E-commerce law in Palestine with special reference to apportionment of liabilities

Abstract

E-commerce allows any buyer to purchase goods from anywhere in the world; it creates a global market of goods in which business and consumers contract with each other electronically. Varieties and brands of goods are bought and sold via the Internet and consumed far away from the point of purchase and the place of manufacture. However, the apportionment of liability becomes uncertain because there are many intermediaries involved. Although the role of each of these intermediaries is clear and known, the apportionment of liabilities of each of them is not necessarily settled. Without clear acknowledgment and understanding of each party’s role and responsibility, it is likely that any one party will bear all responsibility. This is because there is no certainty as to the apportionment of liability in the provision of sale of goods via the Internet. This research investigated and examined the nature of liabilities arising out of electronic transactions and the challenges of apportionment of those liabilities. In addition, this research studied Palestinian laws relating to electronic contracts, specifically on the issue of apportionment of liability. It also assessed the laws on apportionment of liabilities under the Shari’ah. Finally, this research came up with recommendations to improve the law on e-transactions in Palestine to effectively define and regulate liabilities of all parties involved in e-transactions. This research is a doctrinal research using both analytical and comparative approaches. In addition, the laws of Palestine, other Arab countries, and the European Directives were referred in order to clarify the issues of apportionment of liability in e-transactions in Palestine. It found from this research that the current laws in Palestine are inadequate to regulate the issue of apportionment of liability in electronic transaction. The benefit of this research is to propose recommendations to develop Palestinian laws in order to address the issues of apportionment of liability, in order to contribute to the development of e-commerce in Palestine. In addition, the researcher recommends that Palestinian lawmakers draft or improve the laws that explain the responsibility of all parties in electronic transactions, thus creating necessary the legal means to address problems arising in the e-commerce in Palestine.