Applying the 2005 UN Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts to Arbitration Agreements Concluded via Modern Communication Tools

The scope of application of the UN Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts 2005 includes the preparation, storage and/or transmission of information in non-documentary form by the parties to a concluded or planned legally significant agreement, provided that the parties’ places of business are in different states. The Convention extends to arbitration agreements concluded through the exchange of legally significant information and covers modern methods of concluding and evidencing such agreements, including the exchange of electronic communications, click-wrap agreements, and browse-wrap agreements. The functional equivalence criteria established by the Convention enable arbitration agreements formed through these methods to be recognized as the equivalent of a traditional written arbitration agreement signed by both parties, thereby resolving the issue of their formal validity.

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