When signing electronic contracts citizens to be more protected

Minister of Justice Grigor Minasyan presented the package of draft Laws "On making amendments and supplements to the Civil Code of the Republic of Armenia", "On making amendments and a supplement to the Law of the Republic of Armenia ’On trade and services’" and "On making amendments and supplements to the Law of the Republic of Armenia "On protection of consumer rights".

As indicated by the Minister, the package recommends such regulations which upgrade the level of the regulations of contracts signed electronically and those relating to the e-commerce in general. Such regulations are envisaged, per which the citizens will henceforth be more protected in contractual relations. It will be more visible for the contracting party, including the consumer, what relations they enter into when concluding a contract, what terms they agree to; and this will also serve as a restraining mechanism to protect the citizens from non-conscientious economic entities.

Grigor Minasyan specified that although the Civil Code in force regulates in a certain way the issues related to the electronic contracts, the regulations are, however, outdated; they are interpreted in quite limited manner and are not clear in terms of application. For example, the cases of concluding contracts via internet websites, various electronic applications and platforms are not regulated, although these are practically used.

In order to better protect the consumers' rights, clear guarantees have been envisaged for concluding accession contracts. Under the draft package, it is firstly specified what is the accession contract; furthermore, provisions that cannot be included in the contract concluded with the consumer, and if included, they will be deemed as invalid, are defined by the legislation. For instance, when under the contract, the economic entity is reserved with the right to unilaterally amend the contract without notifying the consumer within a reasonable time period, or when the liability of the economic entity is limited or ruled out in case of the consumer's death or harm caused to the consumer's life or health, etc.

Grigor Minasyan concluded his speech stating that the EU relevant legislation is at the base of the most part of regulations offered by the Project and the requirement of approximation to it derives from the obligations assumed by Armenia under the “Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement”. The amendments derive also from the 2022-2026 Strategy for Judicial and Legal Reforms.