UNCTAD helps to build the capacity of policymakers and lawmakers at national and regional levels in understanding the underlying issues underpinning e-commerce. The assistance targets, in particular, ministry officials in charge of law reform who need to learn more about the legal implications of ICTs; parliamentarians who have to examine new cyberlaws; and legal professionals who enforce new legislation.

The programme is supported through funding provided by the Government of Finland.

Key Issues Addressed:

 

• Electronic Transactions and Electronic Signatures
• Data Protection and Privacy
• Consumer Protection
• Computer Crime
• Intellectual Property
• Competition
• Taxation
• Information Security

 

Services Offered:

 

Delivery of capacity-building training workshops

Training courses on the Legal Aspects of E-Commerce are available in English, Spanish and French. They are delivered through:

• To enhance knowledge of e-commerce legal issues
• To prepare lawmakers and government officials for the drafting of legal frameworks
• To discuss e-commerce legislation harmonization within a region
• Distance learning using the UNCTAD Train for Trade platform.
• On site workshops to deepen understanding of complex legal issues

Assistance with preparing and enacting legal frameworks includes

• Conducting inventories and reviews of legislation that affect the use of ICTs
• Drafting legislation harmonized with regional and international legal frameworks
• Validation round tables of national stakeholders for the public and private sectors to discuss and finalize draft legal frameworks
• Briefing Parliamentarians to facilitate law enactment

Comparative regional reviews of e-commerce legislation harmonization aim to:

• Assess the status of cyber-laws in a particular region by surveying the law reform process
• Provide recommendations for further harmonization of legislation, where required