A Study on the Contract Formation in the Electronic Commerce

전자상거래(電子商去來)의 계약성립(契約成立)에 관한 고찰(考察)

Contract requires, on principle, a meeting of minds. The basic elements of that contact are an offer by one party and an acceptance of the terms of the offer by the other party. In the electronic commerce an offer and the acceptance of an offer may be expressed by dispach or receipt of data messages. The contract which a data messages is used in the formation may be called electronic contract. The formation of the electronic contract is regulated by the Civil Code or the Commerce Code. The time of the contract formation is regulated by the Civil Code and the Commerce Code. But the time of dispach and receipt of the data message is stated in Article 9 of the Fundamental Law on Electronic Commerce. In this article the dispatch of a data message occurs when it enters an information system outside the control of the originator or of the person who sent the date message on behalf of the originator. The time of receipt of a data message, if the adressee has designated an information system for the purpose of receiving data message, is at the time when the data message enters the designated information system; or if the data message is sent to an information system of the adressee that is not the designated information system, at the time when the data message is retrieved by the addressee; if the addressee has not designated an information system, receipt occurs when the data message enters an information system of the addressee. The time of the electronic contract formation depends on the Civil Code or the Commerce Code and this Article 9 of the Fundamental Law on Electronic Commerce. An electronic contract may be formed by an offer and the acceptance of an offer by dispach or receipt of data message. An offer can not be withdrawn after it is accepted. But in mail-order sales and installment dealing an offer can be revoked after the goods were delivered. In this case the contract is lapsed.