By
Ekhorutomwen Gabriel Ekhator
Abstract
One of the benefits of the internet over other means of communication is that it enables easy access to a wide-reaching audience. Spatial distance and national borders are irrelevant to the formation of electronic contracts. With the internet as a distinctive marketplace in terms of market penetration, any computer, anywhere in the world, connected to the internet can access a website and may conclude, through that site, an electronic contract. It is not in doubt that technology has transformed our states of living, but we cannot wish away the challenges appurtenant to it; the most prominent being the jurisdiction of courts to resolve interparty disputes which may arise in the course of entering or performing an electronic commercial transaction. Oftentimes, electronic contracts are not executed in one particular geographical location. The intricacy of determining the place of business and other connecting factors on the internet, therefore, challenges existing private international law rules on the jurisdiction of national courts to adjudicate on matters relating to transnational transactions.
Utilizing the doctrinal research method, this article addresses the jurisdictional challenges appurtenant to the adjudication of disputes arising from transnational electronic contracts, by examining the EU, USA and Nigeria approaches in this regard. The article argues that since there is currently no worldwide law on internet jurisdiction, the extant rules on jurisdiction should apply to disputes arising from electronic transactions. The article concludes by recommending that for the purpose of uniformity and certainty of the law in this regard, a uniform model law should be enacted.