Call for Evidence

The House of Lords has established a Special Public Bill Committee on the Electronic Trade Documents Bill.  The long title of the Bill describes it as a “Bill to Make provision about electronic trade documents; and for connected purposes”. The Government’s Explanatory Notes to the Bill explain that there are “certain types of documents used in trade and trade finance whose functionality depends on their being capable of being (physically) possessed. The current law in the United Kingdom does not recognise the possibility of possessing electronic documents … The Bill gives effect to the recommendations of the Law Commission for England and Wales to allow for the legal recognition of such documents in electronic form.”[1]

Special Public Bill Committees are empowered to take written and oral evidence on a bill before considering it.  The Committee would welcome views on the provisions contained within the Bill, and other relevant matters (there is no requirement to answer all the questions.)

In particular, the Committee would welcome views on:

• whether you agree with the proposed reforms and whether the reforms achieve what they are intended to;
• whether the Government was right to extend the Bill to the whole of the UK;
• whether the application of the Bill to the whole of the UK sufficiently takes account of any differences there may be with the law of Scotland;
• the interoperability of the Bill with national and international regimes, in particular the Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records from the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (MLETR);[2]
• the reliability and security implications of moving to an electronic system, including:
• the immutability of electronic documents;
• the potential risks from the ability to create multiple copies of a document;
• the reliability of electronic signatures; and
• the benefits and risks of a list of trusted signatures and reliable systems;

• whether the list in Clause 2(2) of what constitutes an “electronic trade document” is right;

• whether the emphasis on “possession” and its development by the courts in the UK rather than “exclusive control” is the best approach (as compared to Article 11 of MLETR and section 16 I of the Singapore Electronic Transactions (Amendment) Act 2021);[3] and
• whether the Bill is future proofed.

Written submissions should be submitted online, as a Word document, using the written submission form at: https://committees.parliament.uk/submission/#/evidence/3001/scope

The call for evidence deadline is Tuesday 10 January.

Short submissions are preferred. A submission longer than six pages should include a one-page summary. Paragraphs should be numbered. All submissions made through the written submission form will be acknowledged automatically by email.

Evidence which is accepted by the Committee may be published online at any stage; when it is so published it becomes subject to parliamentary copyright and is protected by parliamentary privilege. Submissions which have been previously published will not be accepted as evidence.

Once you have received acknowledgement that the evidence has been accepted you will receive a further email, and at this point you may publicise or publish your evidence yourself. In doing so you must indicate that it was prepared for the Committee, and you should be aware that your publication or re-publication of your evidence may not be protected by parliamentary privilege.

Personal contact details will be removed from evidence before publication, but will be retained by the Legislation Office and used for specific purposes relating to the Committee’s work, for instance to seek additional information.

Persons who submit written evidence, and others, may be invited to give oral evidence. Oral evidence is usually given in public at Westminster and broadcast online; transcripts are also taken and published online. Persons invited to give oral evidence will be notified separately of the procedure to be followed and the topics likely to be discussed.

Substantive communications to the Committee about the inquiry should be addressed through the clerk of the Committee, whether or not they are intended to constitute formal evidence to the Committee.

This is a public call for evidence. Please bring it to the attention of other groups and individuals who may not have received a copy direct.

Diversity comes in many forms and hearing a range of different perspectives means that committees are better informed and can more effectively scrutinise public policy and legislation. Committees can undertake their role most effectively when they hear from a wide range of individuals, sectors or groups in society affected by a particular policy or piece of legislation. We encourage anyone with experience or expertise of an issue under investigation by a select committee to share their views with the committee, with the full knowledge that their views have value and are welcome. If you think someone you know would have an interest in contributing to the inquiry, please pass this on to them.

You can follow the progress of the inquiry at: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/636/electronic-trade-documents-bill-hl-special-public-bill-committee/

[1] Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Electronic Trade Documents Bill [HL] Explanatory Notes, (12 October 2022): https://bills.parliament.uk/publications/47902/documents/2302

[2] United Nations Commissions on International Trade Law, Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records, (July 2018): https://uncitral.un.org/sites/uncitral.un.org/files/media-documents/uncitral/en/mletr_ebook_e.pdf

[3] Section 16 I, Electronic Transactions (Amendment) Act,

https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Acts-Supp/5-2021/Published/20210312?DocDate=20210312