technology-agnostic.
published_date 2024-09-14T06:20:53Z
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