Legal aspects of on-line execution of contracts

The present master issue examines legal aspects of on-line execution of contracts: evaluation of information presented on a website, application of post box rule and reception rule on exchange of letters by electronic mail, mandatory information to be presented before the execution of a contract on a website, obligation to introduce a possibility to correct input mistakes, obligation to acknowledge the receipt of the recipient's order, the use of computer programs in the process of on-line execution of contracts, finally, validity, form requirements and evidential value of the contract executed on-line. Part of the mentioned aspects is examined applying legal categories of traditional contract law to the virtual environment, also comparing those to England and German law. Another part of aspects is analyzed through the rules established in statutory law in pursuance to determine their legal meaning in the process of on-line execution of contracts. Substantive conclusions of the present paper indicate that regulation of on-line execution of contracts is dualistic nowadays; therefore the question is raised if such a regulation model is able to present unequivocal legal frames to the actors of internet commerce. Also it is concluded that the application of the legal categories of traditional contract law to the virtual environment is not as unproblematic as it may seem from the first sign. It is emphasized that thought there are obligations established in the statutory law to the process of on-line execution of contracts, it is not clearly stated what is the legal meaning of such obligations. Eventually, on the theoretical side there are no obstacles to the validity and evidential value of the contracts executed on-line, however court decisions are still contradictory in Lithuania on the topic