Law of E-Commerce in Poland and Germany

Transcription

1 Law of E-Commerce in Poland and Germany Edited by Bettina Heiderhoff Bearbeitet von Ekkehard Becker-Eberhard, Bettina Heiderhoff, Anja Hennig, Monika Jagielska, Marek Swierczynski, Dariusz Szostek, Maciej Szpunar, Reinhard Welter, Grzegorz Zmij 1. Auflage Taschenbuch. XII, 117 S. Paperback ISBN Format (B x L): 14,1 x 22,4 cm Gewicht: 204 g Recht > Europarecht, Internationales Recht, Recht des Auslands > Rechtsvergleichung Zu Inhaltsverzeichnis schnell und portofrei erhältlich bei Die Online-Fachbuchhandlung beck-shop.de ist spezialisiert auf Fachbücher, insbesondere Recht, Steuern und Wirtschaft. Im Sortiment finden Sie alle Medien (Bücher, Zeitschriften, CDs, ebooks, etc.) aller Verlage. Ergänzt wird das Programm durch Services wie Neuerscheinungsdienst oder Zusammenstellungen von Büchern zu Sonderpreisen. Der Shop führt mehr als 8 Millionen Produkte.

2 Law of E-Commerce in Poland and Germany edited by Bettina Heiderhoff. Grzegorz Zmij Sellier. European Law Publishers

3 ISBN ISBN Die Deutsche Bibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über abrufbar by Sellier. European Law Publishers GmbH, München. Dieses Werk einschließlich aller seiner Teile ist urheberrechtlich geschützt. Jede Verwertung außerhalb der engen Grenzen des Urheberrechtsgesetzes ist ohne Zustimmung des Verlages unzulässig und strafbar. Das gilt insbesondere für Vervielfältigungen, Übersetzungen, Mikroverfilmungen und die Einspeicherung und Verarbeitung in elektronischen Systemen. Gestaltung: Sandra Sellier, München. Herstellung: Karina Hack, München. Druck und Bindung: AZ Druck und Datentechnik GmbH, Kempten. Gedruckt auf säurefreiem, alterungsbeständigem Papier. Printed in Germany.

4 The Conclusion of a Contract via the Internet in the Polish Law 3 Trunk, European directives in the field of electronic commerce: interplay with German law, in: The Legal Issues of E-Commerce (edit. Kono/Paulus/Rajak), The Hague/London/New York 2002 Wejman, Wzorce umów na stronach WWW i w poczcie elektronicznej, Transformacje Prawa Prywatnego 2000, Vol. 4, p. 49 Wiebe, Die elektronische Willenserklärung, Tübingen 2002 Wilson, E-commerce European Union. Transnational E-commerce, Computer Law & Security Report 2000, Vol. 16, No. 2, p. 106 Wolter, Prawo cywilne zarys części ogólnej, Warszawa 1996 Wójcik, Forma czynności prawnych w świetle zasad polskiego prawa cywilnego oraz stanowiska Polski wobec Unii Europejskiej, Rejent 1998, No. 4, p. 147 Zachariasiewicz, in: Konwencja wiedeńska o umowach międzynarodowej sprzedaży towarów. Komentarz (edit. Pazdan), Kraków I. The Sources of Polish Law Recently, Poland has been working intensively to set legal standards for Electronic Commerce. Legislation has harmonised the European Union requirements and international standards. 1 The main source of electronic contract law is the Polish Civil Code. 2 An amendment to the Civil Code passed on approved the use of electronic means of communication in legal business. With regard to electronic contracts, the amendment implements the main rules of the Directive on Electronic Commerce (2000/31/EC). 4 The remaining provisions of this Directive were implemented in the Act on Ren Gaweł/Litwiński/Świerczyński, Poland Gears Up For E-Commerce, World Internet Law Report 2002, Vol. 3, issue 7, pp Civil Code of 23 April 1964 (O. J r. No. 16 item 93 as amended). Act of 14 February 2003 on change of Civil Code and some other acts (O. J No. 49 item 408). The new amendments came into force on September Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market (Directive on electronic commerce). For the implementation process of this Directive see: Report From The Commission To The European Parliament, The Council and The European Economic and Social Committee First Report on the application of Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market (Directive on electronic commerce) COM (2003) 702(01).

5 4 Dariusz Szostek, Marek Świerczyński dering Services Electronically of The Directive on Electronic Commerce was thus implemented both in the Civil Code and in the Act on Rendering Services Electronically. 6 The Act on Electronic Signatures of and the Act on Electronic Payment Instruments of 2002 are also regulations of great significance. 8 The former implementing the Directive on Electronic Signatures (1999/93/EC) 9 enables fulfillment of the requirement of written form by means of an advanced electronic signature verified by a valid qualified certificate. Such an electronic signature is called a secure electronic signature in the Polish law Act of 18 July 2002 on rendering services electronically (O. J No. 144 Item 1204 as amended). The act also regulates the liability of intermediary service providers for unlawful online content, differentiating between mere conduit, caching, or hosting services. The law chooses the opt-in model, which does not allow the sending of unwanted offers. To ensure compliance with the anti-spam regulation, the Act provides a fine for violation of the presented opt-in model. Consequently, sending unsolicited commercial will be treated by the Act as a criminal offence. The personal data protection provisions specified in the Acts are based on the German Teleservices Data Protection Act and the Directive concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector. See Gaweł/Litwiński/Świerczyński, Poland Gears up, p. 32. In the Polish law the term services rendered electronically instead of information society services is used. See Konarski, Komentarz do ustawy o świadczeniu usług drogą elektroniczną, Warszawa 2004, p. 13 and f.; Litwiński, in: Prawo Internetu (edit. Podrecki), Warszawa 2004, p. 167 and f. Apart from the provisions of the Directive the amendment of the Civil Code is based on the UNCITRAL model law on electronic commerce of Act of 18 September 2001 on Electronic Signature (Official Journal of 2001, No. 130, Item 1450 as amended) Ustawa z dnia 18 września 2001 r. o podpisie elektronicznym (Dz. U. z 2001 r. No. 130 poz ze zm.). Act of 12 September 2002 on electronic payment instruments (Official Journal of 2002, No. 169 Item 1385 as amended) Ustawa z dnia 12 września 2002 r. o elektronicznych instrumentach płatniczych (Dz. U. z 2002 r. No. 169 poz ze zm.). Directive 1999/93/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 1999 on a Community framework for electronic signatures (Official Journal EU L 13, ) Dyrektywa 1999/93/WE z dnia 13 grudnia 1999 r. w sprawie wspólnotowych ram w zakresie podpisów elektronicznych (O. J. WE L ). The Polish law on electronic signatures conforms with the E.U. directive. A secure electronic signature (equivalent to an advanced electronic signature as defined by E.U. directive) is equivalent to a handwritten signature if: a) it is uniquely linked to the signatory, b) it enables identification of the signatory, c) it is created using means that the signatory can maintain under his/her sole control, d) it is linked to the data to which it relates in such a manner that any subsequent change of the data is de-

6 The Conclusion of a Contract via the Internet in the Polish Law 5 The purpose of this Act is to facilitate the use of electronic signatures and to contribute to their legal recognition. It also establishes a legal framework for electronic signatures and certification services. Data in electronic form with secure signatures (signatures that fulfil requirements similar to the advanced electronic signature in the EU directive), and based on a valid, qualified certificate, have an equal legal status to documents with handwritten signatures. 11 However, its practical importance for legal business is still negligible. 12 Therefore, the latest amendment project drawn up by the Ministry of Economy and Labour is aimed at reducing the restrictions and facilitating a wider use of foreign certificates for electronic signatures. 13 The Act on Electronic Payment Instruments is becoming increasingly important. This is connected with the development of innovative payment systems on the internet (e.g. for micro-payments). It follows the provisions of European Community law (mainly the Commission s Recommendations) tectable, e) it is based on a qualified certificate, f) it is created by a secure signature creation device. Gaweł/Litwiński/Świerczyński, Poland s Progress, Special Report, BNA s Eastern Europe Reporter 2002, Vol. 12, No. 9, pp ; Gołaczyński, Umowy elekroniczne próba definicji, in: Umowy elektroniczne w obrocie gospodarczym (edit. Gołaczyński), Warszawa 2005, p. 10. Until now there have been a few companies developing systems of electronic signatures certification. They work in agreement with the foreign certification service providers resulting in mutual recognition of certification. Foreign certification service providers may be interested in establishing branch offices in Poland. Założenia do projektu ustawy o zmianie ustawy o podpisie elektronicznym Ministerstwa Gospodarki i Pracy issued on 2005; it s worth mentioning that, recently, the Project of the electronic invoicing regulation was issued by the Ministry of Finance. However, this project is considered not coherent with the directive 77/388/EC on VAT (changed by the directive 2001/115/EC). The other problem is that the Polish project allows one to issue an electronic invoice only with a secure electronic signature verified by the qualified certificate (the directive allows invoicing with only an advanced signature, without any certificate). Such a solution would hamper the development of electronic invoicing in Poland due to the cost of the qualified certificates. Compare: Szostek, Świerczyński, Elektroniczna faktura, Glosa 2003, No. 8; Final Report on Invoicing performed by Pricewaterhouse Coopers for the European Commission Study on the requirements imposed by the Member States, for the purpose of charging taxes, for invoices produced by electronic or other means, 23 August 1999; Gobert, Vers une discrimination?, Cahier du Juriste, n 4-5/2001, pp The act implements the Commission s Recommendation of 30 July 1997 concerning transactions by electronic payment instruments and, in particular, the relationship between the issuer and the holder (97/489/EC). Additionally, it incorporates the Directive 2000/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 September 2000 on the taking up, pursuit of and prudential supervision of the

7 6 Dariusz Szostek, Marek Świerczyński The law sets the minimum requirements necessary for the adequate level of consumer protection. It also regulates the process of issuing electronic money stating that the issuers of funds can be not only banks but also special companies (called electronic money institutions ). The law describes in detail the liability rules for contractual parties. The cardholder is responsible for losses resulting from improper card usage. However, their liability is limited to 150 euros, except in the case of intended fraud. The holder is not liable in cases where a payment card was used without physical presentation or electronic identification or a signature by the holder on the authorisation slip. Use of the identification code in order to identify the holder is not sufficient to establish the holder s liability. However, according to a specific rule, the holder is liable for operations completed on the internet, even though the payment card was not physically presented. This provision is commonly criticised as an obstacle to building consumer confidence in the internet. The third chapter of the draft law regulates electronic banking services such as home- and telephone-banking systems, which are currently becoming very popular in Poland. The Act on the Protection of Certain Consumer Rights and on the Liability for Damage caused by Dangerous Products was enacted on 2nd March 2000, implementing the four EU consumer directives: 85/577, 97/7, 93/13 and 85/374 dealing with different aspects of consumer protection, which form the basis for the consumer protection law. The most important document for electronic commerce was the Directive on Distance Contracts (97/7/EC).. 15 This Act came into force on 2 July, The Act amends the Polish Civil Code, adding provisions which protect the consumer from abusive clauses in general contract conditions and establishing responsibility for dangerous products. 16 Provisions protecting consumer rights cannot be excluded by a contractual clause or by the choice of a foreign law business of electronic money institutions and Directive 2000/29/EC on the taking up, pursuit of, and prudential supervision of the business of electronic money institutions. Directive 97/7/EC of the European Parliament and the Council on consumer protection in distance contracts, dated 20 May 1997, OJ L 144/19 dated 4 June It must be mentioned that the recent Article of the Civil Code enumerates 23 abusive/unfair clauses. From the abusive clauses, enumerated in the Civil Code, a few have special importance for electronic commerce contracts. The most important of these are: a) the provision prohibiting exclusion or limitation of the consumer s right to take legal action or exercise any other legal remedy, particularly by requiring the consumer to take disputes exclusively to arbitration not covered by legal provisions, b) the provision which prohibits giving the seller the right to determine whether the goods or services supplied are in conformity with the contract. For example, the consumer has the right to withdraw from the contract within 10 calendar days from the delivery of the product or from the moment the performance

8 The Conclusion of a Contract via the Internet in the Polish Law 7 II. Electronic Declaration of Intention To conclude any contract, whether in traditional form or in an electronic form using electronic means of communication, in particular the internet, it is necessary for the parties to submit appropriate declarations of intention. A declaration of intention made via the internet is often referred to in the literature as an electronic declaration of intention. 18 There are even proposals that electronic declarations of intention should be divided into: a declaration of intention submitted by an individual using electronic means of communication (so-called digitale or elektronische Erklärung) and a declaration of intention submitted by computers within the EDI systems, i.e. declarations created, transmitted and received by computers only (so-called Computererklärung or automatisierte Erklärung). 19 It must be underlined that a declaration of intention submitted via the internet is an ordinary declaration, and it is not a new and previously unknown form. It is only the manner of its submission that is new. 20 It does not matter whether it is made by an individual directly or generated by a computer as it is always linked to the individual. 21 With regard to its effectiveness, the manner of its submission does not matter either (unless a special form is required). In compliance with Art of the Civil Code, 22 subject to exclusions stipulated by the act, the will of a person who carries out a legal act may be expressed by any behaviour of this person which reveals their will in a sufficient way, including electronic disclosure of their will (a declaration of intention). The last sentence in the regulation was introduced by the Act on Electronic Signatures dated 18 September 2001 and of services has begun, although there are some exceptions to the right of withdrawal. If the seller does not inform the consumer in a written form about his right to withdraw, the term is prolonged to a period of three calendar months. In German literature numerous expressions are used for a declaration of intention submitted electronically: Computererklärung or automatisierte Erklärung; elektronische, vollelektronische Willenserklärung etc., more in Wiebe, Die elektronische Willenserklärung, Tübingen 2002, p See Heun, CuR 1994/10, p. 595; Süßenberger, Das Rechtsgeschäft im Internet, Frankfurt a.m. Berlin Bruxelles New York Oxford Wien 2000, pp. 39 and 47-49; Baetge, in: Rechtshandlung, E-Business, Rechtliche Rahmenbedingungen für Geschäfte im Internet (edit. Kaminski, Henßler, Kolaschnik, Papathoma-Baetge), Neuwied, Kriftel 2002, p See also Jacyszyn, Przetocki, Wittlin, Zakrzewski, Podpis elektroniczny, p. 75. More on the discussion concerning this issue in the Polish literature: Kocot, Wpływ Internetu na prawo umów, Warszawa 2004, p. 68 and f.; Świerczyński, in: Prawo Internetu (edit. Podrecki), Warszawa 2004, p. 89; Szostek, Czynność prawna a środki komunikacji elektronicznej, Kraków 2004, p. 43 and f. Official Journal as amended.