Towards a Community Law on E-Commerce in the Southern African Development Community: Lessons from Selected Regional Frameworks

A regulatory legal framework that enhances legal certainty and predictability is regarded as one of the fundamental pillars that enable the development of e-commerce. In the international arena, various instruments such as the UNCITRAL Model Law Electronic Commerce, the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Signatures and the United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts were adopted mainly to harmonise e-commerce laws and remove legal barriers to the development of e-commerce. The adoption of these international instruments also stimulated regional initiatives towards the regulation of e-commerce in various Regional Economic Communities (RECs). While other regions have made significant progress in the adoption of regional instruments that comprehensively deal with e-commerce issues, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) seems to be lagging behind. Despite the adoption of the SADC Model Law on Electronic Transactions and Electronic Commerce (SADC Model Law), the regulation of e-commerce in SADC remains fragmented and inadequate to create a legal environment that stimulates the development of e-commerce in the region. Accordingly, this article argues that the SADC Model Law has not successfully harmonised e-commerce laws in a way that enhances legal certainty and predictability in e-commerce transactions. Taking lessons from other regional frameworks, this article proposes the adoption of a community law on e-commerce. The article further submits that the current legal system of SADC does not enable the proper functioning of community laws, particularly in the domestic legal frameworks of Member States, as such, it recommends some pertinent changes to the SADC legal system for the proposed community law on e-commerce to be implemented effectively in a way that enhances the development of e-commerce.