Sir Geoffrey Vos says legal uncertainty is weighing the sector down
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The UK will be consulting the legal profession in an effort to quell uncertainty on the legal status of smart contracts and crypto-assets.
Sir Geoffrey Vos, chancellor of the High Court, said that the Jurisdiction Taskforce of the LawTech Delivery Panel will be conducting a public consultation in the next few days, according to the Law Society Gazette.
Established last year, the panel includes Christina Blacklaws, Law Society president; Richard Keen, Baron Keen of Elie, justice minister; and Richard Susskind, professor and technology adviser to the Lord Chief Justice.
The panel will release several documents about the consultation, including a legal statement of the current stance of the body, work samples, and suggestions for possible proposed legislation.
Vos said in a speech in Liverpool last week that even though smart contracts and crypto-assets are the talk of the town, legal uncertainty is keeping the sector from crossing the “starting line.” He also said that many of the most useful applications of algorithms described as “smart contracts” are not end-to-end legal contracts at all.
“Instead, the most useful applications are as components of more conventional legal relationships,” Vos said.
He said that English law can provide the necessary legal framework for the sector if and only if reforms instituted for the space are kept simple, with a focus on the advantages of common law.
“We should try to avoid the creation of a new legal and regulatory regime that will discourage the use of new technologies rather than provide the foundation for them to flourish,” he said.
