The United Nations General Assembly Resolution No. A/ RES/51/ 162, dated 30th January 1997, Chapter III and specifically Article 11 sets about the formation and validity of E-contract.
Article 11 states that in the context of the contract formation unless otherwise agreed by the parties, on offer and the acceptance of an offer may be expressed by means of data message. Where data message is used in the formation of a contract that contact shall not be denied validity or enforceability on the sole ground that a data message was used for that purpose.
Simultaneously, Article 12 states that as between the originator and the addressee of a data message, a declaration of will or other statement shall not be denied legal effect, validity or enforceability solely on the ground that it is in form of a data message.
According to UNCITRAL Model Law, Article 11 is not intended to interfere with the law on formation of contracts but rather to promote international trade by providing augmented legal certainty as to the conclusion of contracts by electronic means. In certain countries a provision along with the lines of provision of Articles 11 might be regarded as merely stating the obvious, namely that an offer and an acceptance, as any other expression of will, can be communicated by any means, including data message. However the considerable number of countries as to whether contracts can validly be concluded by electronic means. Such reservations may stem from the fact that, in certain cases, the data message expressing offer and acceptance are generated by computer without instantaneous human intervention, thus raising doubts as to be expression of intent by the parties. Another reason of such uncertainties is inherent in the modes of communication and results from the absence of a paper document.
Source; Cyber Lawyers and Legal Help
