A Study On The Legal Issues Of Electronic Bill Of Lading Under Blockchain Technology

The rapid development of blockchain technology has brought new opportunities and challenges to the shipping industry.Compared with the traditional electronic bill of lading,the blockchain technology can help us to solve the inherent problems of identifying the inherent function of document of title and the risk of centralization,providing a new technical guarantee and offering new possibilities for promoting the efficient and low-cost development of the shipping industry.The development of technology is inseparable from legal protection,and the law can provide a solid foundation for the development of technology.However,blockchain technology is still in the stage of continuous development and there are still many uncertainties,so it is necessary to look at the legal regulation of new technology with a dialectical view.Therefore,this article focuses on the legal issues related to electronic bill of lading under blockchain technology,combining the latest industry data and cases to conduct corresponding research,and practically analyze the existing problems and solutions in depth.The article as a whole is divided into four chapters,the first chapter is the application analysis,the second to the fourth chapter will be three key legal issues according to the development process of the electronic bill of lading under the blockchain technology,in the form of a single chapter to be detailed.Chapter 1 is the overview part of the article.It starts with a comparative analysis of the development process of paper bill of lading,telex-release bill of lading,traditional electronic bill of lading and electronic bill of lading under blockchain technology,and analyses their application and flow process in conjunction with the latest blockchain electronic bill of lading platform approved by the International Group of P&I Clubs,and thereby leads to the future application prospects of electronic bill of lading under blockchain technology.Chapter 2 explores the function of the electronic bill of lading as a document of title under blockchain technology.By analyzing the reasons why the traditional electronic bill of lading does not have the function of document of title under the UK law,and find out how the blockchain electronic bill of lading can break through the limitations of the traditional electronic bill of lading and truly realize the principle of functional equivalence with the paper bill of lading,and then analyzing how the blockchain electronic bill of lading can be combined with the Rotterdam Rules and the amendment process of the Maritime Law in the process of application to make corresponding legislation and regulation.Chapter 3 explores the second stage of electronic bill of lading under blockchain technology,the impact of the emergence of smart contracts on electronic bill of lading.Through the analysis of the development of smart contracts,the possible impact of their application on the electronic bill of lading and the existence of problematic points are proposed,so as to explore the solutions to their related controversial issues and the inspiration from the perspective of legislation and regulation.Chapter 4 explores the impact of the emergence of blockchain technology on the jurisdictional recognition of traditional bill of lading.By focusing on the traditional bill of lading jurisdictional connection point of the place where the contract is signed,the place where the bill of lading is signed,the place where the bill of lading is transferred,etc.,that cannot continue to apply when the jurisdiction of electronic bill of lading is determined under blockchain technology,and then put forward feasible suggestions for the construction of the future jurisdictional system of electronic bill of lading under blockchain technology.