SMART CONTRACTS AND DIGITAL FINANCIAL ASSETS AS INSTITUTIONS OF CIVIL LAW: A COMPARATIVE LEGAL ANALYSIS OF RUSSIA, UZBEKISTAN, AND THE EUROPEAN UNION
Keywords:
smart contract, digital financial assets, blockchain, civil law, comparative law, MiCA, digital economy, invalidity of transactions, UNCITRAL, UNIDROITAbstract
The development of distributed ledger technology and the widespread introduction of smart contracts into civil transactions have confronted national legal systems with the need to determine the civil-law characterization of this technological phenomenon and the legal regime governing digital financial assets whose issuance and circulation are mediated by smart contracts. This article presents a comparative legal analysis of the civil-law nature of smart contracts and the regime of digital financial assets in three jurisdictions that have adopted fundamentally different regulatory strategies: the Russian Federation, which follows a model of targeted amendments to the Civil Code and special legislation on digital financial assets; the Republic of Uzbekistan, which applies a model of proactive and experimental rulemaking through acts of the head of state; and the European Union, which adopted the comprehensive Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) in 2023 together with a pilot regime for market infrastructures based on distributed ledger technology. The article proposes an original three-element model for the civil-law characterization of a smart contract: a smart contract as a form of transaction, a smart contract as a method of performing an obligation, and a smart contract as an automated information system. It substantiates the conclusion that smart contracts generally have an auxiliary rather than primary role in civil transactions and examines the procedural and conflict-of-laws issues arising when transactions performed through smart contracts are declared invalid. Based on the analysis, the article formulates proposals for improving the legislation of the three jurisdictions under review and introduces a concept for UNIDROIT and UNCITRAL model provisions on smart contracts intended to promote uniform approaches to their civil-law characterization.
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