Qualification of the Concept of Electronic Cross-Border Commercial Transaction

Domestic and foreign doctrinal approaches to the correlation between the concepts of “electronic transaction,” “electronic commerce,” “electronic trade,” and “electronic business” suggest that electronic commerce constitutes a specific form of electronic business. Legal relations arising from the conclusion, performance, and termination of electronic transactions constitute the core element of electronic commerce. An approach that limits the execution of cross-border electronic commercial transactions exclusively to the Internet does not align with the principle of technological neutrality. The cross-border nature of such transactions may be identified through a close connection with the legal systems of two or more states. The traditional approach, which defines the principal criterion for recognizing legal relations as cross-border by the location of commercial enterprises in different states, fails to fully address the challenges presented by the realities of the digital environment. A close connection with multiple legal systems may be established through a combination of various criteria, including the place where business operations are conducted, a domain name and operational links, and the doctrine of targeting activities. It is conceptually accurate to define such a transaction as “cross-border” rather than “international,” as this terminology emphasizes the nature of private legal relations and excludes intergovernmental relations between subjects of public international law vested with sovereignty.