On The Validity Of The Behavior Of Minors Entering Into Electronic Contracts

The rapid development of network technology makes e-commerce,which rely on the Internet to develop continuously,flourish.E-commerce provides conditions for realizing commodity trading and information exchange on the Internet and other online services.Correspondingly,electronic contracts have emerged as an important tool and carrier of e-commerce.The so-called electronic contract,the author adopts a broad definition here,that is,between natural persons,legal persons and other organizations that are equal subjects,using information networks as the media,for the purpose of establishing,changing,and terminating property civil rights and obligations,and concluded through electronic means.Agreement.The use of computer network technology in electronic contracts has changed traditional trade concepts and methods,and has also caused many legal issues.The "E-commerce Law" was born under the background of the current electronic information age.It not only protects the stable and orderly development of e-commerce activities,provides a powerful boost to the national economy,but also weighs the distribution of rights and obligations in practice,and balances the balance of multiple parties.Time risks and benefits.Compared with traditional contracts,electronic contracts have special attributes such as the digitization of the identity of the parties,the diversification of contracting tools,the indirect expression of the intention to conclude,and the obscure of the time and place of establishment.The particularity of electronic contracts makes in practice the parties are in a "back-to-back" transaction state when they enter into electronic contracts,and it is difficult to accurately identify the identity of the transaction subject.At the same time,the mental maturity and behavioral capabilities of the minor subject are under the influence of the network environment.Compared with the past,it has been improved,so that in practice,there has been a problem of determining the validity of behaviors caused by the participation of minor subjects in signing electronic contracts.Regarding related issues,the academic circles have different opinions.Some scholars believe that the capacity of minors should be strictly restricted in accordance with the traditional theories of civil law.Some scholars also believe that the current time when e-commerce is booming,the restrictions on the behavioral capabilities of minors should be relaxed,and minors should be given a certain amount of behavioral capabilities to sign electronic contracts.Article 48 of our country’s "E-Commerce Law" stipulates:"The act of an e-commerce party using an automatic information system to conclude or perform a contract has legal effect on the party using the system.In e-commerce,it is presumed that the party has the corresponding capacity for civil conduct.However,unless there is contrary evidence sufficient to overturn it.”The author believes that the adoption of the legislative technique of "presumption" is a breakthrough in traditional civil law theory.It can not only supplement the civil capacity of the minor subject to a certain extent,reasonably determine the effectiveness of the minor subject’s behavior,enhance transaction stability,and promote the orderly development of electronic transaction activities,but also can take into account the inevitable The limitation of civil capacity in e-commerce activities,otherwise,under the situation that the cognition and judgment ability of minors is improved,it is easy for minors to use the particularity of electronic contracts to enter into electronic contracts,which affects the stability of transactions.However,due to the particularity of electronic contracts,it is difficult for the subject to accurately identify whether it is a person with full civil capacity or a minor subject.The issue of identity authentication and the burden of proof need to be further discussed.This article will first interpret and construct the basic concepts of the article,go deep into it layer by layer,combine the evaluation and analysis of Article 48 of the Electronic Commerce Law,supplemented by certain comparative law research methods,examine the regulatory methods of extraterritorial law on related issues,and fully consider Risks,benefits,and rights and obligations are reasonably distributed,so that conclusions are drawn,and relevant suggestions are made for solving minor electronic contract disputes,in order to help solve related problems in my country.Specifically,the article can be divided into the following five parts:The first part expounds the basic concepts,pointing out that the particularity of electronic contracts is the starting point for determining the validity of the juvenile’s conduct of entering into electronic contracts.The conduct of juveniles entering into electronic contracts as studied in this article means that at least one of the parties is a minor.It uses the information network as the medium to establish,change,and terminate the relationship of property civil rights and obligations,and the act of entering into an agreement through electronic means.The subject of minors studied in this article only refers to minors who cannot use their own labor income as their main source of living,and they belong to persons with restricted capacity and persons without civil capacity.At the same time,combined with the brief evaluation and analysis of Article 48 of the "E-Commerce Law",it interpreted the system design for the determination of the validity of the act of entering into electronic contracts by minors,and believed that Article 48 of the "E-Commerce Law" was a breakthrough in traditional civil law,There are also specific considerations for the distribution of legal benefits in practice.The second part focuses on the issues related to the identification of minors in electronic contracts.First,analyze the necessity of identification.Today,with the rapid development of electronic contracts,a large number of transactions occur on platforms built by information networks.Under such a background,both parties to transactions generally do not use the method of meeting on the spot to deal with the transaction object.To confirm the identity,the efficient and convenient characteristics of the electronic contract itself do not encourage the parties to the transaction to meet on the spot to increase the transaction cost.Therefore,it is inevitable to determine the identity of the subject,which is also particularly important in the context of the issue of minors entering into electronic contracts.The second is to briefly summarize several mainstream methods for the identification of electronic contract subjects-electronic signatures,time stamps,and electronic authentication services,and point out that the current electronic contract identification methods still have blind spots and minor personalities.Privacy is easy to leak.The third part extends the field of vision to extraterritorial law,systematically examines the relevant regulations and specific systems of the more representative countries in the civil law system and the common law system on the effectiveness of minors’ contractual acts,and analyzes the reference points It also shows that my country’s current theoretical research should also advance with the times in the new field of collision and integration of Internet technology and law,be brave in absorbing and accepting,and broaden its horizons,in order to provide solutions to the issue of the effectiveness of minors entering into electronic contracts.Useful for reference.The fourth part analyzes the effectiveness of minors using false identity registration to enter into electronic contracts,minors fraudulently using others’identities to enter into electronic contracts,and the recent practice of minors using computer network loopholes to enter into electronic contracts.In the discourse,important concepts such as "registration behavior" and "false use of the name of others" are defined respectively,and the relevant content of the "Civil Code","E-commerce Law" and relevant content of extraterritorial law is analyzed in different situations.In the end,it is concluded that the validity of juveniles’ use of false identity registration to enter into electronic contracts is to be determined or valid,and that minors fraudulently use the names of others to conclude electronic contracts should be deemed to be effective and minors use computer network loopholes to enter into electronic contracts.The conclusion of the effectiveness of the behavior is yet to be determined.The fifth part proposes suggestions for improving the electronic contract of minors and solving the related issues of disputes caused by the unclear validity of the behavior of the minors entering into electronic contracts.First of all,at the level of legislative norms and system construction,it is recommended to reflect and consider the application of traditional civil law theories,to moderately relax and refine the scope and provisions of minors’ contractual capabilities,and to grant minors adulthood The right of ratification is taken into consideration.Secondly,at the level of trial and rights protection mechanisms in judicial practice,it is recommended to make supplements and adjustments to the proof of evidence,requiring judges to pay attention to balancing the value of legal interests when adjudicating specific cases,and to determine the responsibility of both parties in the electronic contract transaction.It is necessary to strengthen the construction of dispute prevention and resolution mechanisms in judicial practice.