區塊鏈智能合約的契約法問題

Legal Issues of Blockchian-based Smart Contracts in Contract Law

近年來，區塊鏈技術的崛起引發各個產業莫大的興趣，甚至有預言區塊鏈將徹底翻轉許多產業生態。而在區塊鏈的各種應用中，又以智能合約最受到矚目。新的科技技術可能會帶來新的法律上的挑戰。有關智能合約的法律議題多樣，其涵蓋面向包括民刑法、智慧財產權法、個資保護到金融監理以及其他產業特別法規，但礙於篇幅無法逐一討論。因此本文討論範圍將聚焦於智能合約與契約法相關的一些基本的法律問題。本文主要由伍部分組成。首先簡要介紹智能合約之應用和現行契約法條款相關的法律問題。第貳部分則介紹區塊鏈（分散式帳本技術）的主要特徵及其運作原理。繼而就智能合約之定義為探討，並分析智能合約的潛在用途及其益處和侷限性。第肆部分則從契約法的角度就智能合約相關之契約法的法律問題逐一討論。最後，綜合上述提出結論和建議。由於智能合約仍處於早期發展的階段，因此現行法是否需大規模的調整或是另立專法以為因應，目前尚言之過早，但隨著智能合約的運用之普及，仍應密切關注其發展。

In recent years, the rise of blockchain technology has sparked great interest in various industries and even predicted that the blockchain will completely reverse many industrial ecosystems. In the various applications of the blockchain, smart contracts have attracted the most attention. New technology can bring new legal challenges. There are various legal issues related to smart contracts, ranging from civil law, criminal law, intellectual property law, personal information protection to financial supervision as well as other industry special regulations. Due to paragraph limitation, it is implausible to discuss these issues one by one. Therefore, the scope of this article will focus on some basic legal issues related to smart contracts and contract law. Specifically, this article primarily consists of five parts. First, a brief introduction to the application of smart contracts and the legal issues related to the current contract law provisions will be reviewed. Secondly, the main features of the blockchain (distributed ledger technology) and its operating principles will be introduced. The definition of smart contracts will be further explored and the potential uses of smart contracts and their benefits and limitations will be analyzed. Fourthly, from the perspective of contract law, the legal issues related to smart contracts will be consecutively discussed. Lastly, based on the above-mentioned reviews, conclusions and recommendations will be presented. Because the smart contract is still in the early stage of development, it is too early to say whether the current law requires a large-scale adjustment or another special law. However, with the popularization and uses of smart contracts, it is worth paying close attention to its future development.