Law 4961/2022 on “Emerging information and communication technologies, strengthening of digital governance and other provisions” introduces the concept of “smart contract” into the Greek legal system, expressly recognising transactions made through this novel digital tool, making use of the blockchain technology.
More specifically, articles 49 to 51 of law 4961/2022 regulate the issues of conclusion, validity, content, and proof of the smart contract, by reference to the provisions of the Greek Civil Code and the Code of Civil Procedure (C.C.P.), while article 31 par. 9 gives the definition of a smart contract.
It is noteworthy that:
(A) A smart contract, as defined in article 31 par.9, is considered to be the set of encoded computer functions, which is finalized and executed through Distributed Ledger Technology (D.L.T.) in automated electronic form through instructions for the “execution” of an action, omission or tolerance, which are based on the existence or not of specific conditions, in accordance with terms recorded directly in electronic code, programmed instructions or programmed language.
(B) Article 49 regulates the operation, validity, content, and contractual terms of a smart contract, providing inter alia that:
- the terms of the smart contract may either be formulated by the contracting parties and incorporated into the code of a computer program, or be predetermined in the blockchain or other D.L.T. and selected or accepted by the contracting parties, and
- the parties are considered to be bound by the Smart Contract from the moment of completion of their “adherence” to it.
(C) Article 50 enables the smart contract to bear an electronic signature or an electronic seal, and
(D) Article 51 makes clear that a smart contract has the evidentiary value of an (electronic) document within the meaning of article 339 of the C.C.P. and may be relied upon as evidence under articles 432 to 465 of the C.C.P., provided that both the electronic code and an expert’s report with knowledge on cryptography are produced along with it.
As follows from the above, law 4961/2022 creates an innovative legal framework, which for the first time provides legal certainty, by extending the scope of application of the fundamental principles of the Greek Civil Code to smart contracts, which until now existed only in the digital world. Due to their advantages in terms of cost and time required for their conclusion and implementation, smart contracts can facilitate and render more attractive the conclusion of different types of financial contracts, such as derivative products, but also contracts of any other kind.
