Special Features of Conflict of Laws Regulation of Relations in the Sphere of Electronic Commerce

The rapid development of relations in the sphere of electronic commerce, as well as the cross-border nature of interaction between parties using technology has served as a powerful impetus to the development of both international and national legislations of different countries in the field of online commerce. Due to the specificity of legal relations with the use of information and communication technologies and the use of technical means that simplify the process of interaction between parties located in different states, the author has made an attempt to identify the peculiarities of conflict of laws regulation of legal relations in the sphere of electronic commerce, as well as consideration of mechanisms for choosing the competent jurisdiction in relation to disputes arising from legal relations in online commerce. Based on a systematic analysis of international legal acts, legislation of Russia, EU member states, Great Britain, USA, Japan, etc., as well as doctrine and judicial practice, it was concluded that legal relations arising in the sphere of electronic commerce are regulated similarly to transactions in the offline environment. The change of format and transfer of the parties' interaction to the virtual space has undoubtedly brought certain specificity to the conflict of laws regulation. Nevertheless, with regard to the resolution of conflict of laws and jurisdictional issues in the sphere of electronic commerce, the formation of new subject matter conflict of laws or mechanisms to determine competent jurisdiction may become redundant.