Journal of Legal Research

Journal of Legal Research

Doubt in the Legal Capacity of Smart Contract’s Parties and the Possibility of Applying the Principle of Correctness in the Assumption of Non-Qualification

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
1 PhD Student in Private Law, Faculty of Law, Institute for Management and Planning Studies (IMPS), Tehran, Iran.
2 Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Institute for Management and Planning Studies (IMPS), Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
As one of the relatively new topics of the technology world, the smart contract has different angles and dimensions in the field of conclusion and execution, which must be analyzed from a legal perspective. This contract is implemented on the platform of software such as Ethereum and has features that blockchain technology benefits from. The smart contract is concluded and executed without the parties' capacities being verified, and this is considered one of its most important legal challenges in the conclusion stage. In the forward research, it is tried to introduce the mentioned feature in detail, and after providing solutions to solve this legal defect and verifying the eligibility of the parties, the criticisms of it will be expressed and it will be explained that the anonymity of the parties as one of the certain features of the smart contract should be recognized. Then this matter is subject to jurisprudential and legal scrutiny, whether it is possible to invoke the principle of correctness despite the lack of competence of the parties in the smart contract, or whether this transaction should be considered invalid.
Keywords

Imami, Seyed Hasan, Civil law, The fifth volume, Islamic publications, (2011): 310. (in Persian)
Jafari Langerudi, Mohammad Jafar, Encyclopaedia of Civil Law and Business, The first volume, Ganje Danesh, (2009): 208. (in Persian)
Khansari, Rasul, investigating jurisprudential and legal aspects of using smart contracts in Iran's financial system, central bank of Islamic republic of Iran, (2020): 14 (in Persian)
Shiravi, Abdulhosein, Forming contracts through the agency of the smart system, Name Mofid, 15, (2009): 24. (in Persian)
Safaee, Seyed Hosein, General rules of contracts, Mizan, (2019): 15. (in Persian)
Abbasi, Javad, Blockchain, Mehrban Nashr Book Institute, (2019): 54-57. (in Persian)
Qasemzadeh, Seyed Morteza, Interpretation of civil law, Samt, (2019): 87. (in Persian)
Katuzian, Naser, General rules of contracts, The second volume, Sahami Enteshar corporation, (2015): 7-8. (in Persian)
Gorji, Abualghasem, Legal thoughts, Majd Publication, (2013): 88-90. (in Persian)
Mazaheri, Rasul, A comparative study of electronic signature in Iranian law and UNCITRAL regulations, Jungle Publication, (2013): 57. (in Persian)
Naser, Mahdi, Analyzing the mechanism of verifying the eligibility of the parties in the implementation of smart contracts in Iranian law, Quarterly Journal of Business Research, 98, (2021): 271-300. (in Persian)
Ansari, Morteza, Faraed alosul, Islamic Thought Academy, (1998): 96. (in Arabic)
Hoseini, Seyed Mohammad Javad, The key to dignity in explaining the rules of the Allameh, Islamic Publication, (2012): 765. (in Arabic)
Tusi, Mohammd, Al-Mabsout in Imami jurisprudence, Islamic Publication, (2017): 336. (in Arabic)
Helli, Hasan, rules of judgment, Islamic publication, (1991): 742. (in Arabic)
Meshkini, Ali, Public benefits, Yaser Publication, (1969): 83. (in Arabic)
Naeeni, Mohammad Hosein, The benefits of Principles, The fourth volume, Islamic publication, (1997): 345. (in Arabic)
Najafi, Mohammad Hasan, the jewels of speech in explaining the laws of Islam, Islamic Nashr, (2010): 194. (in Arabic)
 ‘’FATF Report to G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’’, Paris, Financial Action Task Group, (2018): 21. (in English)
‘’Smart legal contracts’’ Advice to Government, London: Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, (2021): 27. (in English)
Bohme, Rainer and Edelman, Christin, ‘’Bitcoin: Economics, technology, and governance’’, The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Social Science Research Network, (2015): 213-38. (in English)
Daveis, Paul s, ‘’Smart contracts’’ In The Contents of Commercial Contracts: Terms Affecting Freedoms, edited by Sarah Green, Oxford: Hart Publishing, (2020): 197-210. (in English)
Davidson, Sinclair, ‘’Economics of Blockchain’’, Public Choice Conference, Fort Lauderdale, October 14-16, (2013): 21. (in English)
Etherscan, ‘’ etherscan.io’’, last modified Jan 14, 2023, https://etherscan.io/chart/verified-contracts, (2023). (in English)
FATF Report to G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, (2018): 34. (in English)
Janssen, Andre,’’The Formation of Smart Contracts and Beyond: Shaking the Fundamentals of Contract Law’’, research gate September 18, (2018): 6. (in English)
Lauslahti Kristian and Mattila Juri, Seppala Timo, ‘’Smart Contracts – How will Blockchain Technology Affect Contractual Practices’’ SSRN, April 25, 2018. Accessed, 24 Dec (2018): 7. (in English)
Legal statement on cryptoassets and smart contracts, UK Jurisdiction Taskforce, (2019): 21. (in English)
 Schrepel, Thibault , ‘’Collusion by Blockchain and Smart Contracts’’, Harvard Journal of Law and Technology, 33 (2019): 118-66. (in English)
Silverberg Kristen, ‘’Getting Smart: Contracts on the Blockchain’’, Washington DC: Institute of International Finance (2016): 11. (in English)
The law tech delivery panel, ‘’Legal Statement on Cryptoasset and smart contracts’, London: UK Jurisdiction Taskforce, (2019): 8. (in English) Winn, K. Jane and Writht, Benjamin, The law of Electronic Commerce, New York: Wolters Kluwer, (2002): 17. (in English)
Wood, Gavin. "Ethereum: A secure decentralized generalized transaction ledger." (Ethereum project yellow, (2014): 151. (in English)
Wright, Aaron and De Filippi, Primaveram; “Decentralized Blockchain Technology and the Rise of Lex Cryptographia” SSRN, Mar 20, 2015, Accessed 25 Jul (2017): 13. (in English)
‘‘Virtual Asset and Virtual Asset Service Providers’ ‘Updated Guidance for a Risk-based Approach, Paris: Financial Action Task Group, (2021): 21. (in English)
Zheng, Gavin, Etherium Smart Contract Development in Solidity, Singapore: springer, (2021): 8. (in English)