The Introduction of an Electronic Bill of Lading into the Russian Legal Order. Part II

Abstract

The paper analyzes the possibility of building a system of electronic bills of lading, the legal effect of which is determined under the norms of Russian legislation. The author highlights that the existing norms are not able to meet the needs of turnover and the fair distribution of risks of using electronic bills of lading. The paper elucidates the key factors determining the prospect of using an electronic bill of lading in trade. They include the rules ensuring neutrality and reliability of the person maintaining the register of electronic bills of lading, rules ensuring impossibility of foreclosing on an electronic bill of lading for the obligations of the person maintaining the register, the level of security of accounting for rights in relation to electronic bills of lading, the amount of transaction costs of participants in trade when using an electronic bill of lading, rules ensuring control of the pledgee over the transfer rights in relation to the pledged electronic bill of lading, convenience of transferring rights, as well as the possibility and consequences of converting an electronic bill of lading. Taking into account the above criteria, the author considers the possibility of regulating an electronic bill of lading on the basis of the corpus of norms already existing in Russian legislation, namely, using the model of non-documentary securities and digital rights. It is noted that none of these models can ensure the effective functioning of an electronic bill of lading in the absence of a whole range of legal and technological solutions, without which the expected advantages are outweighed by the problems of practical application. The paper elucidates possible ways of perspective regulation of electronic bills of lading in the Russian legal order and analyzes possible ways of civil law protection of the rights confirmed by the electronic bill of lading in the regulation of each of the proposed models.