電子載貨證券之電子簽章及收訊通知分析

Electronic Bills of Lading: Electronic Signatures and Analysis of Acknowledgement of Receipt

電子載貨證券乃是載貨證券資料經由電子通訊傳送。由於其處理成本低，傳遞速度快，各界成盼其使用以避免紙本載貨證券的缺失。國際海事委員會(CMI)電子載貨證券規則及Bolero規則書中，均以當事人同意為基礎，規定電子載貨證券之收訊通知方式，色括：確認、拒絕或未收到收訊通知的處理。此對於未同意該規則之其他第三人，並不具備法律約束力。電子載貨證券之發展，較周全的做法是遵循各國現有之電子商務法律規範，省去當事人彼此協議同意電子載貨證券規則之步轉，簡化並加快海運相關電子商業交易的速度。各國電子商務立法則多參考聯合國國際貿易法委員會(UNCITRAL)電子商務示範法。載貨證券是否適用電子商務法律規範'目前各國規定不同。本文首先探討各國規定，並分析CMI電子載貨證券規則中，載貨證券之簽發及轉讓是否符合電子簽章之要件。其次，本文從我國法律及UNCITRAL電子商務示範法，探討CMI及Bolero規則中，載貨證券簽發及轉讓之收訊通知方式，並比較其間之異同。最後，提出我國電子載貨證券立法及實務之建議。

Electronic bills ollading are mainly data contained in bills ollading transmitted electronically. Since the cost is down and the speed is up, almost all parties involved welcome electronic bills of lading to avoid the disadvantages 01 paper bills of lading. Comite Maritime lnternational (CMI) rules for electronic bills ollading and Bolero Rulebook all are based on agreements between parties. These rules also define procedures lor acknowledgement of receipt in electronic bills of lading, such as acceptance, rejection, and no acknowledgement. These rules do not bind third parties who do not agree to these rules. A more comprehensive approach is to adopt the recent legal framework of electronic commerce (EC) in each country, which can reduce the steps to achieve the agreements between parties for rules of electronic bills of lading and then speed up maritime electronic transactions. The legislation in each country usually refers to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on EC. However, it is varied in countries whether the legal framework of EC applies to bills of lading. In this paper, we first discuss regulations in several countries and whether CMI rules for electronic bills of lading conform to electronic signatures. Secondly, starting from regulations in Taiwan and Model Lawon EC, wediscuss acknowledgements of regulated rules of CMI and Bolero at issuing and transferring electronic bills of lading. We then make a comparison between these rules. Finally, we propose recommendations on regulations and practice of electronic bills of lading in Taiwan.