How could distributed ledger technology and smart contracts bring about a paradigm shift in Consumer Rights Legislation?

Abstract

With technology constantly improving and progressing, it is inevitable that it will catch up with the law in the future. With distributed ledger technology and smart contracts taking the world by storm, they will eventually be implemented into law in order to allow contractual obligations to be entered into on such a platform. This study firstly identifies what distributed ledger technology and smart contracts are, along with an explanation as to how they work. What these technologies bring to the table is equally important, which is why some of their advantages and some of their disadvantages are discussed, in order to bring a better understanding to their nature. On the other hand, the study then shifts onto the current legislation dealing with consumer rights, as this is also an integral part of the paper, and is therefore discussed in detail, all the while making reference to the provisions found in the law. Why consumers have rights is explained, as it is pivotal to the essence of the paper. The final part of this study in fact brings together all the previous chapters - it alludes to what may potentially happen to consumer rights legislation, as these would need to be changed or updated in order to take into account the implementation of the these technologies, with all their benefits and risks, and the possibility of dealing with other parties via distributed ledgers and smart contracts. Thus, an educated guess as to what in the law would need to change, be removed or added is provided. Whilst the majority of the study is based on national law, there are also instances where European law is brought into the discussion, either to be quoted, or to discuss on a wider scale than the national one.