Institute for Internet Policy & Law @ Beijing Normal University

UNESCAP organized the Forum on Trade Digitization for Sustainable Regional Integration on 14 MAR 2019 TO 15 MAR 2019 in BANGKOK, THAILAND.  The Forum addressed the regional and global initiatives on electronic exchange of trade-related data and documents for trade digitization, shared their current progress and lessons learnt during implementation, and discussed way forward in making them better contribute to sustainable regional integration. Prof. Xue presented on Framework Agreement’s Mutual Recognition Mechanism in Session 5 Enabling mutual recognition of electronic data in cross-border paperless trade transactions on 15 March and was applauded by the officials and experts from Asia Pacific countries as the most insightful legal guide for implementing the Framework Agreement.

This event was organized as part of the Sixth Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Week, 11-15 March 2019. The Sixth Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Week was held in Bangkok from 11-15 March under the theme ‘Navigating Non-tariff Measures towards Sustainable Development’. Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Week brought together government officials and other stakeholders every two years for discussions on issues of importance to trade and investment policy making in the region. Drawing on the presence of senior policymakers from across the Asia-Pacific region, the week hosted a number of engaging events related to trade and investment policy making, covering areas such as trade facilitation, trade and investment agreements, science, technology and innovation (STI) policies and responsible business practices. The ESCAP Committee on Trade and Investment (Invitation only) — the key platform for regional dialogue and intergovernmental collaboration on trade and investment —convened its sixth session during the Week, from 13 to 15 March 2019.

Prof. Xue was invited by the Center of Intellectual Property and Information Law of Cambridge Law Faculty to lecture to the faculties and graduate students on January 16-21, 2019. Prof. Xue Lectured on “Copyright on E-commerce Platforms: An Insight Preview of the Chinese New Law”. Chinese E-Commerce Law, effective from 1 January 2019, impacts all the stakeholders in the business. This comprehensive Law revamps the copyright system applicable to e-commerce platforms by redefining their roles, responsibility and liability. E-commerce platforms are one of the powerful infrastructures that enable Chinese global business development. The Law’s extra-territoriality may not be overlooked. How would this new system affect the interests of the parties involved? Would it facilitate a balanced copyright system through multi-stakeholder interaction? Is the platform governance relevant to the copyright liability and law enforcement? Prof. Xue explored all these questions and exchanged the views and opinions with the faculties and students. Prof. Xue also answered a couple of questions raised by the audience. All were highly interested in the Chinese new Law and looked forward to knowing more from Prof. Xue.

电子商务法“升级”对消费者保护力度

2018-09-18 本报记者　蒲晓磊

禁止网购刷单；不得默认搭售；应当及时退还押金……针对近两年出现的一些侵害消费者权益的现象,电子商务法专门作出规定,并明确了相应的法律责任。例如,针对押金退还问题,电子商务法规定,电子商务经营者未向消费者明示押金退还的方式、程序,对押金退还设置不合理条件,或者不及时退还押金的,最高可处以五十万元的罚款。近些年,伴随着电子商务的高速发展,侵害消费者权益的花样也在不断翻新,电子商务法专门在多处针对热点问题作出回应,进一步构建了保护消费者权益的法律制度。

经营者不得滥用格式条款
北京师范大学法学院教授薛虹指出,在电子商务活动中,交易都是采用电子商务合同,除非特殊情况(例如当事人特别约定签署传统纸面方式的确认书)或者特殊领域(例如法律、行政法规有禁止性规定),都是采用自动信息系统订立的。
对此,电子商务法专门在“电子商务合同的订立与履行”一章中规定了一系列保护消费者合法权益的法律制度,主要包括:电子商务经营者信息披露义务、允许消费者更正输入错误的义务、不得滥用格式条款的义务。
关于电子商务经营者信息披露义务,电子商务法第五十条第一款规定,电子商务经营者应当清晰、全面、明确地告知用户订立合同的步骤、注意事项、下载方法等事项,并保证用户能够便利、完整地阅览和下载。
薛虹认为,从字面上看,上述条款并未直接提到自动信息系统,但是使用了“下载方法”等表达方式,明显是指从互联网等信息网络下载有关信息,因此,实质上是指在经营者使用自动信息系统订立合同的情况下,对其消费者所承担法律义务。消费者依赖经营者提供的自动信息系统提交订单,此法律规定对于消费者权益的保护有重要意义。
同时,电子商务法还针对电子商务特点,明确了允许消费者更正输入错误的权利。电子商务法第五十条第二款规定,电子商务经营者应当保证用户在提交订单前可以更正输入错误。
薛虹说,电子商务经营者使用自动信息系统订立合同的,消费者在与自动信息系统互动通信中按错按键、误入数据的情况时有发生。为了避免消费者发送错误信息,电子商务法规定了电子商务经营者公平设置自动信息系统的义务,即经营者应当在所使用的自动信息系统中设置有关的保障性措施与程序,给予消费者及时纠正输入性错误的机会。
此外,为了保护消费者合法权益,电子商务法作出了“经营者不得滥用格式条款”的规定。电子商务法第四十九条第二款规定,电子商务经营者不得以格式条款等方式约定消费者支付价款后合同不成立；格式条款等含有该内容的,其内容无效。
薛虹指出,在面向消费者的电子商务活动中,大多数情况下,消费者通过经营者的自动信息系统提交订单的同时就完成了电子支付。
根据上述规定,消费者提交订单并完成支付,直接导致与经营者之间的合同成立。
“经营者即便在自动信息系统中设置格式条款,约定消费者提交订单、支付价款后合同不成立,该条款也无效,合同仍然成立。除非在消费者提交订单但是货到付款、另行支付的情形下,经营者不得以格式条款等方式否定消费者提交订单的约束力。总之,电子商务法明确了在面向消费者的电子商务活动中,消费者提交的订单并完成支付的法律效力,解决了关于订单究竟是要约还是承诺的长期争议。”薛虹说。

UNCITRAL RCAP-BNU Joint Certificate Program on International E-Commerce Law (JCP)

Chinese E-Commerce Law in the Global Digital Economy

In Memory of UNCITRAL Asia Pacific Day 2018

Moderator: Prof. dr. Xue Hong, Director of BNU IIPL and Co-Director of JCP

11 December 2018, 13:30-16:30 BNU Law School Auditorium 1922

全球数字经济中的《电子商务法》暨2018年联合国国际贸易法委员会亚太日国际研讨会在北师大举行

12月11日下午，全球数字经济中的《电子商务法》暨2018年联合国国际贸易法委员会亚太日国际研讨会在北京师范大学举行。本次会议由北京师范大学互联网政策与法律研究中心以及联合国国际贸易法委员会共同主办，阿里巴巴知识产权研究院、中国法学会网络与信息法学研究会以及中国国际经济贸易仲裁委员会网上纠纷解决中心协办。来自北师大互联网政策与法律研究中心、联合国国际贸易法委员会亚太中心、全国人民代表大会财政经济委员会、阿里巴巴知识产权研究院、中国法学会的领导、专家、学者以及来自北京师范大学法律硕士、法学硕士、法学博士、国际留学生近40人参加了会议。

会议由北师大互联网政策与法律研究中心薛虹教授主持并翻译，联合国国际贸易法委员会亚太中心官员菲尼克斯女士，全国人大财经委研究室施禹之主任、阿里巴巴集团高级法务专家范俊伟、中国法学会网络与信息法学研究会副秘书长周辉先后主题发言。

薛虹教授隆重介绍了参会的嘉宾并代表北京师范大学法学院以及北京师范大学互联网政策与法律研究中心对大家的到来表示欢迎。

联合国国际贸易法委员会官员Yu Lam TSE女士介绍了联合国国际贸易法委员会的成立和发展历程，以及 “电子商务”工作做的工作机制与方法。此外，Yu Lam TSE女士还全面讲解了电子商务法律2.0时代的内涵并指出电子商务立法对其他经济领域的重要性。最后，Yu Lam TSE女士针对同学们介绍了联合国国际贸易法委员会的实习生项目并欢迎大家参观和学习。

全国人民代表大会财政经济委员会施禹之主任回顾了中国《电子商务法》的发展历程。首先，他特别感谢了北师大互联网政策与法律研究中心、联合国国际贸易法委员会对中国《电子商务法》出台做出的努力和帮助。随后，施禹之主任分别用两组数字“543”、“789”高度概括了《电子商务法》的出台过程和章节分布，即中国《电子商务法》的出台历时5年，经过4次全国人大的审议并3次公开向社会各界征求意见；《电子商务法》共7章89条。最后，施禹之主任还厘清和梳理了《电子商务法》中的6大关系和6大基本原则，并对中国作为世界第二大经济实体在国际电子商务中的地位提出期待。

阿里巴巴集团高级法务专家范俊伟介绍了阿里巴巴的主要业务，并指出电商保护知识产权的三种方式：技术模式、商业模式和规则模式。他还从实务的角度出发，阐述了阿里巴巴解决电商争议的大众评审制度以及阿里巴巴的原创知识产权保护机制。

中国法学会网络与信息法学研究会理事兼副秘书长周辉指出，作为网络和信息立法领域的里程碑，中国的《电子商务法》具有四个鲜明特征：促进和支持电子商务的创新和发展；保护消费者与用户的合法权益；围绕电子商务平台规范电子商务行为；绿色环保。

会议中设置了两个提问环节，来自法国、多哥、英国等国际留学生与中国硕士研究生同学提出了富有价值的问题，与在场专家进行了探讨。研讨会气氛热烈。

最后，薛虹教授还特别介绍了国内外电子商务争议解决的相关内容并总结发言。本次研讨会从理论与实务的角度围绕中国《电子商务法》的相关问题展开探讨，视野从国内扩展到国际，具有相当的广度与深度，最终取得了圆满的成功。

Program

13:00-13:30 Conference Registration

 13:30-13:50 BNU Law School: Welcome & introduction

13:50-14:10 Mr. Shi Yuzhi, National People’s Congress Finance and Economy Committee

 14:10-15:00 Ms. Yu Lam Tse, UNCITRAL RCAP: An Enabling Legal Environment for E-commerce: UNCITRAL’s E-commerce law 2.0 and Recent Developments

 15:00-15:10 Q & A

 15:10-15:30 Mr. Fan Junwei, Senior Expert of Alibaba Intellectual Property Academy       

15:30-15:50 Dr. Zhou Hui, Secretary General, China Law Society Network and Information Law Academy:

 15:50-16:10 Prof. Xue Hong, Deputy Director of CIETAC ODR Center

 16:10-16:30 Q & A and Closing Remarks

The Meeting of Extended UNNExT Advisory Group on Cross-border Paperless Trade Facilitation, organized by UNESCAP, was held on 30 October – 1 November 2018 in Bangkok.

The meeting brought together selected members of UNNExT Advisory Committee and relevant Advisory Groups as well as regional experts to work on legal and technical issues of facilitating cross-border paperless trade. The meeting focused on selected legal and technical work items, including legal gap checklist, technical gap checklist and mutual recognition mechanism for trade-related data and documents in electronic form. The outcome of the meeting will be used as an input for the Legal and Technical Working Groups (LTWGs) of the Interim Intergovernmental Steering Group on Cross-border Paperless Trade Facilitation in further advancing delivery of supporting documents of the draft road map.

Prof. Xue is invited to give a keynote presentation on “Mutual recognition mechanism for trade related data and documents in electronic form under the Framework Agreement on Cross-border Paperless Trade”. She gave a comprehensive review of the Article 8 of the Framework Agreement and proposed the potential institutional arrangement to enable mutual recognition within the legal framework. She emphasized that whatever technical means deployed to achieve the effect the legal consistency under the Agreement has to be assured through institutional arrangement.