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Mr. José Angelo Estrella-Faria

Mr. José Angelo Estrella-Faria
Senior Legal Officer
UNCITRAL Secretariat
International Trade Law Division
Office of Legal Affairs
United Nations

Biography Biography in PDF

International Economic Law
Commercial Law
Legal Aspects of Electronic Commerce in
International Trade
Information and communication technology applications have played a central role in fostering economic growth and enhancing productivity. However, outdated laws may be an impediment to business applications of ICT, and thus should not be overlooked.  It is the task of legislators and policy makers around the world to ensure that the legal framework for domestic and international trade does not hinder or diminish the gains promised by the use of new technologies. As a global body, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) was one of the first organizations which governments used as a forum to develop uniform private law standards for electronic commerce.

Part I - Electronic Contracting:
Economic Context and Private Law

Video | Audio
(1/7/2008, 41 minutes)

Part II - Electronic Authentication and Signature Methods: Legal Issues and Public Policy

Video | Audio
(1/7/2008, 43 minutes)


International Economic Law
Commercial Law

Legal Aspects of Electronic Commerce in International Trade (Part I and II)

A. Legal Instruments
B. Documents
General Assembly resolution of 51/162 of 16 December 1996 (Model Law on Electronic Commerce adopted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law).

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Guidelines on Consumer Protection in the Context of Electronic Commerce of 9 December 1999, Paris, 2000.

General Assembly resolution 56/80 of 12 December 2001 (Model Law on Electronic Signatures of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law).

United Nations Commission on International Trade Law Working Group on Electronic Commerce, “Possible future work on electronic commerce - Transfer of rights in tangible goods and other rights” (A/CN.9/WG.IV/WP.90, 20 December 2000).

United Nations Commission on International Trade Law Working Group on Electronic Commerce, “Legal aspects of electronic commerce - Electronic contracting: background information” (A/CN.9/WG.IV/WP.104, 8 September 2003).

For further information about the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law documents on electronic commerce, see the official website.

C. Doctrine
G. Borges, Verträge im elektronischen Geschäftsverkehr, C.H. Beck, München, 2003.

E.A. Caprioli, Droit international de l'économie numérique, 2nd ed., Lexis Nexis, Paris, 2007, particularly chapter II (“Droit   matériel  international  du  commerce électronique”, pp. 81-98).

G. Chatillon (ed.), Internet International Law: International and European Studies and Comments, Bruylant, Brussels, 2005.

U. Draetta, “Internet et commerce électronique en droit international des affaires”, Recueil des Cours de l’Académie de Droit International de La Haye, vol. 314, 2005, pp. 99-232.

J.A. Estrella-Faria, “Harmonizing the Law of International Electronic Contracting: Adjust the Rules but Don’t Rewrite Them”, in: Schulz, Andrea (ed.), Legal Aspects of an E-Commerce Transaction. International Conference in The Hague, 26 and 27 October 2004, Sellier, Munich, 2006, pp. 74-98.

J.A. Estrella-Faria, “Online Contracting: Legal Certainty for Global Business - The New U.N. Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts”, Uniform Commercial Code Law Journal, vol. 39, 2006, pp. 25-73.

J.A. Estrella-Faria, “Drafting and Negotiating History of the Electronic Communications,” in: A. Boss/W. Kilian (eds.), The United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts: An In-Depth Guide and Sourcebook, Kluwer Law International, Alphen aan den Rijn, 2008.

J.A. Estrella-Faria, “Legal Aspects of Electronic Commerce: Rules of Evidence, Contract Formation and Online Performance”, Collected Courses of The Xiamen Academy of International Law, vol. II, Martinus Nijhoff, Leiden/Boston, 2009.

C. Feral-Schuhl, Cyberdroit : le droit à l'épreuve de l'Internet, 3rd edition, Dalloz, Paris, 2002.

S. Guillemard, Le droit international privé face au contrat de vente cyberspatial, Éditions Yvon Blais, Montréal, 2006.

A. Junker/M. Benecke, Computerrecht, 3rd edition, Nomos Verlaggesellschaft, Baden-Baden, 2003.

J. Lerouge, “The Use of Electronic Agents Questioned under Contractual Law: Suggested Solutions on a European and American level”, John Marshall Journal of Computer and Information Law, vol. 18, 1999, pp. 403-433.

A. Madrid Parra, Derecho patrimonial y tecnología, Marcial Pons, Madrid, 2007.

S. Mason, “Electronic Signatures in Practice”, Journal of High Technology Law, vol. VI, 2006, pp.148-164.

C. Rosello, Commercio elettronico, Giuffrè editore, Milano, 2006.

A. Schulz (ed.), Legal Aspects of an E-Commerce Transaction. International Conference in The Hague, 26 and 27 October 2004, Sellier, Munich, 2006.

P. Todd, E-commerce Law, Routledge-Cavendish, Abingdon, 2005.

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, E-Commerce and Development Report 2004, United Nations, New York, Geneva, 2004, particularly chapter I.