| Electronic bill of lading can alleviate the disadvantages of traditional paper bill of lading and bring great convenience to international trade,but the promotion and application of electronic bill of lading is not smooth.The development of electronic bill of lading is slow,which has both technical limitations and legal shackles.As a decentralized distributed ledger,blockchain can improve the reliability of the system by using hash password and time stamp,and solve the technical defects of the previous registration center electronic bill of lading to a certain extent.Blockchain brings new opportunities for the development of electronic bill of lading.The current law is based on the traditional paper bill of lading,forming a set of relatively perfect legal rules.The electronic bill of lading exists in the form of data message,while the traditional bill of lading in the form of paper.There are great differences between the two.The purpose of the application of electronic bill of lading is to replace the traditional bill of lading.Therefore,it is of theoretical and practical significance to study whether electronic bill of lading can realize the functions of traditional bill of lading.At present,there are few special provisions on electronic bill of lading in international and domestic legislation.The research on the function and legal status of electronic bill of lading mainly focuses on the interpretation and theoretical analysis of existing laws.The traditional bill of lading has the functions of evidence of contracts,receipt of goods as well as document of title.Electronic commerce law and electronic signature law generally recognize the validity of electronic data form and electronic signature,so there is no obstacle for electronic bill of lading to realize the function of evidence of contracts,receipt of goods.In addition,the unique smart contract and self verification technology of blockchain is conducive to ensuring the authenticity of electronic bill of lading data and promoting the realization of functions of evidence of contracts and receipt of goods of electronic bill of lading.Whether electronic bill of lading has the function of document of title is still controversial.The traditional bill of lading has the function of document of title.It represents the right of control over the goods,and it has to be presented to the carrier to obtain delivery of the goods.After a long period of commercial practice,traditional bill of lading as document of title of the has developed into a generally recognized custom,and then it has been fixed by law.The electronic bill of lading,by contract,imitates the simultaneous interpreting and issuing of the traditional bill of lading.However,the electronic bill of lading does not automatically acquire the same legal status as the traditional bill of lading and document of title.Different countries hold different attitudes towards the function of document of title of electronic bill of lading,while the attitude of English case law is relatively conservative;However,the United States holds an open attitude and recognizes electronic bill of lading as document of title by legislation.Electronic bill of lading has a bright future,but the unclear function of the document of title of electronic bill of lading has become an important reason to hinder the development of electronic bill of lading.The principle of "functional equivalent" created by the model law on electronic transferable records and the provisions on electronic transport records in the Rotterdam Rules provide a beneficial reference for the design of the electronic bill of lading system,We should actively learn from the model law on electronic transferable records and Rotterdam Rules,combine with the development and practice of the electronic bill of lading,clarify the legal status of the electronic bill of lading,improve the relevant rules of electronic data protection,so as to promote the realization of functions of electronic bill of lading and promote the application of electronic bill of lading. |
